The Big Picture

Producer Will Packer shares why he’s excited for his new movie, Dashing Through the Snow, to stream on Disney+. Packer discusses streaming versus a theatrical release and what 2024 looks like for the producer after the strikes. He also shares how Dashing Through the Snow changed in the editing room and which scene was extended following positive test screenings.

This holiday season, Disney+ is adding a new movie to our annual Christmas movie marathon with Tim Story’s Dashing Through the Snow. In the movie, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges stars as social worker, Eddie Garrick, a father who lost his Christmas spirit after a traumatic childhood experience, who has a run-in with a man claiming to be Santa Claus (Lil Rel Howery).

In an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, producer Will Packer (Beast) shares why Dashing Through the Snow has something to say this year. Not only is it “a truly inclusive, authentic Christmas movie,” but as Eddie and his daughter (Madison Skye Validum) are racing against the clock to help Santa protect his naughty and nice list, it reminds us what the true spirit of Christmas is. This magical adventure also stars Oscar Nuñez, The Marvel’s Teyonah Parris, and more.

Check out the interview in the video above or the transcript below to find out why Disney+ is the perfect home for Dashing Through the Snow, how the movie changed in the editing room, including that extended reindeer fight scene, and what 2024 is looking like for Packer.

Dashing Through the Snow A divorced social worker takes his daughter on a ride along with him on Christmas Eve. Release Date November 17, 2023 Director Tim Story Cast Ludacris, Lil Rel Howery, Teyonah Parris, Oscar Nunez, Ravi Patel Rating PG Runtime 92 minutes Main Genre Comedy Writers Scott Rosenberg
COLLIDER: You have been involved in many things. If someone has never seen anything you’ve worked on, what is the first thing you want them watching and why?

WILL PACKER: If you ask me today, I’m gonna say Dashing Through the Snow, Steve. I hate to be that guy, but I’m gonna be honest because it’s my most recent project. ‘Tis the season. I got something to say with this. It’s a movie where we’ve got this Disney version of a truly inclusive, authentic Christmas movie that feels like and looks like the world. I love that. It’s got a character at the center that rejects a lot of the notions of traditional Christmas celebrations but ultimately realizes that the true meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with the over-commercialization and Santa suits and gifts and all that. It’s really about those closest to you who mean the most. So, I’d say this one because I think this movie’s got something to say, and hopefully, it’s fun and families will be able to watch it together, and to me, that’s the best kind of movie.

Streaming vs. Theatrical Releases

This is premiering on Disney+. As a producer, is it nice to not have to worry about opening weekend box office, or is it one of those things that you enjoy?

PACKER: That’s a good question. The answer is I don’t enjoy worrying about opening weekend box office, and I do worry like everybody worries. Anybody that’s in the industry that’s ever premiered a film opening weekend that tells you that they’re not a nervous wreck watching all the numbers come in is not being truthful. So, I don’t miss not having to worry about the hour-by-hour report of how a project is doing. However, I like to be able to do both. I love Disney+ as a platform. I love that audience and what Disney represents as a brand, so this is a really, really interesting foray for myself. And as a producer, I gotta be able to do both, Steven, right? I gotta be able to do streaming as well as box office and create content for my audience in whatever medium they are consuming the content. So, I’ll be back doing theatrical releases, but this certainly won’t be my last streaming release.

Totally. Also, there might be more people that watch it on Disney+ opening weekend than might have seen it opening weekend at the box office.

PACKER: That is so true. That is something that myself and a lot of my fellow filmmakers talk about. Like, what’s your ultimate goal? Is it to make money, to make art, to get critical acclaim, to reach the widest amount of people, the biggest and broadest audience? And these days, streaming does unlock, oftentimes, the biggest audience. With a film like this, I want this to be seen by as many eyeballs as possible and the biggest audience possible, so that’s why I think Disney+ is perfect for it.

How ‘Dashing Through the Snow’ Changed in the Edit
Image via Disney+

I love talking about the editing process because it’s where it all comes together.

PACKER: Facts.

For this particular project, how did the film change once you started screening it for friends and family, or was it one of these things where it just worked?

PACKER: No, no, it was definitely a process where it got honed. So, when you see the final product, it’s shorter. We definitely tightened the film. We knew that there were elements that we wanted to focus on more. For instance, there’s a reindeer fight in the movie where Santa’s reindeer allow the bad guys to have their comeuppance at their hooves — I can’t say their hands, but by their hooves and antlers — and that’s a fun scene. Audiences enjoyed it so much that we actually expanded it. So, the final version of that scene is even meatier than it was in some previous versions.

I think you have to listen to audiences. The process of making a film is so collaborative that you got a lot of different perspectives, but ultimately, the perspective that really matters is the audience. So, I’m not somebody that loathes test screenings and test audiences. I say bring it on. It doesn’t mean that you have to be a slave to that data. You don’t have to be prescriptive in terms of whatever the test audience says is what you do, but I do think that it gives you some good, real-time, real-world feedback because filmmakers sometimes can get in a bubble and only listen to other filmmakers or other folks that think like them. That’s not the way I try to make movies.

The other problem is, I’m friends with a lot of directors and they say they’ve watched it 1000 times. You lose perspective on what’s funny and what works because you need a new audience to tell you, “Oh yeah, don’t change that. It still works.”

PACKER: Nothing could be more true. Absolutely. Sometimes, you have to step away from it, especially as a director. That’s true of editors and producers and studio execs; you become very, very close to these films. By the time the audience sees Dashing Through the Snow, I will have seen it more times than I can remember. That means I know the film very, very well, but it also means that I have a point of view that is shaded by the fact that I saw every iteration of it. So, sometimes it’s really good to have somebody that is coming in with a completely clean slate.

The Strikes’ Impact on Hollywood for 2024
Image via SAG-AFTRA

I know you’re always busy. Now that the strikes are over, what do you hope to be filming next year?

PACKER: That’s a great question. I’m trying to think what I have announced that I can safely… [Laughs] Here’s what I will say: now that the strikes are over, I had several projects that were, like a lot of my peers, in some version of limbo, that were waiting for a script to get completed or waiting for an actor to become available. Now, everything can kind of recalibrate, and we’re in the midst of having conversations around who will be available when. So, I don’t know exactly what I will be shooting and when next year, but I hope to be very busy next year because we had several things that were on the runway, and now that the work stoppages are over, we can get back to work.

The craziest thing I think about early next year is how many projects are gonna get going and the scheduling of movie stars. It’s gonna be insane trying to work that out.

PACKER: Without a doubt. Because remember, Steve, you had all the projects that were going to go this year, which now have been pushed back into other projects’ windows. So, if I have a project that was slated to go, already, in February of ‘24, well, that may not be possible because a project that was slated to go in July of ‘23, now that’s been pushed into my window. Or, in some instances, perhaps now that has to be pushed after my window, but it gets to another window. So, it really is a house of cards when you start moving around dates and actor availabilities; you know it better than most. But the reality is that that’s part of my challenge as a producer is figuring all that out.

Dashing Through the Snow is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.

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