By Carter James
So, you’ve been lying on your couch, watching some Christmas movies at home. What kind of Christmas movies, you ask? Why, ones made by Hallmark, of course! Because you’ve watched so many Hallmark Christmas movies, you’ve begun to notice a formula with them, and now you’ve decided to make your own. Where do you start? Well, I’m here to teach YOU how to make your own Hallmark Christmas movie, in just a few easy steps.
Step 1: Title. One of the first things you need to do is write a title for your movie. Thankfully, they are easy to come up with, as they always have the word “Christmas” somewhere in the title.
Step 2: Characters. The protagonist should be a successful businesswoman from the city, born in a small town, and probably working in some vague career. The antagonist should be a corporate big shot who wants to invest in the small town’s failing business, usually a lodge or a tree lot, but in reality, they just want to either turn it into a corporate copy or just shut it down completely. There can be multiple love interests in the movie, which include the guy who is all work and no Christmas, the other guy who loves Christmas as much as the protagonist does, a single parent, and even the antagonist can be a love interest (more on that later). Sometimes, the boyfriend is secretly a prince. The movie can also include a kid who plays matchmaker for the single parent.
Step 3: Setting. The main settings in Hallmark Christmas movies are the big city, and the small town, the latter being where most of the story takes place. No matter the place, they all take place during Christmastime. Sometimes, there’s royalty involved, sometimes there’s time travel involved (yes, you read that correctly). No matter what the setting is, it always snows on Christmas.
Step 4: Plot. I’ve already said most of this in the last 2 steps, but I’ll recap it for you anyway. So basically, in most Hallmark Christmas movies, the plot follows a successful businesswoman, born in a small town, who is living in the city. She decides to visit the small town for the holidays. There, she meets a guy, either a local, a single parent, or even the corporate big shot. The protagonist also visits whatever parent they have left, because they miss one of them dearly. She also decides to enter the Christmas competition, usually a baking contest, parade float decorating, or a talent show at school. Sometimes, there’s Christmas songs in the movie. Near the end of the movie, “Santa” helps fix the small town’s problem. In the end of some Hallmark movies, the Christmas ceremony saves the town, and the antagonist no longer wants to do what they originally wanted to do because of the time they spent in the town. In others, the characters learn the real meaning of Christmas, that being family, and the guy and protagonist end up together.
Step 5: Actors. Now, there are two ways you can do this. You can either film with your friends and family (provided they look like your typical Hallmark characters), or you can hire the actual actors you see in your favorite Hallmark movies. According to an article by Amanda Prahl, here are some actors you can enlist: Jessica Lowndes, Alicia Witt, Luke Macfarlene, Autumn Reeser, Taylor Cole, Danica McKellar, Brennan Elliott, Andrew Walker, Lacey Chabert, and Candace Cameron Bure. “Who are those people?” you may ask. I don’t know, but Hallmark does! I think Keanu Reeves should be in a Hallmark or Lifetime movie.
Step 6: Filming. Now that you got everything else out of the way, it’s time for filming! You can either film them in your home, your backyard, your neighborhood, a small town, or somewhere with mountains. Don’t worry, there won’t be any drama (not any that I’m aware of at least)!
Step 7: Showing. This is it. You’ve finally made your movie, and now it’s time to show it on TV. All you have to do is go to the Hallmark offices, prepare to ask them to show your movie, realize that they won’t show your home videos, and then just show your neighborhood or family the movie you’ve made. It doesn't matter what they think of it because they will be watching it every year, along with other hallmark favorites, such as “The Nine Kittens of Christmas,” “Christmas in Tahoe,” “Battle of the Bulbs,” and “Next Stop Christmas.” (All of those are real, by the way, and that last one is about time travel.)
Now you know how to make your own Hallmark Christmas movie! The next time you pour yourself a mug of Chai and sit on your couch to watch TV, know that you’ve made something anyone will enjoy during the holidays, whether they actually want to watch it or not.
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Sources:
Prahl, Amanda. “The 10 Actors You Always See in Hallmark Channel Movies.” POPSUGAR Entertainment, 5 Nov. 2021, https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Which-Actors-Have-Been-Most-Hallmark-Movies-45523532.
Holland, Stephanie. “15 Most Common Tropes in Hallmark Christmas Movies.” ScreenRant, 5 Sept. 2021, https://screenrant.com/hallmark-christmas-movies-tropes/.