Have you ever ever watched a vacation rom-com on Hallmark Channel or Lifetime — or any of the opposite many networks and streamers that now air them — and thought, “I could write that”? It’s more durable than chances are you’ll assume — however simply as enjoyable.
Common writers of Christmas fare for Hallmark Channel, Nice American Household and Lifetime share the ins and outs, misconceptions and exceptions to writing a Christmas TV film.
Christmas is three hundred and sixty five days a yr
Some say the vacation season goes by rapidly, however for these whose jobs rely upon it, Christmas is all the time on the mind. Writers are all the time on the lookout for their subsequent gig, so there’s no actual downtime between assignments. The stress is all the time on to give you concepts, get them bought and get writing.
“I feel like when I’m not writing Christmas movies, I’m pitching Christmas movies, so I feel like it’s Christmas all year round,” stated Anna White, who govt produced and wrote “The Holiday Junkie,” directed by and starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, which premiered Saturday on Lifetime.
It may be difficult, nevertheless, to get into the mindset of Christmas when life outdoors doesn’t match the world you’re creating. Rick Garman, who wrote the 2023 Hallmark Channel hit movie “Christmas on Cherry Lane,” together with its three sequels this yr for Hallmark+, typically writes Christmas films in June.
A resident of Savannah, Ga., he says the excessive warmth and humidity is usually a slog. When these moments bubble up, Garman has skilled himself to assume massive image. “I sort of flip back to this idea that people are going to watch this movie and it’s going to make them happy … and then I sort of get over myself.”
Cookie-cutter tales
Typically writing a script for a Christmas TV film might be like listening to the identical vacation track on repeat.
“If you look at the hundreds and hundreds of Christmas movies over the last several years, it is tricky to come up with a different idea or a new twist on an old idea or a classic,” stated Cara Russell, an govt producer of “Christmas Under the Northern Lights,” which debuted on Nice American Household in November.
Promoting an thought or a script may cause deja vu, says Nina Weinman, whose 2024 providing was “Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle” for Hallmark.
“I pitched a Christmas idea, and they were like, ‘It’s so good that we have something identical to that already in development,’” she stated. “You’re like, ‘OK, somebody else got there first.’ That happens.”
That is the place writers need to push themselves to search out alternative ways to inform tales, White stated. She asks herself, “What is a new hook into this? What is something we’ve never seen? What is a world we’ve never seen? What is a topic we’ve never explored? That’s kind of hard, because obviously now every channel everywhere does a million Christmas movies, but that’s the challenge.”
Garman admits attempting to consider contemporary concepts to maintain himself as properly. “There’s only so many times that they can bake cookies,” he stated.
No recipe required
Many marvel if there’s a system to writing a Christmas film with sure standards that have to be met like “mistletoe kiss, check.”
Weinman says completely not.
“That is not true,” she stated. “I don’t know where the rumor started that there’s a list out there. There’s not.”
Telling completely different tales
Weinman credit Hallmark Channel for branching out in recent times with its Christmas content material.
“There wasn’t a lot of creative freedom when I first started writing these movies,” she stated. “Now they’ve found you have to go bigger or go bolder if you want the people to keep coming back. And they are. I see a lot of feedback that the audience loves the big swings.”
Weinman is particularly pleased with a film she wrote that debuted final yr on Hallmark known as “Catch Me If You Claus” that was extra of a caper. “I wrote that movie 10 years ago,” she stated. “It was too broad for a while. They finally said yes.”
In recent times, Hallmark Channel and Lifetime added Christmas films with LGBTQ storylines and Hanukkah-themed movies, too. This yr, Julie Sherman Wolfe, who’s Jewish, wrote each “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” and “Hanukkah on the Rocks” for Hallmark Channel. Her first Hanukkah-themed film was “Hanukkah on Rye” from 2022.
“I got to release everything anyone in my family has ever said or done that’s funny or touching or just culturally significant to Hanukkah,” she stated. “I just threw it all into that.”
Maintain the Christmas vibes
With no guidelines to observe, it’s useful to do not forget that those that tune in are followers of the style. In different phrases, if you wish to promote a Christmas film to a community, maintain it Christmas-y.
“There’s not going to be sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll,” Weinman stated. “That’s never going to happen. It’s always staying on brand.”
“It’s comfort food,” Garman added. “The couple is going to end up together. Nobody’s going to die.”
Garman has taught courses on writing Christmas films and tells college students to do not forget that Christmas drives the story: “How does the Christmas spirit help people achieve their goal, or how does it bring these two people together, or how do they find their way back to something because of Christmas?”
And on the earth of TV films about Christmas, dangerous guys aren’t “an outright villain or a caricature,” Russell stated. As a substitute, Garman describes them as “misguided” individuals who “usually learn their lesson by the end. Knowing that everything’s going to be OK at the end of this two hours is why people watch.”
Countdown begins early
Some folks put their Christmas tree up as quickly as they’re achieved handing out Halloween sweet. Networks are conscious of this and able to meet the demand.
Hallmark Channel kicked off its annual Countdown to Christmas with unique movies and repeats starting Oct. 18. Lifetime waited till pumpkin spice lattes had cooled and began its schedule on Nov. 16.