His mom was Edith Bunker (actress Jean Stapleton) and his dad was a theater director, so show business is in director John Putch’s blood, but it was a secondary passion that plunked Putch down in Kansas City this summer: football.
Putch was born and raised in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, began acting in his father’s productions at age 5, then dropped out of college when his TV acting career took off. He went on to appear in several films before making the switch to directing. Putch has directed several independent films, including the award-winning Mojave Phone Booth. He also directs big-budget studio films, including American Pie Presents: The Book Of Love, Beethoven’s Christmas Adventure, and TV movies.
Which brings us to Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, which premieres Nov. 30 on the Hallmark Channel and which features a number of Chiefs players, Coach Reid, and Donna Kelce.
Putch lives with his wife, Julie, and their cat, Tippi. The couple divides their time between Studio City, California, and midcoast Maine, where he was relaxing when he spoke with IN Kansas City about his extended time in Kansas City and Arrowhead Stadium.
When did you first hear about the script for Holiday Touchdown and why were you interested in it?
I had done two previous films for Hallmark, one at the Biltmore (A Biltmore Christmas) and one at Radio City Music Hall with the Rockettes (A Holiday Spectacular). So when Hallmark called and said, “Are you available? This is big and you’re the only guy that can do it because it involves football,” I said, “I’m in.” I didn’t even read it.
What’s the deal with you and football?
I love it! I’m a huge fan. We’re in the thick of it right now. In the fall, from Thursday through Monday night, you cannot interrupt me while I’m watching the games. I’m there. When I asked where the football movie was set and they said, “Kansas City,” I go, “it’s the Chiefs!”
I was super excited because I knew I’d get to see the inner sanctum, which I did, and I’m very happy.
What was your impression of Kansas City on your first visit?
This is probably going to sound funny, but coming from a big, clogged city like Los Angeles, we all were remarking on how very easy it was to get around. There was no traffic! We’re in the middle of downtown during rush hour at 8 o’clock in the morning, and we’re looking around and it’s crickets. We’re going, “Where is everybody? Don’t people go to work in these buildings?” That was our number one impression, “It’s a giant city. Where are the cars?” You guys are lucky.
We have tons of highways but not many cars on them.
It’s amazing. We drove daily going out to Arrowhead. It was so easy to get to all the locations. Great. Also, very clean! The streets were clean, coming from dirty LA.
What was the weather like when you were filming, and did it present any headaches?
Oh, yeah. The huge challenge during shooting was the oppressive heat in July. One particular day we were shooting at Arrowhead—it was a very important day. We had all of the players, all the principals. It was the end of the movie; they are at midfield—Coach Reid and Jenna Bush Hager, Mecole Hardman Jr., George Karlaftis, Clyde Edwards-Helaire—and it’s 100 degrees in the shade and there was no shade. It was really hard. Everybody was sweating a lot, it was a huge challenge.
And the movie takes place in winter.
Oh, yeah. [Laughs] In order to get this made, to get this out for this Christmas, ordinarily they would have done something like this in January. But we were trying to fake December in July. So what you’ll see when you watch the movie is a whole lot of special effects of adding snow and adding frost breath coming out of people’s mouths and stuff like that.
The hard part was, we had thousands of extras at the stadium, and they all had to come bundled up like it was winter. We told them to wear a T-shirt underneath so you can take off your jacket and muffler and hat between shots, but prepare to get warm.
And, man, Chiefs Nation is an amazing bunch of people. They were out in full force to support their team and the movie. Nobody complained. It was amazing.
What were some of the other locations where you filmed besides Arrowhead?
We shot mostly in Independence.
I thought it looked like Independence in the trailer, but I wasn’t sure.
Yes. And in the movie, we set the two little shops—the barbecue joint that one of the grandparent’s owns and the Chiefs gift shop—in Independence. We didn’t pretend they were somewhere else, and some of the characters reside in Independence.
What was working with the Chiefs like for you, as a big football fan?
The Chiefs were amazing. The access and hospitality they extended to us was insane. I’ve never had such a pleasant working experience with such a big outfit. They were into it, and they helped us make this movie. We got to know a lot of them in the sales and marketing and managerial departments, some great people there. I keep in touch with some of them.
It was all about scheduling. That stadium, that complex is under a schedule to the minute all year long, even when there are no games being played. We had to sidestep a Kenny Chesney concert, they were putting a floor down on the field, so we couldn’t go in there. Even just to look at things, you had to be scheduled. There’s stuff going on all the time. I marveled at it. I told a couple of people, “This is almost like a small government.” There are so many moving parts. I loved seeing that, because I’m into how stuff works.
What all did you get to see inside Arrowhead?
We shot in the marketing and sales offices. When we were there just doing prep we took a long tour of the whole facility. We got up into the VIP penthouse and looked out the window, and I said, “We’ve got to shoot something here.” We also shot in the Hall of Honor. They just gave us access to everything. There was no reason to go in the locker room, but I asked if we could go in and they were like, “Yeah!” So we got to go inside an NFL locker room. Never been in one. That was fun. Very neat and tidy, by the way.
Did anything about the locker room surprise you?
Yeah, it was deluxe. Deluxe! You know Arrowhead is pretty old, it’s from 1970 or ’71 but walking around inside, it looks brand new. It was just buttoned up and nicely done, I thought. I was impressed by it. The whole system they use to get in and out, it’s all digital on your phone, with tickets and passes. It’s really impressive.
I used to go to games at SoFi Stadium, which is in LA, a new stadium, and Arrowhead is absolutely as nice as that. I don’t get why there’s talk about them moving. I guess because of the age of the place, but it sure was nice.
What was it like directing Donna Kelce?
Sweet lady. Very eager to get her stuff right. Very pleasant. She came and did her work and took direction well. I think she got the hang of it and loosened up a bit. It’s a larger role for her. But she did great. And not at all overtaken with the celebrity that has come on them. She’s very down to earth, just a regular person. She rolls her eyes at all the attention, which I appreciate.
Midwesterners are generally “nice,” but was there anything you noticed that set Kansas Citians apart from other Midwesterners?
Yes. Everybody we came in contact with was super proud of their city, I noticed, and they’d go out of their way to tell you about places to go. I don’t ever, ever get that in Los Angeles, because it’s basically so large and vast that nobody actually even knows anything about it, and they’re all from somewhere else. So I found it very nice that people felt such pride of place.
And again, I got to say, the Chiefs Nation of fans is flabbergasting in its support, and I’m sure it’s been this way even before they were winning titles. I was really impressed by that.
How long were you in Kansas City during filming?
About two months.
Where did you stay?
Because Hallmark has some kind of affiliation with Crown Center, everybody stayed at the Sheraton or the Westin.
What was it like being in that neighborhood?
You could walk to a few places. There’s a lot of good food down there. You could get to a few places if you didn’t mind humpin’ down the block. But there was always parking and never any traffic, like I said. [Laughs]So you just jump in your car and go half a mile down the road, and you’re at some fine eatery.
I was impressed with the foodiness. We found amazing food. It wasn’t all barbecue. There was top-drawer, James Beard-award winning stuff. We had our favorites, and we frequented them.
What were your favorites?
Farina, we loved Farina. We went to Tom’s Town Distilling Co., we loved that. We went to Jim’s Alley Bar, a really fun little place. There’s a restaurant called Novel we went to a lot. And then of course, The Golden Ox. Loved the Golden Ox—best old-fashioned I had the entire time. We rated all of them. That one was the best.
Interview condensed and minimally edited for clarity.