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Photo: Kristoffer Polaha, Lacey Chabert

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Eva Rut Hjaltadottir

Filmed on location in spectacular Iceland, The Christmas Quest airs as part of the popular Countdown to Christmas 2024.

Lacey Chabert and Kristoffer Polaha are starring for the first time together in the new, original movie, The Christmas Quest.

Meanwhile, Lacey’s 15th Christmas movie was filmed on location in Iceland and premieres on December 1 as part of Hallmark Channel’s Countdown To Christmas 2024. Read on to find out more about the movie and its cast and watch a trailer.

The Christmas Quest on Hallmark Channel Photo: Lacey Chabert

Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Eva Rut Hjaltadottir

According to the official synopsis, the movie, filmed in the breathtaking backdrop of Iceland tells the story of archaeologist Stefanie (Chabert). She embarks on a mission to track down the legendary Treasure of the Yule Lads, a quest that was her late mother’s lifelong dream.

Hallmark Christmas movies have become a staple of each holiday period, and Netflix will provide several new movies of this ilk in November 2024. Most of the best Hallmark movies tend to center around Christmas, with the production company often featuring feel-good themes and characters that warm the heart. Although some of Hallmark's wildest Christmas movies can exaggerate some elements of the holidays, the brand has managed to solidify itself as a cornerstone of the Christmas period, with people often viewing them across November and December each year.

While not every Hallmark production ranks among the best Christmas movies of all time, most tend to be enjoyable, inoffensive stories that capture the spirit of Christmas to get people in the Yuletide mood. As of November 2024, Netflix will be embracing this. The streaming giant has been home to many holiday-themed movies over the years, with its collection only growing thanks to Hallmark.

Photo: Skyler Samuels, Kapil Talwalkar Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Albert Camicioli

Hallmark Media has announced the details for a new, original movie, My Dreams of You, starring Skyler Samuels and Kapil Talwalker.

The movie is set to premiere on August 10 on Hallmark Channel as part of the feel-good network’s Summer Nights Movie Stunt. Read on to find out more about the movie and see beautiful photos taken on the film set.

Skyler Samuels and Kapil Talwalkar star in My Dreams of You on Hallmark Photo: Kapil Talwalkar, Skyler Samuels Credit: ©2024 Hallmark Media/Photographer: Albert Camicioli

According to the official synopsis, My Dreams of You tells the story of a woman who dreams about a man she has never met. Meanwhile, this is due to a clerical error in Dream Central. As time runs out, Grace McMahon (Skyler Samuels) tries to find him before any memories of each other are erased.

Gleb Savchenko is the choreographer for the waltzes in Danica McKellar’s new movie A Royal Christmas Ball [Image @danicamckellar/Instagram]

Exciting holiday news is here about a new Great American Family movie titled A Royal Christmas Ball (working title). The movie is set to star Danica McKellar and Oliver Rice and will premiere during the Great American Christmas 2024 programming event. Read on to find out more about the movie and its cast.

Danica McKellar & Oliver Rice in A Royal Christmas Ball Danica McKellar [Image @danicamckellar/Instagram]

According to the press release, Great American Family has announced a new, original holiday movie, A Royal Christmas Ball (working title).

The movie is set to star fan-favorite Danica McKellar and Oliver Rice and will air as part of the network’s Great American Christmas 2024 programming event.

Fans have previously seen Danica in A Royal Date for Christmas and Swing into Romance, while Rice is known for his...

Exclusive: Danica McKellar and Oliver Rice have booked their next flick for Great American Family. The duo will star in A Royal Christmas Ball, with waltzes choreographed by Dancing With the Stars pro Gleb Savchenko.

Production begins this week on the movie that will premiere this November as part of Great American Christmas 2024.

In A Royal Christmas Ball, Chelsea Jones (McKellar) is a dance instructor and studio owner in Chicago who inspires kids to find themselves through dance. Just before Christmas, Chelsea discovers a photo she’s never seen before. Chelsea thinks the young woman is her birth mother who passed away when she was only five years old. The woman is in a wedding dress tugging on the hand of a man wearing a wedding ring, but that is all that can be seen of the...

Summer hasn’t even started yet, but we’ve already got Christmas on our minds!

Hallmark announced today that two of the network’s most beloved stars have wrapped filming on an upcoming holiday movie for 2024.

It’s hard to believe that Lacey Chabert and Kristoffer Polaha have not worked together before, but we’re about to see them in action.

That’s a very literal description of their upcoming movies, and we could not be more excited.

If you are a fan of Hallmark Christmas, you know that these two stars brought forth the very best for the 2023 season.

Chabert had not one but two Christmas movies in 2023.

She starred in a sequel to Haul Out the Holly called Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up, which brought more hijinks to a suburban neighborhood devoted to decorating for Christmas.

She also starred in A Merry Scottish Christmas, which was one...

Lacey Chabert (Young Justice, Mean Girls) and Kristoffer Polaha (Jurassic World Dominion, Ringer), who starred in Hallmark favorites A Merry Scottish Christmas and A Biltmore Christmas, respectively, have joined forces for the network’s newest holiday film set and shot on location in Iceland.

The duo wrapped production on the adventure-romance The Christmas Quest, premiering later this year as part of Hallmark’s 15th annual Countdown to Christmas programming event. The film also marks Chabert’s 15th (!!!) Hallmark Christmas movie.

More from TVLineCandace Cameron Bure in <em>A Christmas Less Traveled</em>: Get Exclusive First Look at New Great American Family...

Exclusive: Danica McKellar, who inked a multi-picture deal with Great American Family in 2021, is set to star in Royal Christmas Ball, an original holiday movie premiering as part of the network’s Great American Christmas 2023.

In addition to starring in the film, McKellar wrote the story with Marcy Holland and serves as one of the film’s executive producers.

In Royal Christmas Ball, Chelsea Shaw, a Chicago-based dance instructor whose adoptive parents have long since passed, travels to the small European country of Havenshire over Christmas break in search of her heritage… and maybe even family. Discovering that the only way to get access to information she needs on her quest is via the royal family, she accepts an offer to teach a very reluctant Prince a special Waltz for the traditional Royal Christmas Ball. By the end of this Christmas adventure, Chelsea finds love, answers to her deepest questions,...

The freshman series “Abbott Elementary,” “Andor,” “The Bear” and “Severance” and returnees “Better Call Saul,” “Hacks” and “Barry” are among the nominees for the 2023 Writers Guild Awards for television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing announced today by WGA West and WGA East. “The Bear,” “Severance” and “Saul” all landed three nominations apiece, as did “The Simpsons” in animation. “Yellowjackets” and “The Crown” will join “Saul,” “Andor” and “Severance” in the drama series lineup, while comedy series features “Only Murders in the Building” taking on “The Bear,” “Hacks,” “Barry” and “Abbott.” In the new series category, “Bad Sisters” fills out the list alongside “Andor,” “Abbott,” “The Bear” and “Severance.” Vying in the limited series lineup are “The Dropout,” “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” “Pam & Tommy,” “The Staircase” and Emmy/Golden Globes champ “The White Lotus.” See‘Abbott Elementary,’ ‘The White Lotus,’ ‘House of the Dragon’ among big TV...

AMC’s veteran drama series “Better Call Saul” is sharing the spotlight with newcomers FX’s “The Bear” and Apple TV+’s “Severance,” as all three shows scored three nominations for this year’s WGA Awards. Other new series nabbing multiple nominations include Apple TV+’s “Bad Sisters,” ABC’s “Abbott Elementary,” and Disney+’s “Andor,” with HBO Max’s “Hacks” also garnering two mentions.

The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) announced nominees for TV and news categories on Wednesday morning. Winners will be awarded at the guilds’ annual ceremony on March 5.

In animation, Fox’s “The Simpsons” was thrice nominated, with network stablemate “Bob’s Burgers,” Prime Video’s “Undone,” and Adult Swim’s “Tuca and Bertie” rounding out the category.

For limited series, Hulu and HBO/HBO Max split the category, with Hulu’s “The Dropout,” “Fleishman Is In Trouble,” and...

Newcomers “The Bear” and “Severance” and departing drama “Better Call Saul” were among the frontrunners, with three nominations each, as Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America, East announced nominations for outstanding achievement in television, new media, news, radio/audio, and promotional writing during 2022. Winners will be honored at the Writers Guild Awards ceremony taking place Sunday, March 5, 2023. Here are this year’s noms:

Drama Series

“Andor” — Written by Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Stephen Schiff, Beau Willimon; Disney+

“Better Call Saul” — Written by Ann Cherkis, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Ariel Levine, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock; AMC

“The Crown” — Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix

Severance, Written by Chris Black, Andrew Colville, Kari Drake, Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman, Helen Leigh, Anna Moench, Amanda Overton; Apple TV+

“Yellowjackets” — Written by Cameron Brent Johnson, Katherine Kearns, Jonathan Lisco, Ashley Lyle, Bart Nickerson, Liz Phang, Ameni Rozsa, Sarah L. Thompson,...

The Writers Guild of America has revealed the nominations for its 75th anniversary WGA Awards in the television, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional categories. The full list is below.

Nominees in the marquee TV categories include reigning Comedy Series champ Hacks, but 2022’s Drama Series winner Succession isn’t in play this year. In fact, only Yellowjackets makes a return trip to the nominees circle in that category. It will go up against the category’s newcomers: Andor, Better Call Saul, The Crown and Severance.

Related: 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Grammys, Guilds & More

Meanwhile, Hacks will vie for the Comedy Series prize against triple Golden Globe winner Abbott Elementary, The Bear and Only Murders in the Building — all of which also are up for New Series trophy — and Barry. Andor and The Bear round out the New Series combatants.

The Limited Series race will be among The Dropout,...

The Writers Guild has revealed its nominees in the categories of TV, new media, news, radio/audio and promotional writing.

Abbott Elementary, Andor, Bad Sisters, The Bear and Severance were all nominated in the new series category; Abbott and The Bear also earned nominations for comedy series, while Andor and Severance earned nods for drama.

Better Call Saul, The Crown and Yellowjackets also earned drama nods, while Barry, Hacks and Only Murders in the Building picked up comedy nominations.

The limited series nominees include The Dropout, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Pam & Tommy, The Staircase and The White Lotus.

Better Call Saul earned two additional nominations in the episodic drama category, which also includes nods for Bad Sisters, The Good Fight, Ozark and Severance. In the episodic comedy category, The Bear faces off against Grace and Frankie, Hacks, Julia, Reservation Dogs and What We Do in the Shadows. A notable...

Hallmark has aired its final original movie premiere of the 2022 Countdown to Christmas programming event, and that can only mean one thing:

What's on tap for 2023?

Well, Hallmark dropped some exciting news on Tuesday.

Hallmark unwrapped its first original holiday movie for 2023 with A Biltmore Christmas, starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha.

The new original movie will enter production this January in Asheville, North Carolina, at the historic Biltmore Estate, renowned for its classic holiday traditions since 1895.

"Although this National Historic Landmark has been home to many productions over the years, this movie marks the first time Biltmore Estate itself serves as the setting," Hallmark teases.

"Each year, we look for ways to create exciting, new holiday viewing experiences for our audience," enthused Samantha Dipippo, Senior Vice President, Development, Programming, Hallmark Media.

"We know fans will love being transported back in time, and the iconic, beautiful Biltmore Estate is...

Hallmark Channel is planning ahead. Next month, the network will begin production on their first holiday movie of 2023.

“A Biltmore Christmas,” led by Bethany Joy Lenz and Kristoffer Polaha, will film entirely on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, a national historic landmark known for its classic holiday traditions. Dustin Rikert serves as executive producer with Andrew Gernhard producing. John Putch directs the script, written by Marcy Holland.

“Each year we look for ways to create exciting, new holiday viewing experiences for our audience,” says Samantha Dipippo, senior vice president of development and programming at Hallmark Media. “We know fans will love being transported back in time and the iconic, beautiful Biltmore Estate is the perfect setting to help fans get into the holiday spirit.”

Lenz, best known for her role on “One Tree Hill,” has starred in many movies for Hallmark through the years, including “Poinsettias for Christmas...

Last year while Holly Robinson Peete was promoting her two Hallmark holiday films, she mentioned she wanted to do one featuring someone on the autism spectrum. Now, she has her chance.

Peete stars in and executive produces “The Christmas Bond” (working title), a new 2021 holiday movie for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries that also stars Lyriq Bent and Nik Sanchez, Variety has learned exclusively.

The film, which is set to begin production now, follows a single mother (played by Peete) and her teenage son with autism (played by Sanchez), who come to a crossroad during Christmas. In doing so, she must learn to let go so her son can flourish, but in the process she will find her “heart healing in unexpected ways,” the network said.

“I am making this movie for my son Rj, others with autism and their families,” said Peete. “I am grateful to Hallmark for bringing this story to screen with authenticity,...

The trailer recently dropped for The Funhouse Massacre, and it kicks off this morning's round-up. Also: a Kickstarter launch for Zombie Mouth Bubblegum, acquisition news for Terrordactyl, and Horror Hotel Season 2 premiere details.

The Funhouse Massacre: "The film, directed by Andy Palmer, stars Robert Englund, Jere Burns, Scottie Thompson, Clint Howard and Courtney Gains. The Funhouse Massacre, which was produced by Warner Davis, President of Petri Entertainment, will hit theaters in 15-20 U.S. markets on Friday, November 13th.

