Series About ‘Allston Christmas’ Airs on Move-In Day

Screenshot via Allston Xmas

For a city full of innovators and leaders trying to foster the next best idea, Boston’s handling of the annual September 1 move-in day completely misses the mark.

It brings headaches, it causes traffic congestion, it’s the harbinger of furniture piles, and it notoriously leads to trucks getting jammed underneath Storrow Drive overpasses.

But it’s also responsible for the creation of a longstanding tradition known to locals as “Allston Christmas,” a day full of digging through people’s discarded possessions laying abandoned in student-heavy neighborhoods, which we love to loathe on an annual basis.

And now, for those who don’t have to deal with strenuous moving activities—and those who can’t seem to get enough of it—there’s a new web series to enjoy based on the unofficial Boston holiday.

Beginning September 1, a group of former Boston University students will begin airing “Allston Xmas,” a 12-episode project that tells the story of friendships, relationships, and how they can fall apart when moving from one apartment to another at the same time as thousands of other people.

“It’s about the endless traffic, the glowing signs that ask you about checking for bed bugs, how there are mountains of clutter, and that wet soggy feeling you get because it’s late in the summer, or it’s raining, and you are dealing with all of these other movers,” said Kenice Mobley, one of the creators of the web series.

The series, which was the brainchild of Jared Vincenti, the director, Melissa McVay, and Mobley, all BU grads, was funded by a Kickstarter campaign that they launched last year. The team put together more than $6,000—even Red Sox owner John Henry’s wife, Linda Pizzuti, pitched in—to pay for the production.

Mobley said her and about 40 others, including videographers, volunteers, residents, writers, and friends, spent months last year filming the 12-episode show, which follows a group of young people as they strain under the weight of moving and question their attachments to material things.

To really capture the essence of Allston Christmas, the group started filming during last year’s move-in day, and added some extra scenes in the months that followed, including one where they toss an old couch off of a roof.

“[People] can expect to see some of Boston’s great acting talent—there are great actors from the community who have been featured in other web series and shorts, and a few who have been on TV. We were lucky to get those people who were willing to work with us,” said Mobley. “People will really get to see scenes of the neighborhood they love. We have some things that are a little more dramatic and heartfelt than others, and some that are pretty funny and ridiculous. It’s a variety of things.”

“Allston Xmas” will air one episode a day for the first 12 days of September, and be preceded by an “Allston Christmas Eve Party” at Great Scott, where people can meet the cast and get a sneak peek of the show.

“I think it’s going to be something to watch after people spend the day moving,” said Mobley. “After they have settled in, they can watch it and commiserate. Or just generally enjoy the horrible experience of other people.”

You can watch a trailer for the show below: