More details emerge on Hallmark-like movie being filmed on Sanibel and Captiva

After three weeks, filming is wrapping up Wednesday, Dec. 20, on a movie being shot on Sanibel and Captiva.

“We’re ending right on schedule,” said Supervising Producer Brynne Chappell. “We always planned on sending people home in time for Christmas.”

“Written in the Sand,” an original “feel-good love story,” has been shot at several island locations, including three days at RC Otter’s Island Eats on Captiva, and one day each at Doc Ford’s and MudBugs Cajun Kitchen on Sanibel and Boops by The Bubble Room.

“The narrative actually takes place inside Sanibel and uses the names of real locations,” said Chappell, who works for Pureplay Entertainment.  “There’s food in the scenes too. A burger from RC’s was featured. And the main character loves lattes so that was featured at Boops. We all tried the orange cake too. It was masterful.”

The crew also spent two days filming at J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel.

“That was incredible,” said Chappell, whose resume also includes working on the shows “Fame,” High School Reunion,” and “The Bachelor,” plus the Showtime series “Look” and specialty content for Amazon Prime Video. “We helped save a baby green heron that was tangled in fishing line and hooks. A ranger came, then it went to CROW. It was just released.”

The main location is the Sundial Beach Resort & Spa, which features a mural created for the film by local artist Rachel Pierce.

“She graciously allowed us to use the painting in the film,” Chappell said.

Sundial will be highly featured since that’s “where the main character works and is a general manager.”

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Meet the cast of 'Written in the Sand'

That would be Daniella Charles, who is played by newcomer Courtney Dyksterhouse.

“This is her first feature film,” Chappell said. “She’s incredible. We are so lucky to have her.”

According to the logline, her character “has always dreamed of big accomplishments ‘someday,’ but she's in for a surprise when her meticulous work plans suddenly lead her to saving her hometown, and to love.”

Actor and musician JT Hodges not only stars in and wrote a song specifically for the film, but he came up with the original concept.

“He always had the idea of this story in his head,” Chappell said of Hodges, who made his acting debut in “Finding Christmas.”

“He has been coming to Sanibel, performing at C4C, Champions 4 Children. He really loves it here. After Hurricane Ian hit we thought we should do a film to highlight how beautiful it is and make it a win-win for everyone. Nearly every investor is a business owner or resident of the islands. Our goal is to get profits back to the city.”

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Other cast members include Erin Cline (“her great aunt is Patsy Cline”), Angie Bullaro, Kira Cook, Cotton Yancey, Grover McCants and Michael Harding. With executive producers Dan McClung, Joseph Martin and Hannah Martin Eason, and writers Rickie Castaneda and Megan Hocking, who “have probably written everyone’s favorite Hallmark or Lifetime movie,” it’s directed by Rob Vaughn, a writer and producer who recently directed Lifetime’s “Christmas Movie Magic” and made his feature directorial debut with “This Time” in 2022.

“Written in the Sand” is expected to debut in the fall or winter of 2024.

Is it a Hallmark film?

“The film is not necessarily a Hallmark movie — but it is certainly in that vein,” Chappell said. “It will be sold to a distributor after filming completes. But it will most likely be Hallmark, Netflix or Hulu.”

The islands have left a big impression on Chappell.

“This is my very first time here,” she said. “I had no idea it was here. It reminds me of Hawaii, it’s so gorgeous. The scenery is impossible to beat. A big part of filming here was an effort to bring business to the island as it recovers, and to raise awareness about how wonderful Sanibel and its community are.”

Residents who were extras in the film also made an impact.

“That was really import to us,” Chappell said. “We want this to be a love letter to Sanibel so the people who actually live here needed to be in it. The film is theirs too. They turned out, were professional, welcoming and so patient. It was a great experience.”

Even after shooting ends, Sanibel hasn’t seen the last of the film crew.

“The small town feel, the welcoming community made us love this,” Chappell said. “We plan to be back and do the premier here.”

Updates about which streamer/network “Written in the Sand” is sold to and when it will be aired can be found on the Production Company’s Instagram page and/or the movie’s Instagram page.

Robyn George is a food and dining writer for The Fort Myers News-Press. Send news to [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Doc Ford's, Sundial, 'Ding' Darling are settings in a new movie