A love story penned by a Bermudian screenwriter is warming hearts this Christmas with a touch of island flair.

Helen Zoellner said she was excited about her first film, A Toast to Love, which is already available on streaming apps in the United States and is set to arrive on YouTube in February.

She said: “Seeing it was amazing. It was such a rush. I spent so long wondering if it was going to happen that to have it out is really something.”

According to the official summary by distributor Candlelight Media, the film follows Bree, a marine archaeologist working to save her research programme.

“She is given the opportunity to work on the shipwreck of La Mariana with handsome archaeologist Finn and finds sealed wine. A wealthy potential investor wants the love story behind the wine in order to make and market a synthetic version.

“Spanish winemaker Mateo Vega helps her uncover the story and Bree discovers not only a connection to his family but maybe a love connection of her own. Will she honour her promise to keep the story secret or use it to secure her research programme’s future?”

While the story is set in the Spanish island of Ibiza, Ms Zoellner said she was inspired by the story of wine discovered in the shipwreck of the Mary Celeste off the coast of Bermuda.

“I was working with Conservation Services and Philippe Rouja was doing his shipwreck stuff of the Mary Celeste and they had found this bottle of wine,” she said.

“The story follows this lead character who goes to Ibiza and basically falls in love with this winemaker who helps her discover the story of this pink wine made by this winemaker in the 1800s for his true love and it went down on this shipwreck.”

Ms Zoellner said that she had first tried her hand at creative writing by entering the Famous for 15 Minutes playwriting competition, which she credited for giving her the courage to pursue her writing passion.

“Suddenly I wasn’t just writing into a vacuum,” she said. “If I were just writing for myself, it would still be cathartic.

“When I did Famous, I realised that people were laughing, people were feeling emotions because of something I wrote. If I hadn’t done Famous, I know I wouldn’t have done this.”

She said the opportunity to write A Toast to Love came out of her friendship with Brook Burfitt, an actress and Bermuda resident.

“We met through the Meet a Mum Association five years ago,” she said. “I just had my first son and I recognised Brook from the movie Maternal Secrets.

“I wasn’t very cool about it and I approached her and we started talking and becoming friends and I told her that I like to write.”

Ms Zoellner said that she shared some of her writing with Ms Burfitt and, about four years ago, the actress approached her about writing a film to be shot in Ibiza.

“It was Christmas, literally and metaphorically,” she said. “What I had sent her was a Hallmark-esque thing that I had written in a vacuum. I had taken two weeks off just to write, doing ten pages a day.”

In addition to Ms Burfitt, the film’s cast expanded to include Daniel Lundh, Caprice, Mark Labett, Callum Kerr, Nicholas Farrell and Peter Andre, with the last being a particular highlight for Ms Zoellner.

“When I was in boarding school, I had him on a poster on my wall,” she said. “He was coming out of the water shirtless and flicking water.

“He is just a guest appearance, but it was a huge thing for me that he was in it.”

Ms Zoellner said that fellow Bermudian Andrew Kirkpatrick was also involved in the production of the film, serving as a cinematographer.

“His videography work is just incredible,” she said. “Andrew is just really, really talented.”

A small portion of the film was also shot in Bermuda, with Ms Burfitt filming a scene at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo, while Ms Zoellner said that she had received funding from the Bermuda Arts Council, which went to support the film project.

A Toast to Love is available now in the United States on Amazon Prime, Spark TV, Vizio WatchFree and coming soon on Tubi.

The film will be available for viewing on YouTube — arriving just in time for Valentine’s Day — on February 7.