Holy cow and Merry Xmas! I've noticed Hallmark and couple of other channels are going crazy with nonstop Christmas movies. My wife tapes and watches a ton of them and has for the past several years. By diffusion, I occasionally find myself viewing bits and pieces of them. A common plot seems to be an attractive young city woman, with a high-powered or stressful job, returning home to a small town. Or sometimes their car breaks down or their plane is delayed, which forces them to seek the refuge of a small town. The lovely lady protagonists then apply their talents to saving a bakery, coffee shop or some other small business, typically owned by their parents. They undoubtedly will fall in love with local a guy or possibly rekindle a romance with an old flame. Sorry to generalize, but I've seen at least a dozen with this plot line. But I digress.
Every few weeks, I see producers advertising for Christmas scripts. So I figure there must be a hell of a market for them. One of my Stage 32 friends has her Christmas story at Hallmark Productions, on a list to be reviewed for possible production. It makes old Phil wonder if I should bang one of these out and see what happens. I know! How mercenary can I be! Don't answer that. It was a rhetorical question.
What say you? Do you have a Christmas script suitable for Hallmark or another cable network? Or better yet, have you sold one already?
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Hallmark/Crown Media does a great job every year in accomplishing its production goals. Some detractors might detest the formulas of their films, but...whatever, right? "Haters gonna hate," as Dan MaxXx would say. But they certainly know their demographics in their various endeavors, they certainly engage many viewers, and they certainly do well every year. And they put a lot of creatives and non-creatives to work.
I've been following the story of Chicago high-school maintenance worker Rikk Dunlap, an author whose novel Christmas Under the Stars was adapted into a Hallmark Christmas film that aired last week. Major kudos to Rikk Dunlap - and it was an unpublished novel to boot.
Talk about the makings of another Hallmark film!
But they gave him the Hollywood Treatment like they do with many. They flew hiim to Hollywood...he attended the premiere and walked the red carpet....he got to experience his first Pink's hot dog (the Betty White Combo)...saw his first palm tree...got to travel the famous boulevards and through the iconic canyons...and had an all-around great time. And he was interviewed by dozens of media outlets over the past few months. And his writing career has advanced a step. He now has a set of memories that will last a lifetime, and I love when writers win.
I personally don't have any aspirations to write a Hallmark-type Christmas film, nor did I watch Christmas Under the Stars, which is a great story, and which I am sure netted a lovely film. And like I said above...I'm always happy when a writer wins.
Best fortunes in your creative endeavors, Phillip!
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Ah, the old stressful job female protagonist goes home for the holidays Christmas movie... I love them. It's not just Hallmark, even Reece Witherspoon and Vince Vaugn star in four christmases which did well at box office. I watch it every year on TV. There are a lot of movies like those because who can resist them... I can't wait.
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CJ: That's a good bit of info. I'm working with someone who could probably get me in the door. But we're already working several other projects. Hallmark doesn't take unsolicited submissions, which is pretty much the same news with everyone else making television product.
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Most of the Hallmark movies aren't produced by WGA covered contracts unfortunately so they are kind of a "churn and burn" as far as writing is concerned. Quick buck and a hand off from what I've heard.
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the Cartel (management/production co) are pros at doing x-mas movies.
I asked my 9-year Niece and her friends to help me outline a "TikTok" X-mas movie.
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CJ: Good suggestion. I have another project concept for Hallmark that isn't Christmas material. I think I'll develop a logline and synopsis and shop them together before I spend any time writing them.
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I write dark depressing drama. The thought of me
writing a Xmas script made me laugh.
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I was contacted by a producer about one of my Christmas scripts; we're waiting now to hear from Hallmark if it gets a green light.
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I am not a religious person but believe in all the values that they typically encase. However I enjoy the those movies and have written a novel that will soon be made into a screenplay. I would love to pitch it to Hallmark.
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With the exception of a few, Christmas and faith based movies tend to annoy me. Especially if contrite and try to "give me the answers" as I prefer to wrestle, think, explore, reflect. (That's why Jars of Clay are so successful as they go against the contrite style of faith based music) Anyway, there are some good Xmas/Hallmark/Faith based movies for sure. Defs dont wanna chuck out baby with bathwater. (Mercy Streets with David White and Eric Roberts I really liked) I am also always surprised at some of the well known/big stars they sometimes pull in to star in these Xmas/Hallmark/Faith movies. I often wonder if many of these stars do the film for free or to "give back" as from a money/profit point of view, they must go into the project knowing it wont make a lot.
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Jerry R: Great news and best of luck!
Pete: As a believer, I'm not a huge fan of most faith based movies because they tend to hit the viewer over the head with the message. I've written two gritty bible based stories about Paul the Apostle and an adventure/time travel story about a modern motivational speaker transported back to the Holy Land to spend three days with Jesus and his disciples. These scripts have both won awards but I rarely pitch them because they're both period piece stories.
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Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique they both sound like very interesting projects. But period pieces hard to sell/expensive to make. Having a modern neo-lib style motivational speaker going back to that time would be great film. Would he end like the rich young ruler or have a "Zacchieus moment" and "repay back everyone he fleeced?" And I love watching docos on St. Paul so to see a good film on him would be fascinating. Good luck with those projects. Hope they come to light one day.
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I've sat through countless Hallmark movies over the years. I can say that some of the Christmas movies they have put out more recently are pretty good quality, probably due to the push for better production quality from subscription services. That said, I've even been thinking about doing one. They, for the most part, seem to have a blueprint or a formula they are looking for.
I've actually been thinking about this market recently myself. Hell, I might aim to jump in that market Christmas 2020! :D I mean, it is one of the best times of the year, and a Christmas film always just hit you right in the feels.
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Bill Costantini I just had to Google Rikk - what a story! There's encouragement there for every writer at any level; I hope he continues having success without getting "Hollywood-ized." Great advice, CJ Walley about searching IMDb - if that was a path I wanted to take. But I'm with Phillip E. Hardy, Prolifique; I'm a believer, too, but my scripture-based concepts are period or big-budget with different perspectives, and definitely no bible-thumping. That's why I don't do Christmas or Easter - my Christmas movie would be more like Die Hard than MIracle on 34th Street!
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Elf! Just love it
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Here's how they do it behind closed corporate doors. X-mas screenplay structure exposed :)
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CJ Walley lol. Execs want easy plots, not execution-heavy plots. Nobody wants to take risks and lose their cushy salary jobs.
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My only entry is a family-friendly Christmas Western.
I have a published book, a collection of short stories, titled ''Christmas Time! See link at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1951263677/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0. Would be great having it optioned!
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Better to pitch and create a "one sheet" for the concept. If you write a full screenplay on spec, it will have so many changes due to the fact the network was not involved in the creation of the concept. It's hard once the script is written and it not exactly what they are looking for in terms of concept. Your one sheet can be changed to fit their concepts and it's a hell of a lot less work for sure. And then you get paid to write it on assignment.
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It's far easier to write a "one sheet" for the concept rather than spending precious time on the spec hoping it fits into their programming. What is hot this year will not be next. Buyers are always changing their notes based upon recent demos. You have to have an inside ear to learn what a network is looking for in the upcoming season. And it's much harder to change a written script that doesn't exactly fit into their programming needs - than changing a one sheet concept for sure. It definitely has moved from kids to romance during Christmas in the recent concepts. If your spec doesn't fit their needs, it's rejected and you have to go elsewhere hoping that other network didn't have a similar story that was produced in previous years. There are so many Christmas films being made it's hard to come up with something that hasn't already been done.