The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is a new family drama from Lionsgate. Directed by Dallas Jenkins, the feature is based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, and follows six rambunctious siblings, who sneak into church searching for snacks and instead, walk away with lead roles in the town’s Christmas pageant.
Grace (Judy Greer) volunteers to directing the performance for the very first time, but she and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially considering the town wants them to kick the Herdman kids out.
Editor John Quinn, ACE, cut the project, and recently shared with Post how it all came together.
John, how did you get involved in editing this feature?
"On the dub stage of The Chosen Season 3, my showrunner, Dallas Jenkins, mentioned we’re going to do a Christmas movie between Seasons 4 and 5. I thought to myself, 'Oh, that’ll be a sweet little light gig.' Unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the project Dallas had been trying to make for over 15 years. It’s based on the 1972 book by Barbara Robinson, and is a studio picture for Lionsgate. When I saw the announcement video Dallas and his wife Amanda made about how important this project is for them and all the hurdles he faced to get to direct it, I put extra pressure on myself to deliver for my director, who has been loyal to me for seven years, and put me to work during the pandemic and beyond."
What was the timeframe for completing the edit?
"Production began on December 6th, 2023, so I started cutting on December 7th. We had picture lock on June 11th. Voiceover and narration play a big role in the film, and we didn’t lock that up until August 10th. The final day of the mix was August 20th."
Tell us about your editing setup?
"We cut the movie at Kappa Studios in Burbank, where we have edited all five seasons of The Chosen. There’s nothing like being in the room with your crew and collaborating in-person. We were running Avid 21.12.10 on an M2 Mac Studio, connected via NAS network storage. We used Frame.io for notes, and Evercast to do remote sessions with my director, who lives in Texas."
Is there a scene or sequence that you would point to as an editorial highlight?
"I’m proud of the opening of the movie. It opens in such a way that’s very different from what you’d expect a Christmas movie to start. It features a fun montage where we introduce all the Herdman children and the awful things they do – stealing, starting fires, beating up kids. The first piece of temp music we used was an AC/DC song, which stayed in for a long time. We kept tightening it, auditioning different songs, and playing with the timing of the VO. It really sets the tone and rhythm for the rest of the film, and informs the audience that this is going to be different, and that they’re going to have a good time.
"I’m a big nerd anytime I read or listen to a podcast about the editing of a film, learning how something was created in the edit. One thing we created during the edit was part of the climax of the film. What we cut to as everyone experiences the Christmas story at the end. (I am going to be vague because I don’t want to give it away) Originally, that footage was only for our main character Beth to see. The final version of the edit came about when Dallas showed a very early cut to a group of his director friends. After discussing the movie with that group, we tried to use that particular footage to show all of our cast of characters in the audience experiencing the Christmas story at the end of the pageant. It added a whole that wasn’t there before. Based on the feedback from early screenings, I know we nailed the heart and emotion that we want folks watching the movie to feel in that moment. I’m very proud of that."
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was released on November 8th and is now available digitally and on-demand.