If you left Hallmark's recent rom-com Retreat to You craving a woodsy getaway of your own, you have production designer Jordan Ninkovich to thank for that airy hope. Ninkovich and his team scouted out a hotel in the rolling foothills of Alberta, Canada, and transformed it into a luxurious wilderness retreat using organic and sustainable materials. From the show-stopping resort interior to a candlelit goat yoga platform, every Retreat to You filming location exuded tranquility: "I knew I hit a lot of chords when the actors came to set and felt more grounded and peaceful," said Ninkovich.
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Retreat to You, which premiered Sept. 23 as part of the Hallmark Channel's Fall Into Love lineup, is part screwball comedy, part survival romance. It follows two ex-best friends who unexpectedly reunite at the Azuridge Wellness Retreat. Abby (Emilie Ullerup) hasn't spoken to Sean (Peter Mooney) since the day he stood her up 17 years ago. When they're separated from the group on a sunset hike, old wounds come to the fore.
Ninkovich has a degree in interior design, and he's also an actor and producer. In the last two years, he's worked on more than 40 productions, including Hallmark Christmas flicks like The Holiday Sitter and Time For Him to Come Home for Christmas. The key to creating a hilariously over-the-top luxury wellness center that still feels true-to-life is in the details. Retreat to You is awash with Azuridge-branded water bottles and robes.
Wide Open Country sat down with Ninkovich to talk all things Retreat to You, including the filming locations, the vibes on set, the difficulty of corralling baby goats and the virtues of not one, but two, well-placed gongs. Ninkovich also revealed that he just wrapped another Hallmark rom-com that presented an "impossible" design challenge: A whopping 46 different sets when the going rate is 14. We're listening.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Creating the Azuridge Wellness Retreat
Syd Wong/Hallmark
Wide Open Country: The Azuridge Estate Hotel in Alberta serves as the film's Azuridge Wellness Retreat. Tell me about landing on that resort.
Jordan Ninkovich: It has a really unique story. I believe it used to be someone's home, and they converted it into a hotel, wedding venue and corporate event venue. We all really fell in love with the backdrop and the natural bones of the space. But it wasn't the original vision. When we first read the script, the retreat almost read like a ranch. Then we thought, 'No, no, this is a bit different.' So we went with a different approach, and the resort was a beautiful foundation. From there, I was able to have fun with it. The manager of the resort actually wanted to keep a lot of stuff I did up. I think we did donate some things to them because we appreciated having the space and their being so accommodating.
WOC: In the past, you've described visualizing scenes as "meditation." You often sit in a film space, close your eyes and imagine how the characters will interact with it. It seems like you take a slightly alternative approach to set design.
JN: The minute I have an opportunity to be physically in the space and lead as an example to my team, I'm very hands-on. I'm here to lead, I'm here to inspire. I'm here to feel the set, and I do sit in these spaces and I go deep with it because a good production design will constantly layer sets to bring that realism. But, also, where else can we go with it? Can I create a backstory that's not scripted? Can we go deeper so that on a second, third and fourth level, the depths of it can be picked up almost subconsciously by the viewer in a way that gives the scene more volume?
I've always been a huge advocate for health and wellness. So when Retreat to You came across my desk, I was really excited about it and about shooting in Alberta. The environment, the beauty, the nature... I combined it with biophilic design, which is about the affinity of all living things and connecting to the natural world. I incorporated organic and sustainable products, plants, mosses and natural woods. I thought, 'This would be a great platform to go that deep. The audience may appreciate it — they may pick up on it.'"
Incorporating Comedic Elements
Syd Wong/Hallmark
WOC: You're also an actor. Does your on-camera experience inform your set design?
JN: As an actor, I'm thinking about the camera movement and spatial arrangement so the actors and crew can move around more easily. I always have that in the back of my mind. In this case, I knew I hit a lot of chords when the actors came to set and felt more grounded and peaceful. It made their job easier. I always try to do that.
WOC: The Azuridge Wellness Retreat feels totally believable and over-the-top. There are so many small production details that work towards the comedy of the movie. Like the blender behind the reception desk, or the two little avocados artfully placed on the activities table. How did you strike that balance between realism and comedy?
JN: We had free rein to create an amazing, realistic base, but also go outside the box. The overkill of certain little elements really plays up the absurdity of how over-the-top this place is. And it provides stuff for the actors to play with — the little bonsai trees, the big gong [Laughs.] When we sourced that gong, it was just great. The actors had so much fun with it. This place really takes wellness seriously, so where can we go with it? Even having candles at the outdoor goat yoga. We could have kept going and going and going. And we did, within reason.
WOC: When I saw the gong a second time at goat yoga, I lost it. Did you have two gongs?
JN: Yeah, we had a secondary gong for the goat yoga. I was talking to [Retreat to You director] Terry Ingram, who's amazing. I said, 'You should have a cut scene of someone just wailing on the gong as the sun comes up, sending the birds flying.' [Laughs.] Just to keep having this gong show up. We had a good laugh. Goat yoga was a fun scene, oh my gosh. We had to create a pen. We built railings and fencing on that outdoor platform just so the goats wouldn't take off.
What It Was Like On Set
Emilie Ullerup via Instagram
WOC: The actors have been posting behind-the-scenes snaps on Instagram. It seems like everyone had a great time there.
JN: That's the thing: The vibe on set was so much fun. Me, Terry, [Director of Photography] Adam Sliwinski and the talented Veronica Brown, EP — it was such an amazing collaboration of excitement and minds. Something about it energetically — or maybe the environment and being on-location. I'm a big believer in energy and just the infusion of everything into these sets emanated from every crew member. Everybody was thrilled to be at work. It was probably difficult to have cut this movie because I know there were so many great takes, so many amazing moments that were shot.
WOC: So, what comes next for you?
JN: We just finished a huge Hallmark movie. It was a beast, from a creative aspect. A lot of people don't realize that we make these movies over the course of a few weeks. When I read this script, I was like, 'Is this two scripts in one?' On average, we do 14 sets throughout a normal Hallmark movie. This one was 46 sets in the same amount of time. I had to build two massive New York apartments, plus a turn-of-the-century art deco New York apartment hallway with working elevators. It was impossible on paper, and we blew it out of the water.
It's going to be a really funny movie with a phenomenal cast. The sets are just... they're mind-blowing because 70% of them are created out of nothing. I'm really proud of it because of the magnitude of sets that my crew and I had to do in the same amount of time, for instance, that we did Retreat to You. So we just finished that. We're literally just recovering from it... in a good way.
Retreat to You airs on the Hallmark Channel.
