ITV

Tag: Hallmark Movies

  • “Continued success fueled by Hallmark brand’s embrace of inspiration, kindness, and hope”: Hallmark’s Francisco J. González

    “Continued success fueled by Hallmark brand’s embrace of inspiration, kindness, and hope”: Hallmark’s Francisco J. González

    Mumbai: Hallmark Media markets and distributes Hallmark’s original signature content to every international market around the world.

    Their networks in the US include Hallmark Channel, their flagship network; Hallmark Movies & Mysteries; the new linear channel Hallmark Drama; and the SVOD platform Hallmark Movies Now. Apart from media, the brand has forayed into many exciting businesses which allow its fans to touch and feel the brand be it merchandise, wine and even themed cruises! With a legacy spanning over a century, Hallmark Media encompasses a wide range of television programs, movies, and other content produced and aired by networks like Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama.

    This platform is synonymous with heartwarming, family-friendly entertainment and is especially known for its seasonal programming, including beloved holiday traditions like Countdown to Christmas. With a vast library of original movies and series, often set in charming small-town settings, Hallmark has cultivated a dedicated fanbase appreciative of its inclusive and emotionally resonant storytelling. As a staple in both holiday and everyday entertainment, Hallmark continues to connect with audiences worldwide.

    Hallmark Media is represented by Brandwith, a premier representative and distribution company in the Asia Pacific Region.

    Indiantelevision.com in conversation with Hallmark Media senior VP- international distribution Francisco J. González on email on the legacy of Hallmark Media, on what sets them apart and much more……

    On Hallmark Media and its mission in the entertainment industry

    Hallmark Media is home to top-rated, widely beloved programming that makes people feel good. Our goal is to provide our viewers with a wholesome, positive, and light-hearted viewing experience across our channels and platforms, and we deliver on that mission. Notably, flagship network Hallmark Channel is a top draw year-round and especially during the holiday season with its highly popular programming franchise Countdown to Christmas, which has earned the network the #1 spot among entertainment cable with Women 18+ during the Fourth Quarter for nine consecutive years.

    On being well-known for its heartwarming and family-friendly content

    Hallmark Media’s brand identity is rooted in the legacy of the iconic Hallmark Card brand, which has been in the business of helping people create meaningful connections that enrich their lives for over 113 years. Our success as an entertainment destination continues to grow in large part due to the guiding principles of the Hallmark brand, which fully embrace stories of inspiration, kindness, and hope.

    On the dedicated audience that looks forward to its holiday-themed content

    Our priority year-round is to develop a diverse mix of content, characters, and storylines that create an environment where everyone is seen and feels welcome. Further, we establish relationships with talent both in front of and behind the camera that reflect the lives and experiences of all our viewers. For example, we’re proud to put forward programming franchises like Loveuary, which celebrates love – from romantic love, to love between siblings, neighbors, friends, and more – during February, the most heartwarming month of the year and a time when many celebrate Valentine’s Day.

    On Hallmark Channel having a unique niche in the market

    Hallmark Channel is a unique success story in the cable landscape, continually ranking as a top-rated entertainment cable network and delivering compelling new content that helps them escape from the troubles of the world for a moment. What makes the network stand out year after year is its commitment to providing content that makes people feel good and inspires hope, love, and the celebration of a happy ending.

    On the content having a positive and wholesome appeal

    We create programming that reflects modern storytelling and allows everyone to share in the Hallmark experience. What’s more, we establish relationships with a wide range of writers, producers, directors and actors to identify and authentically develop stories that reflect the lives of our audiences. What we hear from our viewers is that our efforts allow them to see themselves in our programming in a meaningful way, while spotlighting a broad range of experiences, beliefs, backgrounds, and lifestyles.

    On the belief that sets Hallmark Media apart from other entertainment companies, and your vision for the future of the brand

    One thing that sets us apart from other entertainment companies is our devoted fanbase. They are an anomaly in this industry – passionate, engaged, loyal, and the reason for all that we do. Looking ahead to the future, we will continue to bring them fresh stories and new opportunities to connect with our brand. 

  • Does India need a Hallmark-like channel?

    Does India need a Hallmark-like channel?

    MUMBAI: Is there scope for a local TV channel developed along the lines of the Hallmark Channel in India?

    We, at indiantelevision.com think there is. There was a time in the eighties when Hiba Video – part of Nari Hira’s Lana group – churned out low cost thrillers for the home video and cable TV market. They were reasonably successful. Then came Amit Khanna’s Plus Channel group in the nineties that too produced low cost films which notched up some success.

    Since then, there have been no initiatives in this direction in India. Maybe because the Bollywood star system is too strong. However, in recent times films with lesser known faces and good storylines have been rocking it at the box office. Hence, we believe it is time to ponder over the potential of the opportunity.

    Let’s take a look at what Hallmark – remember the greeting card company – has been doing. Part of American media entity Crown Media the cable TV channel turns out a menu of low cost, quickly made formulaic films, with predictable storylines. This year, Hallmark  and a sister TV channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, produced 103 original movies, 40 of them revolved around Xmas. Since 2011, it has been telecasting these movies around the clock, seven days a week during the Christmas season.

    The tack seems to be working: the programming band called Countdown to Christmas has helped Hallmark Movie Channel become the No 1 cable TV network amongt women 25 to 54, and in some time slots No 1 in households and total viewers. 72 million viewers tuned into Hallmark in 2018 during the Countdown to Christmas Special.

    Its revenues too have been rising: Crown Media group notched up sales of of $214 million with a net of some $94 million in 2014 ( the last year for which its financials are available. )

    What’s the secret sauce behind the success of Hallmark Movies?

    According to the The New Yorker magazine, Hallmark shoots its Christmas movies in just about 15 days, with minimal takes and maximum efficiency, in affordable, often Canadian locations, and they are shot on location – not expensive sets – all with a distinctive Hallmark feel. The films tend to centre on indpendent women with interesting jobs (novelists, designers, bakers, chocolatiers) and appealing romantic prospects (royalty, firemen, bakers, chefs). Programming is seasonal; as the year progresses, characters pair up amid winter wonderlands, Valentine’s Day chocolate-making contests, fireworks celebrations, pumpkin patches, and Christmas parties.

    “The familiarity of the films is essential to their success. Hallmark screenplays have nine acts, each of which hits specific plot points—a meet-cute in Act I, before the first commercial, an “almost kiss” in Act VII. The shots are lit with a distinctive warmth. Actors recur,” explains The New Yorker.

    “Hallmark Channel fare has always struck a delicate balance between realism and something more idealised. A paradox of the channel is that the artificiality of its content, which offers predictable pleasures—the “almost kiss,” interrupted by a ringing phone or a bleating goat; the ubiquitous baking contests—is often delivered alongside surprisingly realistic performances. Unlike modern rom-coms, Hallmark plots—which almost always feature romance, even alongside the murder investigations—are driven not by arch concepts, high jinks, or panic about being single but by what one can describe to me as “a voyage of self-discovery.”

    “In Hallmark films, townspeople care for one another, run viable small businesses, and compete in gingerbread bake-offs – America as we might wish it were, and as some believe it once was. It has thrived in the Trump era. Last year, it was one of the only networks to gain viewers besides Fox News and MSNBC. It also depicts a purple America, without guns, MAGA hats, rage.”

    So in effect it offers America an escape from the harshness of life that most Americans face on a daily basis. And the audiences lap it all up like there is no tomorrow.  Hallmark’s mark is being left not just on TV. Streamers have also taken note and Netflix and others have been picking up their films or Lifetime TV’s (which too has taken to making similar kinds of films) movies to serve the mushy viewers.

    Then, Hallmark has taken to sponsoring  a Christmas convention called Christmas Con which brings together 17 of its movie stars at a modest convention centre in Edison, New Jersey. Thousands of Americans descended to meet their favorites wearing reindeer antlers, pro-Hallmark T-shirts, and posed inside a Christmas ornament-shaped frame while guzzling cider.

    It’s not as if Hallmark always had it so good at the movies. It began as a greeting card company more than a century ago. It was only in 1951, that it ventured into TV by sponsoring the first original opera written for television, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” It followed by sponsoring TV productions of literary adaptations, Broadway plays, and, in time, original films under the band Hallmark Hall of Fame. “It became the most award-winning franchise in television history, with eighty-one Emmys,” says The New Yorker.  “The origin of the films lies in the distinctive two-minute Hallmark-card commercials that had aired during the Hall of Fame broadcasts, starting in the sixties, which became famous for making viewers cry. In “The Music Professor,” from 1983, a girl races to arrive at a piano lesson before her teacher and hides a card between the pages of her sheet music. When he finds it, both struggle to contain their emotions.”

    The channel has its fans in producers, directors, and actors who find it steady pay and steady work, thanks to the flurry of movies it produces.

    The Hallmark Channel ran in India for quite a while a decade or so ago. It finallly shut down. The service is available as an OTT subscription service in the US as well as.

    Now we are not arguing for a Christmas-movie filled channel; what we are talking about is a season-driven channel. India has more festivals than probably any country. And one could have Diwali, Eid, Ganesh Chaturthi, and Onam and other festival-linked special tightly-budgeted themed films – some could be romantic – targeted at the stay-at-home-work- at-home women.  

    And it’s quite possible such a channel could do well courtesy the differentiated content it offers.

    Any takers?