Christmas movie filmed in Clinton
By Randy Bell
Director David Lipper watches on a monitor from across the street as a scene from a Christmas movie is filmed in Olde Towne on December 19.
After David Lipper directed an action-thriller, shot mainly in Clinton’s Olde Towne District in December of 2024, he decided a change of pace was needed for his next film in the city. So, he returned to do a Christmas movie starring Lucy Hale.
“We think it’s going to be a real good, feel-good movie,” Lipper said on December 19, as he prepared to shoot a scene on Jefferson Street. “It’s called The Twelve Dates of Christmas.” Hale plays a woman in her mid-30s, “and she makes this pledge, ‘I’m never going to be single on Christmas Eve again.’” The storyline has Hale’s character running out of time, with the holiday fast approaching, “and she decides that she’s going on these twelve dates in twelve weeks to find Mr. Right.”
Many of those “dates” take place in Olde Towne, with 303 Jefferson and The Bank among the locations that were used.
“We’re playing Clinton for Clinton,” Lipper points outs. “We’re not trying to pretend it’s somewhere else. We want the town to be recognized and have their brands in the movie.”
His previous Clinton film, The Neglected, starring Josh Duhamel, featured murders and a car chase with screeching tires, but Lipper brought a softer tone to Olde Towne for the Christmas movie he co-wrote.
And he admits he likes the change.
Lucy Hale, star of The Twelve Dates of Christmas, is shown in a scene filmed in Clinton’s Olde Towne on December 19.
“I’m starting to much prefer [romantic comedies] and less stunts and guns and all that stuff.”
This is the fourth movie Lipper has made in Clinton and the seventh in Mississippi since 2022.
“I’ve got to tell you, coming from the Northeast, you just can’t beat the Southern hospitality. I’m a convert. I am a lover of the South, and it’s one of the reasons I keep filming here.”
And, in particular, he says he enjoys working in Clinton.
“It’s just so charming, this town,” said Lipper. “I tell people this is my favorite place to shoot – and I’ve looked at a lot of towns. They ask me, ‘Have you checked out Canton, and have you checked out some of these other towns?’ And I say, Clinton’s been really, really good to me, and I want to stay with Clinton. But, of course, I will explore more of Mississippi.”
Lipper has already shot movies in Wiggins, Jackson, Biloxi, Gulfport and Ocean Springs. But when he has a film that’s about small-town America, he thinks of Clinton – especially with a movie like the one he just made.
“It just makes it that much easier for us to come in and feel like we’re in the middle of a town that takes Christmas seriously.”
Director David Lipper (center) talks with members of his crew on the set of The Twelve Dates of Christmas in Clinton’s Olde Towne on December 19.
The 2024 film, The Neglected, is scheduled to premiere in theaters in late February. Lipper is hoping The Twelve Dates of Christmas will also wind up on the big screen.
“Of course, the [streaming services] may have something to say about that. They’re kind of the bosses these days, because they’re the ones with all the money.”
Lipper expects to shoot three more movies in Mississippi in 2026, including his fifth in Clinton.
“I’m already working on putting that together. We’re going to try to come back here early in the year. The first quarter, I plan on filming here again.”
One of those movies could star John Travolta.
