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A new spin on holiday movie magic is making its way to OWN.
Premiering on Saturday, Dec. 6, The Christmas Showdown brings platonic love to the forefront, following former childhood best friends April and Chastity, portrayed by Corbin Reid and Amber Stevens West respectively, whose paths unexpectedly cross when they both return home desperate for a fresh start. After hearing that Loretta Devine’s Hen, the event producer for the annual Sugar Heights Christmas Eve Spectacular, is stepping away from the role, they each set their sights on the role, leading to a holiday showdown that eventually mends old wounds.
For Reid, 37, and Stevens West, 39, who built a lifelong connection after meeting at a chemistry read for their hit show Run the World, the decision to focus on the power and importance of friendship during the holidays was “so exciting.”
“The pitch that we originally had seemed so exciting to us because we have a real-life friendship and my friends are so important me,” Stevens West tells PEOPLE. “I was excited about telling a story in this Christmas movie of ours about how painful it can be to have lost your best friend and then tell the story of how they come back to each other again and how powerful that can be.”
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Reid tells PEOPLE that The Christmas Showdown aims to break away from the typical holiday movie mold, highlighting a subject matter that she believes people are interested in seeing on-screen.
“Every holiday movie you see is the ambitious woman who goes back home for the holidays and meets up with the hometown hero who never left, and she realizes that she’s been pursuing the wrong thing. And she needs to stay home and reconnect with her roots and never leave because that love was something she overlooked,” she says. “And I feel like we were like, we never see friendship love stories. We never see two best friends who mean so much to each other, almost like sisters, and what does that look like?”
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Reflecting on the extremely positive reaction fans had to Run the World, which spotlighted female empowerment and friendship, Reid says people are “hungry” to see a different type of love story told.
“It’s like people are hungry for that because we see the romance story. We’ve seen it a thousand times between a man and a woman, and we really never talk about friendship love,” Reid tells PEOPLE. “That’s like family love, like chosen family, which are your friends and how beautiful that can be and how complex that can be.”
“In our film, [we’re] fighting half the time. We’re competing, but it’s like there’s so much love in those moments. They’re funny because it’s like watching two sisters who love the heck out of each other, duke it out because they care. And that’s really what the heart of this movie is rooted in,” she continues, adding that making the focus friendship love ensures everyone can relate and enjoy the film.
The duo’s real-life tight-knit friendship is evident on-screen, creating natural moments filled with true chemistry. Both Stevens West and Reid share it was “pretty effortless” blending their personal relationship with their business one as they worked together to pitch and develop the movie.
“When we first met, … Corbin entered the room and immediately we were friends. It’s just one of those things that you can’t really fake,” Stevens West says. “Getting to work together on something [and] developing a thing together, there’s a learning curve of figuring out how to bounce things back and forth off of each other. But even that was pretty effortless [because] we understood what the other one meant all the time, and we hear each other and give each other grace.”
Echoing her sentiments, Reid adds that it “was nice [the relationship] bled over into the development of the story. From notes or just thoughts on story or thoughts on character development, it was pretty effortless and seamless and we want to do it again. We’re like, ‘All right, what’s next? What can we produce next?’ “
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The Christmas Showdown marks Stevens West and Reid’s first time stepping into the business side of the industry, pitching and selling their own idea. The actresses, who’ve both been in the industry for over 10 years, describe the experience as both “crazy and easy.”
“Corbin and I have put in a lot of time and effort into this industry and a lot of that is making relationships with people, and eventually, along the way, you start to meet the right people and connect with them and stay in touch and it turns into something else,” Stevens West says. “I think [it’s] why this was effortless for us.”
Between their work ethic, personal connections and acquired skills, Reid adds that the experience of stepping into the role of executive producers felt like “it’s been many years in the making.”
“It just all sort of flowed really easily and then of course there’s just right place, right time, which is such a big part of it as well,” she says.
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Throughout their experience making the movie, Reid and Stevens West gained a deeper appreciation for their craft and the industry. Reid acknowledges that while she’s had a taste of what it was like behind the scenes, working on her own idea took the experience to another level.
“Working on something that’s your own idea at that level, every step is just so exciting,” she tells PEOPLE. “Really getting in there and working on all of the minutia was really enlightening.”
Reid adds, “I also think it made the movie as great as it is and as authentic as it is to us as actors [and as friends], which seems to be something that people really respond to.”
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Friendship and love is laced into every portion of The Christmas Showdown, from the creation through the production of the film. Above all, Stevens West and Reid hope that anyone who watches the film feels the love and care that permeates every moment.
If they can leave viewers with one tidbit, it would be to cherish the relationships that give them joy and pour into them. Reid tells PEOPLE she hopes the film creates the space for people to find the love they want during the holidays.
“Don’t let the world tell you that you can’t find the joy of the holidays and the love that you want to experience the holidays in non-traditional places, like friendships or the friends that you’ve made [become like] family,” Reid says.
Sharing a similar sentiment, Stevens West hopes the film shows the true value of platonic love.
“Cherish your friendships,” Stevens West says. “Don’t feel obligated to find romantic love during the holidays. There are other relationships in your life that are worth investing in.”
The Christmas Showdown premieres Saturday, Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT
