How TikTok led to a Colorado town as the setting for a new Christmas movie

DENVER (KDVR) -- A few years after abandoning his corporate job for the small-town business owner life, a man in Evergreen has found himself starring in a new movie that is being filmed this winter.

Eric Martinez told FOX31 that when he left his corporate job, moved to Evergreen with his family and bought a cafe, he felt like the small mountain town was the perfect setting for a romantic movie.

There have been holiday films based in Evergreen before, such as "Christmas in Evergreen," which was not actually filmed in Evergreen. Now, Martinez and several other locals are representing the town in "Mocha and Mistletoe," a film directed by actor-turned-filmmaker Candice "Candy" Cain.

It all started with a TikTok video

Martinez, who owns Java Groove Cafe in Evergreen, told FOX31 that some of the baristas at the cafe encouraged him to start a TikTok account. So he did.

He posted videos showcasing Evergreen, and his followers suggested that the town would be perfect for a romantic comedy film. He hoped to grab the attention of Hallmark to film a movie there, but instead, it caught Cain's eye.

"The things that have happened because of that platform, I just could never have predicted or imagined," Martinez said.

Cain told FOX31 that one of her fans had tagged her in the video. She said she gets tagged with movie setting suggestions often and normally passes them, but was compelled by Martinez's posts.

"I had never been to Evergreen before, but Eric, his passion and his love for Evergreen is what really caught my eye," Cain said.

She responded to his post with an offer to make his dream of Evergreen as the setting of a holiday movie a reality.

From a small town cafe to a romantic comedy setting

Cain said she had a whole script written before she ever met Martinez in person or even visited Evergreen.

"Cupid's magic mistletoe is hung in a coffee shop, and romantic hilarity ensues," Cain said. "Soulmates get drawn to one another and the idea is your soulmate — you might not know who your soulmate is, and a big thing of this film is that we have a lot of people that you wouldn't expect to get together."

Martinez said a lot of the story follows the employees and the patrons of the cafe, so much of the filming is being done there. There are also scenes being filmed at a nearby creek where Martinez goes to relax.

"That's something that's a real-life thing for me, when things are really challenging I go and sit by the creek and do a little reset and just relax by the moving water," Martinez said.

Filming is underway and is expected to wrap up by Dec. 18. On Friday, the crew will be filming at the Evergreen Lake House for the town's holiday walk and tree lighting, which will be featured in the movie. The film will also include outdoor locations and other businesses like Beau Jo's. Additionally, many of the actors are from Colorado, including Martinez and his wife, who have supporting roles.

Directors strive to benefit the local economy

Cain said filming in Evergreen is a small way that her company, Gemelli Films, can support local economies, and hopes it inspires other filmmakers to do the same. On top of that, she hopes it sparks tourism.

"My goal is to hit some television tourism where if they see this next year and they see Evergreen, Colorado, and it's a real place, and they come to Evergreen, they can go to Java Groove, they can go to Beau Jo's, they can go to all of these different places that are in the film and meet the people that are in the film here. And that will help them with their economy," Cain said.

Martinez said Cain's script represents Evergreen and the community well and represents his cafe's mission and tagline of "coffee, kindness and community."

It's a dream come true for Martinez. He said when he thinks about how this all came to be, he wants to remind others to be honest and put things out in the universe because "you just don't know who is going to pick up what you're putting down. Magic can happen when you let it."

"I made my first movie because I was tired of asking for permission from other people. You don't need permission to follow your dreams, and now I've got all these people following theirs with me," Cain said.

"You giving yourself that permission has created space for all of these people around you to be able to do the same, and that's a really cool thing to see," Martinez replied.

To premiere the film in 2025, Cain said she hopes to host an event in Colorado, possibly for Christmas in July.