It all started on another set. We were shooting a Škoda commercial, and our lead, Alex Montyro, turned out to be a true Renaissance man: actor, director, musician, singer. He had lived in China for years, and a friend of his worked at the agency handling Midea for Korea and China. They were looking for something unique for Christmas. Somewhere between takes, the idea of a musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol came up, and I convinced him we could bring it to life like no one else, through Milk & Honey and my connections.

Shooting a period piece in Prague costs a fortune. But years earlier, on a location scout across the country with the Czech Film Commission, I had passed through Tábor, a small town 90 minutes from Prague that felt frozen in time. Dress up any corner of it and you're back in the 19th century. So Tábor it was. A production that size gives you leverage: local talent, deals with local restaurants, a city hall that opens its doors, schools as basecamps. Deals with the town's cultural department brought costs right down.

We covered the streets in eco-safe fake snow, and cleaned up every last flake when we wrapped. A musical leaves no margin for error: choreography has to be precise, and every lip-sync has to land so the performance feels real. So we cast theatre actors who could improvise, learn fast and deliver complex choreography. Alex, a seasoned musician and singer himself, wrote the song, music and lyrics, with Ondřej Brzobohatý, one of the country's most respected composers.

I brought in my own team. A location manager who set us up like superstars in Tábor and cut great deals. A director with deep narrative-film experience to make sure we delivered something on point. The production design team behind my previous period pieces, who dressed the town with the right props, elevating the production value on screen for a fraction of the usual cost. Horses and carriages came from local stables.

In post, UPP, one of the country's top houses, added the magic: frost melting off the window, and, in another scene, CGI invitations joining the real ones as Scrooge throws them out of the window, inviting his neighbours to Christmas. Proof that with the right people, you can make it snow even in August.