HALLMARK CHANNEL ANNOUNCES TWO NEW ORIGINAL MOVIES IN DEVELOPMENT,
BASED ON THE BOOKS BY NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND
AMERICA'S #1 INSPIRATIONAL NOVELIST
KAREN KINGSBURY
Kingsbury's Bestsellers The Bridge and A Time to Dance
To Premiere As Hallmark Channel Original Movies Starting in 2015
Hallmark Channel announces the development of two all-new Original Movies with #1 New York Times bestselling author and America's favorite inspirational novelist, Karen Kingsbury. The network will produce two original movies based on the author's celebrated "Life Changing Fiction(TM)" and her award-winning contemporary romance titles, The Bridge and A Time to Dance. Emmy(R)-winning Executive Producers, reuniting their partnership after the success of "Door To Door" and "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story," David Rosemont (2013's "Bonnie and Clyde") and Everywhere Studios' Dan Angel ("Christmas Comes Home to Canaan") have partnered with Kim Arnott of Two 4 the Money Media and Fernando Szew of Mar Vista Entertainment, for both movies, to air exclusively on Hallmark Channel starting in 2015.
"Karen Kingsbury's unmatched inspirational storytelling is a perfect fit for a partnership with the Hallmark Channel brand," said Michelle Vicary, Executive Vice President, Programming for Crown Media Family Networks. "We've had extraordinary success working in collaboration with bestselling novelists and we know this partnership will be especially rewarding for our viewers as they connect to Karen's remarkable stories on our network for the very first time."
"The Bridge," will be written by screenwriter Jamie Pachino ("Franklin & Bash") and is scheduled for a Holiday 2015 World Premiere. The captivating romance follows Molly Allen, a woman who left her heart in Franklin, Tennessee with the man she walked away from in college. When Molly finds out The Bridge, a beloved bookstore back in Franklin, is in jeopardy along with the bookstore's owner, she immediately returns to help, only to come face to face with her old flame, Ryan, again - along with a river of buried emotion. Molly agrees to do anything she can to help and as she and Ryan join forces to save The Bridge, their special bond reignites. Little does Molly know she is about to discover a long-held secret as she and Ryan rekindle the kind of love that can overcome all obstacles.
The second film in development, "A Time to Dance," follows the bittersweet story of John and Abby. When their perfect marriage starts to fall apart, they make the sad decision to separate, but when they gather their children to tell them the news, their daughter interrupts with a surprise announcement of her own: she's getting married! Determined not to ruin their daughter's season of happiness, Abby and John secretly put their plans on hold. Despite their best efforts to keep their distance, the wedding plans bring them back together and help them to remember why they fell in love in what feels like a lifetime ago.
"Hallmark is a trusted name in TV and with my millions of readers," Kingsbury said. "I am beyond thrilled to begin this partnership. My readers will count down the days till the first of these two future classic movies!"
Hailed by Time magazine as the "queen" of Christian fiction, Karen Kingsbury is a #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, earning her the distinction of America's favorite inspirational novelist. With nearly 25 million copies of her award-winning books in print, Kingsbury's stories have resonated with readers worldwide. Her last dozen titles have hit #1 on national lists, including her recent Redemption series featuring Kingsbury's most unforgettable characters. Kingsbury is also a public speaker, reaching more than 100,000 women annually through various national events. She can be heard talking to listeners weekdays on "The Karen Kingsbury Show," which launched in early 2014 on Salem Radio and TodaysChristianMusic.com. Kingsbury lives in Nashville with her husband, Don, and has five sons, three of whom were adopted from Haiti and an only daughter, Kelsey, an actress.
ABOUT HALLMARK CHANNEL
Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality family entertainment available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of 85 million subscribers. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading destination for quality family programming featuring an ambitious slate of original content, including movies; scripted series, such as Cedar Cove, When Calls the Heart, and Signed, Sealed, Delivered; annual specials like Hero Dog Awards and Kitten Bowl; and a daily 2-hour lifestyle show, Home & Family. Hallmark Channel is also home to annual holiday franchise, Countdown to Christmas, featuring a lineup of 24/7 holiday programming, including The 12 New Movies of Christmas. Rounding out the networks' lineup are television's most beloved sitcoms and series, including The Golden Girls, The Middle, Little House on the Prairie, and Frasier. Hallmark Channel's sibling network, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, available in HD and SD, features a mix of original movies and acquired series with a focus on the softer side of mystery, as well as classic theatrical releases and presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library.
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ABOUT TWO 4 THE MONEY MEDIA
Two 4 The Money Media, a Vancouver, Canada-based independent production company, founded by Kim Arnott in April 2010 has produced an abundance of interesting material. Kim has served as the executive producer on movies of the week like Seattle Superstorm, Radio Rebel and Stonados. She shepherded R. L. Stine's The Haunting Hour into its fourth season for The Hub Network, winning the 2013 Emmy for "Outstanding Children's Series". She serves as a co-executive producer on CTV's half-hour comedy, Spun Out and has also tried her hand at horror, producing Grave Encounters 2 and Visitors, the latest Vicious Brothers film. Kim recently partnered with Really Real Films to produce If I Had Wings, a heartwarming indie feature six years in the making. Kim has vast experience in Canadian content productions, international co-productions and is an authority on both Canadian federal and provincial tax credits. Kim continues to collaborate with other producers, including Trish Dolman's company, Screen Siren Pictures, where she worked on Foreverland, Daydream Nation and Hector and the Search for Happiness.
ABOUT MARVISTA ENTERTAINMENT
Founded in 2003, Los Angeles-based MarVista Entertainment is a leading independent entertainment studio that produces, acquires and distributes premium film and television content worldwide. With a library showcasing nearly 2,000 hours of content, and with approximately 40 new movies per year added to the company's distribution pipeline, MarVista has become one of the largest suppliers of movies to the worldwide marketplace.
MarVista has an expansive distribution footprint spanning more than 125 global territories, and has grown to become a pre-eminent supplier of programming to major cable networks in the U.S., including Disney Channel/Disney XD, Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, NBC Universal, Nickelodeon and MTV Networks, as well as key international broadcasters, cable networks and digital platforms.
ABOUT EVERYWHERE STUDIOS
Everywhere Studios is a partnership between private equity executive David Calvert-Jones, Emmy & Peabody-award winning producer Dan Angel and former Sony and Paramount television executive Tom Mazza. EveryWhere Studios is a full-service entertainment company developing, producing and financing studio-quality content across all platforms.
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