Behind the Making of A Very Jonas Christmas: How Isaac Aptaker & Elizabeth Berger Brought the Holiday Chaos to Life
As A Very Jonas Christmas makes its debut on Disney+, it’s immediately clear that the film embraces a playful, self-aware spirit, one that feels both nostalgic and ambitious for a holiday comedy. To understand how the project took shape, I spoke with screenwriters and producers Isaac Aptaker and Elizabeth Berger, who crafted the film’s blend of sibling hijinks, music-video spectacle, and globe-trotting mayhem.
Aptaker traced the film’s creative lineage back to A Hard Day’s Night, aiming for the same sense of heightened reality and band-as-ensemble-comedy energy. Although comparisons to Spice World are inevitable, the writers approached the Jonas Brothers’ story with a desire to capture something that reflected the trio as they are now, rather than revisiting their Disney Channel-era personas. The brothers may not be teens anymore, but their playful chemistry remains intact, and it became a defining element of the film’s tone.
The musical aspect of the movie draws heavily from the TRL era that both writers grew up watching. They wanted each number to function like a standalone music video, something that could live outside the film as naturally as a TRL premiere from the early 2000s. It’s an approach that’s obvious in the movie itself, which swings between big comedic set pieces and full-production musical sequences ranging from the absurd to the unexpectedly restrained.
Aptaker and Berger’s background as television producers shaped their approach to the story, particularly when balancing a European travel narrative with a TV-friendly budget. Toronto and its surrounding areas served as an adaptable backdrop, doubling for London, Amsterdam, and various winter landscapes. Some sequences, however, required more inventive solutions. The original plan to film key forest scenes outdoors collapsed when temperatures became too cold for evening shoots, prompting Disney to build an entire forest — from snowy ground to towering trees — on a soundstage.
Throughout the development and production process, the Jonas Brothers remained deeply involved. Their input helped shape everything from the tone of the comedy to the emotional beats reflecting their real-life dynamics. The result is a film that doesn’t shy away from the grown-up realities of their lives — careers, families, even public perceptions — while still allowing the trio to indulge in the kind of heightened antics they once embraced during their Disney Channel years.
The final product is a holiday adventure that swings confidently between camp, chaos, and genuine sentiment. It’s a road-trip comedy wrapped inside a sibling story, decorated with glossy music-video moments, and anchored by the Jonas Brothers’ self-deprecating willingness to play fictionalized versions of themselves. Aptaker and Berger’s work behind the scenes reveals a film shaped equally by nostalgia, practical creativity, and a desire to let the brothers shine in a version of themselves that feels distinctly grown-up, even when the story surrounding them is delightfully over the top.