Utica featured in Hallmark Christmas movie ‘A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe’

Aerial footage shot by Matthew Klein Films

By Derek Barichello

Snow falls on Mill Street downtown Utica on Thursday Feb. 4, 2021. — Aerial footage shot of the village of Utica by Matthew Klein Films was featured in the Hallmark Christmas movie "A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe." This photo is a Shaw Media file photo, not the footage used in the Hallmark movie.

November 28, 2022 at 5:25 am CST

Hallmark Christmas movie lovers in the Illinois Valley may do a double take during a recent feature.

Yes, that’s Utica.

Aerial footage of the village was recently featured in Hallmark’s “A Christmas Cookie Catastrophe.” Matthew Klein Films captured these aerial clips in January 2021 for a different purpose, but they ended up also being licensed in this production, Klein said. He said there are four clips of the village in the movie.

The Hallmark holiday movie will play at 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, and at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, and 1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11 on the Hallmark Channel. The movie also is on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70NfmrsnnA0&t=1072s

Go to https://www.facebook.com/MatthewKleinFilms to watch a clip of the aerial shots of Utica.

This isn’t the first time Utica has been featured in a holiday film. “Prancer” was filmed on Clark’s Hill in the fall of 1988.