Brent Shields ( Firelight, A Smile as Big as the Moon) is Executive Producer Andrew Gottlieb ( Beyond the Blackboard, The Lost Valentine) is producer. It is directed by Emmy Award winner Alan Arkush ( The Temptations, Caddyshack II). The teleplay for Christmas with Holly is by P’Nenah Goldstein (Hallmark Hall of Fame’s Loving Leah and November Christmas) it is based on the book Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas. All three of them – Mark, Maggie, Holly – are starting to think of a life together as a loving family. But that relationship is floundering, and by Christmas Eve Mark and Maggie discover they’ve fallen in love. Maggie assumes Mark is “spoken for” during the whole getting-to-know-you dance, because Mark is in a relationship with Shelby, played by Alex Paxton-Beesley. Despite the approach of the busy Christmas retail season, she gives extra attention to Holly every time the young girl comes into Maggie’s welcoming shop.

But they’re charmingly inept in their new roles – and they’re not helped by the fact that Holly hasn’t uttered a word since her mom died. Mark – who runs the town’s coffee shop - has help from his two older brothers.Īll three uncles have their hearts in the right place. In accordance with her wishes, her 25-year-old brother Mark, played by Sean Faris (Hallmark Hall of Fame’s The Lost Valentine, Leverage) now has full responsibility for raising Holly. Her single mom died a few months earlier. The “Holly” in Christmas with Holly is six years old. Imagination helps to make their dreams come true.” As Maggie says, “Kids need to play make believe. She opens a toy story that’s dedicated to kids, encouraging them to explore their imaginations. It’s the kind of town where everybody knows everybody – but not in a nosy way. Maggie relocates from Seattle to a smaller, calmer place – specifically, Friday Harbor, Washington State. She’s decided to move on in life after being left at the altar months earlier.

But I realize I need to make room for new ones.” So says Maggie Conway, played by Eloise Mumford ( The River, Lone Star), in the film. It will premiere on ABC in December, 2012, with encore presentations on the Hallmark Channel. Better still, unlike some other past “movie deals,” we know it’s the real thing because the movie is already shooting up in Canada for airing this holiday season.įilming begins this week in and around Halifax, Nova Scotia on the newest Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Christmas with Holly. Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor will be an ABC and a Hallmark channel movie this year called Christmas with Holly. Lisa Kleypas has finally made the announcement, which means I am free to reveal the news I’ve been sitting on for months.

Lisa kleypas christmas with holly