I have to be transparent: I was nervous about the 2023 Christmas movies schedule. While Hallmark’s upcoming fall lineup seems chock full of winners, due to the ongoing writers and actor’s strikes, no productions have been filmed for months, and I had a very bad feeling about what TV would be like during the season of hot chocolate, festive holiday crafts and ooey-gooey endings. Apparently, I didn’t need to fear, however, because Hallmark will actually still be releasing 40 brand-spanking-new holiday movies this season.
A few months ago, it seemed like the holiday lineup at Hallmark would very much be affected by the ongoing strikes. While we’d known some movies had filmed as far back as January, we also knew others had seemingly just been getting underway when the actors on strike hunkered down. When that information ran around, my impression was that we would get some holiday movies during Countdown to Christmas this year, but not all. Instead, it seems like the network is managing to release about the same number of movies the network released in 2022.
That’s an impressive feat, given most productions (with a few exceptions) have been shut down since July 14, and productions that were currently being written have been shut down for even longer, with the WGA strikes beginning in May and news only breaking this weekend a tentative agreement had been reached. It also gives fans a better indication of how long the cabler is really working in advance to cement its holiday lineup this year –a lucrative time of year for the network, given the popularity of the programming and the fact that ad spend is a lot higher around the holidays.
Given what we know of filming from the past, and given Hallmark has a full spring and summer slate of romance movies, as well, I would have assumed we would be short content this winter. And yet, from the sounds of things, filming early occurred because the network was actually anticipating the strikes. In a statement, EVP of Programming Lisa Hamilton Daly told Variety the network simply got ahead of the game this year with the expectation the business could be shut down for some time.
Christmas is a year-round business at Hallmark, so we were able to mitigate early in the year understanding that the strikes were unfortunately imminent. We’re grateful to meet all our goals for a full, all-new holiday slate and to bring our viewers the content they love most to celebrate the season.
It turned out to be a prescient move.
Interestingly, in the past, actresses like Candace Cameron Bure have complained about wearing sweaters and coats while filming holiday movies in the heat in Canada in the middle of the summer. However, at least this year it seems the powers that be at Hallmark began work much further in advance.
What’s Going On With Other Networks?
While we know Hallmark has added multiple movies from Lacey Chabert and a special holiday flick filmed at the historic Biltmore, what’s going on with other networks that are known for holiday programming?
Well, it seems other brands with holiday slates went in this direction too. Lifetime should still air Christmas movies this season. And Hallmark rival GAF also reportedly wrapped fully on its own holiday slate. So, while the actors strike may be continuing, no one is going to have to sacrifice their hot chocolate and marshmallows this year. Tis the season, indeed.