Becoming Santa

Jack Sanderson

What does it take to become Santa Claus? A 40-something man in L.A. gives it everything he’s got  – and learns that there is a lot more to being a great Santa than a hearty  'Ho, Ho, Ho.'

Jack Sanderson decides that the best way to rediscover the Christmas spirit is to climb into a Santa suit and spend one season as Old Saint Nick. Director Jeff Myers follows Jack on his journey as he bleaches his beard, buys a custom-made Santa suit and signs up for Santa School. Then the real test – a flurry of Santa jobs that leave him exhausted, exhilarated and a little overwhelmed. Santa Jack rides in the 57th Annual Quincy Christmas Parade in Massachusetts, appears on the Susquehanna Railroad's 'Polar Express' in New Jersey and delivers presents in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve.

Jack Sanderson

Along the way, Jack learns the great responsibility that comes with making a child’s wishes come true. Santa School instructor Susen Mesco teaches her novice Clauses everything from how to answer the tough questions (Can you get my parents back together? Can you deliver a message to heaven?), to the right way to pose for pictures and how to handle terrified toddlers.

John Stocker, a Conductor on the Susquehanna Polar Express, guides Jack through six grueling hours of Santa visits on a moving train. In Quincy, Massachusetts, Parade Organizer George White sends him, unrehearsed, into a crowd of a hundred tots and then puts him atop a fire truck in a position of dubious safety.

Wrapped around Jack's journey into Christmas, like the red stripe around a candy cane, are interviews with professional Santas, Santa aficionados and historians who provide the fascinating little known history of Santa Claus in North America and the reasons for his enduring appeal today.