According to Gettysburg Film Commission President Bo Brinkman, “you can throw a rock (anywhere) in Gettysburg” and you’ll hit a historian. That certainly was the case Wednesday evening at the historic G.A.R. Hall on Middle Street, where a roomful of local history and film buffs attended a sneak preview of the Commission’s latest project, “A Gettysburg Christmas: 1863.”
Folks lined up on the sidewalk to claim a seat in Gettysburg’s oldest standing church building to hear Brinkman speak. A few Historic Gettysburg Adams County board members sat upstairs in the recently restored balcony where Blacks were once required to sit.
Brinkman was invited by HGAC to appear as part of its 50th Anniversary Educational Speakers Series. Known locally as the actor who portrayed Major Walter Taylor in the “Gettysburg” (1993) and “Gods and Generals” (2003) movies, he said he “fell in love” with the town while they were filming here. When HGAC President Bernie Mazer introduced Brinkman; the two men played around a bit with Taylor’s lines to General Robert E. Lee.
Brinkman — who also teaches film at Gettysburg College and now lives part-time in Gettysburg and part-time in Texas — took the podium and introduced two college actors [Cassidy McCormack (Gettysburg College) and Gettysburg High School grad Finn Clarke (Wesleyan University, Conn.)] who would read several pages in the “1863” script.
Professor of Theatre Arts at Gettysburg College Christopher Kauffman (who will appear as shopkeeper Mr. Weikert in the film), Brinkman said, would read Lincoln from the balcony.
An engaging storyteller, Brinkman touched on what first prompted him to write, co-produce and direct “A Gettysburg Christmas” (2023) — which sold out at the Majestic Theater during last year’s Christmas Festival and will screen in the main auditorium this year.
“Chris called me five years ago and said, ‘Gettysburg needs another movie. And I said, it can’t be a Civil War movie … they’re already done and they’re expensive to make … but let’s think about it.”
In 2020, Brinkman met with author Craig Rupp at Starbucks, was captured by the title of his book, “A Gettysburg Christmas,” and decided to create a “postcard” movie to inspire the rest of the country to visit Gettysburg during Christmas. He co-founded the Film Commission with local businesswoman and Gettysburg native Kris Webb for that purpose.
“This is one of the best towns in the world to spend Christmas,” Brinkman said. “If they come here for Christmas, they’ll discover the history.”
On the heels of the popularity of “A Gettysburg Christmas” (2023) and slated to begin filming this October at Sachs Bridge, “A Gettysburg Christmas: 1863” returns to the Civil War era in a drama about ordinary people who become extraordinary in times of hardship. Brinkman said it’s more about entertainment than history — and though historical figures appear — they don’t get in the way of the storytelling.
Webb said it is a story that could have been historically possible (they checked often with Tim Smith and Jean Allen-Green while developing the script).
Brinkman has written that the film’s “power lies in quiet moments, a daughter’s trembling hands sewing ruined drapes, a child praying for her father’s return, a frightened runaway slave refusing to give up her only possession….”
As a stirring warmup to the main preview on Wednesday evening, Webb read the eloquent film synopsis that follows the Kelly family and the characters they intersect with, including troops, Quakers, runaway slaves and historic figure Basil Biggs.
In the performance that followed, Brinkman led with stage directions as Hannah (McCormack) and Thomas (Clarke) bid farewell in 1861 when Thomas left to fight for the Union. The script jumped to 1863 and a terrifying battle scene in town, to Lincoln (Kauffman) delivering the Gettysburg Address, and to the Kelly’s house at Christmas.
Their dynamic voices and Kauffman’s classic Gettysburg Address oration drew shivers.
During a question-and-answer session moderated by HGAC Vice President Greg Kaufmann, Brinkman described the logistics and hard work involved in physically transforming Gettysburg streets to the 1860s in a fascinating look behind the scenes. He said one scene that will involve submerging actors in a river would be shot in Texas, where it’s warmer during the winter.
General discussion revealed that “A Gettysburg Christmas:1863” is scheduled to be shown at the Majestic Theater during the Christmas Festival in 2026, and that Totem Pole Playhouse wants to make a stage version of “A Gettysburg Christmas” (2023) to perform at the Majestic.
Locations in the “1863” film will also include familiar Gettysburg locales, beginning with a single scene at Sachs Bridge. A Christmas party will be filmed at the Samuel Schmucker House, and the Shriver House will be the site of the Kelly family’s home.
Brinkman said that as he was writing the script, one intense moment that causes a lump to rise in his throat is what Rebecca (the mother) said to Moses (the oldest of the five slaves) when they said goodbye.
“The character said it,” he said. “I didn’t write it; the character wrote it in my head.”
Another is the scene where Rebecca bathed a half-frozen slave who didn’t want her to take her ragged dress because it’s all she had.
Webb said there are many interesting opportunities for local townspeople to participate in filming “A Gettysburg Christmas:1863” — the first open call for extras will come out in September.
“We have a lot of characters that aren’t big characters, but a lot of different moving parts,” she said. “It would be fun to get into.”
For more information about HGAC and general announcements of many exciting upcoming events, see hgaconline.org/events.
For more information about the Gettysburg Film Commission and to watch for open calls for extras, see gettysburgfilmcommission.org.
To purchase tickets to “A Gettysburg Christmas” in December, 2025, at the Gettysburg Majestic Theater, go to gettysburgmajestic.com.
Photo Courtesy of Historic Gettysburg Adams County: Actors Finn Clarke, Cassidy McCormack and Bo Brinkman listen as Kris Webb from the Gettysburg Film Commission reads the film synopsis
