Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point

Producer | Feature Film | 2024

Michael J. Reistetter played a pivotal role in bringing Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point — starring Michael Cera, Elsie Fisher, Maria Dizzia, Ben Shenkman, Gregg Turkington, Francesca Scorsese and Sawyer Spielberg — to life on Long Island and beyond. As a producer, he served as a vital connection between the filmmakers and the community wherein the movie came together.

Drawing on his deep roots in the area and years of relationships built through journalism and extracurricular involvement, Reistetter helped turn Omnes Films’ “Home Alone-meets-Dazed and Confused” brainchild into a functioning production on the ground. He secured filming locations, recruited cast members and extras, sourced props and wardrobe from local residents, connected the production with elected representatives, coordinated access and security measures, and operated as a liaison between participating local businesses and the key crew.

Throughout the production, Reistetter’s responsibilities also extended to facilitating transportation of talent and equipment, set-dressing and resetting, running logistics, social media marketing and press relations, and tackling the countless problems that arise while making a low-budget indie feature. His combination of local knowledge and hands-on problem-solving expertise helped the production navigate Long Island while maintaining the authenticity central to the greater storytelling efforts.

Reistetter also connected the filmmakers with members of his own family. His grandmother, Mary Reistetter, was ultimately cast as Grandma Antonia, the matriarch at the very heart of the film’s sprawling holiday gathering.

The result: a distinctly Long Island joint that reached a global audience. Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point, directed by Tyler Taormina, premiered at 2024 Cannes as part of the “Directors’ Fortnight” and went on to receive a theatrical release through IFC Films — the distribution hub that distributed thematically comparable classics such as Boyhood and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

For Reistetter, the project represents more than a producing credit. It demonstrates his ability to take a singular creative vision and build the infrastructure necessary for it to burst out of the conceptual snow-globe and into the real-world conversation.

His work on Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point brought together old friends and new to transform a highly-niche portrait of New York Italian-American life into an internationally-recognized work of timeless art — one ripe with landscapes The Hollywood Reporter said “could have come out of a Norman Rockwell.”