Later in the 1950s, Hallmark Television Playhouse became Hallmark Hall of Fame. The inaugural broadcast featured the first opera ever written for television, Amahl and the Night Visitors. Hallmark Television Playhouse began on Christmas Eve 1951. Hallmark, the greeting card company, used to sponsor radio shows like Radio Reader’s Digest in the late 1940s, then moved to sponsoring the television program Hallmark Television Playhouse. What we now know as the “Hallmark Christmas movie” is descended from the Hallmark Hall of Fame. To know where you’re going, it’s best to know where you’ve been. Perhaps knowing the history can help a fledgling Hallmark Christmas movie writer better understand the contours of the format… the recipe. Hallmark Christmas movies have a history that goes all the way back to the beginning of television. Plus, it’s the holidays and this is fun-so grab that eggnog glass and let’s go. It’s part of how we’re making script information accessible beyond our WGF Library doors. While we won’t break down a full script in this post (it would make it too long), we will offer pointers along the way. For further reading, check out this article by Tom Nolan for Written By in 2019. Information presented here is based on looking at the handful of Hallmark scripts we have in the library and from talking to friends who’ve written Hallmark Christmas movies. This post is part of our ongoing “TV Format Fundamentals” series whereby we breakdown the act structure and elements of different script TV formats. While many feature writers can languish in years of development waiting for their rom-com script to get made, writers of Hallmark Christmas movies see their dialogue spoken, their tinsel-y worlds realized, their work produced. Some writers make fruitful careers writing primarily Hallmark Christmas movies. With nearly 40 of them produced every year plus a stalwart and passionate viewing audience, Hallmark Christmas movies are a serious business.

If you’ve ever had the holiday-time burst of tenacity to say, “Hey! I could write a Hallmark Christmas movie!” and want a deeper glimpse at the structure and conventions, we’ve created this primer for you.Īs many an online publication or TikTok account are quick to point out, there is a definite recipe for these movies. We know because every December, we get a bevy of requests around the library from patrons wanting to read Hallmark Christmas scripts to study the formatting and see how it’s done.

Well, if you’ve made this proclamation, you’re not alone. With the holiday season upon us, have you been watching Hallmark Christmas movies? With wine (or eggnog) in hand have you said confidently aloud to yourself, “Hey! I could write one of these things!”?

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