Santa Hunters

2014 American Film

Santa Hunters

Promotional poster

Written by| Jamie Nash
Directed by| Savage Steve Holland
Starring| Benjamin Flores Jr.
Breanna Yde
Mace Coronel
Laya DeLeon Hayes
Music by| Zack Ryan
Country of origin| Canada
United States
Original language| English
Production
Producers| Scott McAboy
Amy Sydorick
Cinematography| Tom Harting
Editor| Damon Fecht
Running time| 65 minutes
Production companies| Pacific Bay Entertainment
Indaba Media Capital[1]
Original release
Network| Nickelodeon
Release| November 28, 2014 (2014-11-28)

Santa Hunters is a 2014 made-for-television film created for Nickelodeon. It was directed by Savage Steve Holland, based on a script written by Jamie Nash and produced by Amy Sydorick. The film stars Benjamin Flores Jr., Breanna Yde, Laya DeLeon Hayes, and Mace Coronel as a group of children trying to find evidence to prove the existence of Santa Claus.[2][3]

## Plot

[edit]

All Alex wants to do is prove to the world that Santa exists. He has managed to convince his sister Elizabeth and their cousins Zoey and Richard to setting up cameras throughout their house to capture footage of Santa. Their attempt is successful, but to their horror, they discover that Santa loses a bit of his magic every time he's seen. As Christmas starts to vanish before their eyes, it's up to the children to find and destroy the evidence of Santa. However, they must first contend with their Uncle Charlie's girlfriend Natasha, who is determined to sell the footage of Santa for her own selfish gains.

## Cast

[edit]

* Benjamin Flores Jr. as Alex
* Breanna Yde as Zoey, Alex's cousin
* Mace Coronel as Richard, Alex's cousin
* Laya DeLeon Hayes as Elizabeth, Alex's sister
* Donavon Stinson as Santa
* April Telek as Natasha
* Kelly Perine as Uncle Charlie
* Brenda Crichlow (credited as Brenda M. Chrichlow) as Mom
* Viv Leacock as Dad
* BJ Harrison as Grandma
* Alvin Sanders as Grandpa
* Serge Houde as Principal Welch
* Sewit Haile as Leader Girl
* Eric Fell as Cop
* Rachel Prosch as Tweener Girl
* Bill Kurtis as Santa Hunters V.O. Narrator (voice)

## Production

[edit]

The principal photography of the movie started on February 18 and ended on March 5, 2014, It was filmed in various cities of British Columbia, Canada.

## Reception

[edit]

Common Sense Media gave the film two stars, as they felt that it was "a fairly mundane addition to a holiday movie repertoire packed with classics and traditional favorites."[4] Media Life Magazine panned Santa Hunters, criticizing it for its focus on commercialism, stating that "The show’s writer, Jamie Nash, and director, Savage Steve Holland, must never have read or seen “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” because then they would know that Christmas isn’t just about getting presents and that it means a little bit more."[5]

In contrast, the New York Times gave a more favorable opinion of the movie.[6]

### Awards

[edit]

* Leo Award for Best Youth or Children's Program or Series (2015, won)[7]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Indaba Media Capital | Robin Cowie, Chris Dotson Jr and Reed Frerichs". robincowie.com.
2. ^ "Breanna Yde Talks Nickelodeon's Original TV Movie 'Santa Hunters'". M Magazine. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
3. ^ "Lil P-Nut Stars in New Christmas Film". Jet Magazine. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
4. ^ "Santa Hunters - TV Review". Commonsensemedia. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
5. ^ "'Santa Hunters,' hunt for something else". Media Life Magazine. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
6. ^ Hale, Mike (November 21, 2014). "'Christmas Under Wraps' Among Top 5 Holiday TV Movies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
7. ^ "Leo Awards, Winners by Program". www.leoawards.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.

## External links

[edit]

* Santa Hunters at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Nickelodeon original movies

* Drake & Josh Go Hollywood (2006)
* Shredderman Rules (2007)
* The Last Day of Summer (2007)
* Gym Teacher: The Movie (2008)
* Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh (2008)
* Spectacular! (2009)
* Fred: The Movie (2010)
* The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (2010)
* Best Player (2011)
* A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! (2011)
* Big Time Movie (2012)
* Rags (2012)
* A Fairly Odd Christmas (2012)
* Nicky Deuce (2013)
* Swindle (2013)
* Jinxed (2013)
* Terry the Tomboy (2014)
* A Fairly Odd Summer (2014)
* Santa Hunters (2014)
* Splitting Adam (2015)
* One Crazy Cruise (2015)
* Liar, Liar, Vampire (2015)
* Rufus (2016)
* Lost in the West (2016) (miniseries)
* Legends of the Hidden Temple (2016)
* Albert (2016)
* Rufus 2 (2017)
* Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (2017)
* Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie (2017)
* Tiny Christmas (2017)
* Blurt! (2018)
* Bixler High Private Eye (2019)
* Lucky (2019)
* A Loud House Christmas (2021)
* Monster High: The Movie (2022)
* Blue's Big City Adventure (2022)
* Snow Day (2022)
* A Really Haunted Loud House (2023)
* Monster High 2 (2023)
* Baby Shark's Big Movie! (2023)
* The Thundermans Return (2024)
* No Time to Spy (2024)
* Henry Danger: The Movie (2025)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Savage Steve Holland

* Better Off Dead (1985)
* One Crazy Summer (1986)
* How I Got into College (1989)
* The Last Halloween (1991)
* Safety Patrol (1998)
* Stuck in the Suburbs (2004)
* Shredderman Rules (2007)
* Ratko: The Dictator's Son (2009)
* Legally Blondes (2009)
* A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! (2011)
* Big Time Movie (2012)
* A Fairly Odd Christmas (2012)
* A Fairly Odd Summer (2014)
* Santa Hunters (2014)
* Malibu Rescue (2019)
* Malibu Rescue: The Next Wave (2020)

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