On Halloween night, a gruesome group of the United States' most notorious and colorful serial killers escape from Statesville Asylum and descend on a giant funhouse whose theme is based on their different reigns of terror. The unsuspecting carnival goers think that the carnage created is just part of the show, that is, until they become part of the main attraction. The only people left to stop them are a ragtag group of college kids,...

A darkly comedic spin on a familiar tale, Maggie Kiley’s Caught is an energetic and clever cat-and-mouse thriller revolving around the determination of one woman to preserve the sanctity of her marriage after she finds out she’s been cheated on. Written by Marcy Holland, Caught features a powerful and hilarious performance from True Blood’s Anna Camp and also co-stars Stefanie Scott (Insidious Chapter 3), Amelia Rose Blaire ( True Blood) and Sam Page (Mad Men) as the trio who must endure her madness after things go horribly awry.

Caught’s initial set-up is pretty straightforward; Sabrina (Camp) is a tightly-wound housewife who strives for perfection but discovers that her husband Justin (Page) is sleeping with a younger woman named Allie (Scott), forcing her to take drastic measures. Rather than confront her spouse, Sabrina decides to teach his lover a lesson by kidnapping Allie with the assistance of her sister...

Set to premiere tonight at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival, Caught is a darkly comedic thriller centered around a desperate housewife who discovers that her husband is having an affair and as a mean-spirited prank, she kidnaps his unsuspecting mistress. But things begin to spin wildly out of control once her perfect plan starts to fall apart.

Written by Marcy Holland and directed by Maggie Kiley, Caught stars Anna Camp (True Blood), Stefanie Scott (Insidious: Chapter 3), Amelia Rose Blaire (True Blood), and Sam Page (Mad Men). Daily Dead recently had the opportunity to speak with Kiley as well as with producer Jennifer Westin and co-executive producer Hannah Pillemer about their experiences collaborating together on the film, how important getting the tone right was for Kiley, their thoughts on representing female genre filmmakers at the Laff and much more.

Caught began with an idea from MarVista Entertainment’s Sharon Bordas...

After making quite an impression at the Stanley Film Festival, Todd Strauss-Schulson's meta horror hit, The Final Girls, will screen at the L.A. Film Fest next month, along with an advance look at MTV's Scream TV series and many more onscreen scares.

The 21st L.A. Film Fest takes place June 10th-18th in downtown Los Angeles. The festival will feature screenings of 74 feature films, 60 short films, and more, including the following genre offerings:

"Gala Screenings:

The Final Girls – USA (Director Todd Strauss-Schulson Writer Producer Cast Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Adam Devine, Thomas Middleditch, Alia Shawkat, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev) – An unconventional comedy about Max, a high school senior, who is mysteriously transported with her friends into a 1980s horror film that starred Max’s mother, a celebrated scream queen. Los Angeles Premiere

Scream – USA (Showrunners Jill Blotevogel, Jaime Paglia Writers Jay Beattie, Dan Dworkin Executive Producers Harvey Weinstein,...

One Square Mile

Richard Jenkins will star in Charles-Olivier Michaud's $5 million indie drama "One Square Mile". Shooting kicks off in August in Seattle.

Jenkins plays a reclusive track coach who forms bond with a young man (Cameron Bright) from the wrong side of the tracks who becomes an outstanding runner. [Source: The Hollywood Reporter]

Grace

Maiara Walsh ("Desperate Housewives," "Switched at Birth") has scored the leading role in John Stimpson's indie drama "Grace."

Marcy Holland penned the script about a woman named Grace (Kelcie Stranahan) accused of killing another woman in an accident. The victim reaches out from beyond the grave to help unveil the truth about what happened. [Source: Variety]

Defiance

Mia Kirshner ("The Vampire Diaries") and Fionnula Flanagan ("Lost") have joined the cast of Syfy’s new drama series "Defiance". Set in the near future after a universal war, the action is set in one of the new world’s few oasis of civility and inclusion.

There's no doubt about it; Maiara Walsh has a smile so incredible it can light up a room. That's nice and all, but around here we're more interested in seeing her scream, and that's just what she will be doing in the latest ghostly indie flick, Grace.

According to Variety, Walsh (pictured right; "Desperate Housewives", "Switched at Birth") has landed a leading role in the independent feature Grace (no relation to the Paul Solet flick of the same name).

Grace will be produced by Mark Donadio and Miriam Marcus. John Stimpson is directing from a script by Marcy Holland.

Walsh will play the best friend of the title character, played by Kelcie Stranahan. She's killed in an accident that Grace is accused of causing and reaches out from beyond the grave to help unveil the truth about what happened.

More as it comes.

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