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Hallmark Channel Stars Share Their Favorite Holiday Tunes
A handsome shirtless antheral appeared and a roomful of women went perfectly wild.
No, this wasn't an acquisition astatine a Magic Mike Las Vegas show. This was the country astatine the opening nighttime of RomaDrama Live! successful West Palm Beach, Fla., a three-day normal dedicated to made-for-cable romanticist comedies that took spot June 24-26. (The shirtless man, by the way, was Ryan Paevey successful the feel-good summertime movie Two Tickets to Paradise.)
While talent from Lifetime and GAC Network projects were successful attendance, the biggest gully were the stars from the Hallmark Channel, including fashionable actors similar Andrew Walker and Tyler Hynes. What Comic-Con is to those who be midnight screenings of each MCU installment, RomaDrama is for radical whose TVs stay connected Hallmark each year-long, whether to ticker their "Countdown to Christmas" movies oregon their different seasonal offerings. (Fall Harvest and Spring Fling are conscionable a few.)
While arguably not arsenic ample oregon vocal arsenic The Lord of the Rings stans, the loyal pursuing for Hallmark's heartwarming programming is conscionable arsenic passionate—and for RomaDrama Live! co-founder Gabrielle Graf Palmer, who archetypal conceived of the thought of a normal for romance lovers erstwhile she met the formed of Outlander astatine Wizard World Comic-Con successful 2018, they were an underserved community.
"While there, we watched this immense radical of women navigate the show, surrounded by superheroes, sci-fi characters, and comic publication characters," Palmer explained to E! News. "It was past we realized we could nutrient an lawsuit delivering precisely what we and each of the fans of this circumstantial genre would privation to experience, successful a beautiful, peculiar way, portion offering the eventual level of entree to the celebrities. So, we went to the barroom astatine the normal halfway and started mapping retired our plan."
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Two years later, the archetypal RomaDrama Live! took spot successful Nashville, and, aft being postponed owed to COVID-19, the 2nd lawsuit successful Palm Beach, Fla. saw 5,000 attendees crossed 3 days of panels and parties. And travel early December, a Christmas-themed convention volition beryllium held successful Chicago, wherever fans volition get to make their ain cozy wintertime memories astatine events including a gala, a grown-up meal with Santa and an precocious screening of Hallmark's upcoming movie, A Fabled Holiday.
"I judge the Hallmark fandom has grown due to the fact that it is simply a existent signifier of peaceful escape," Palmer said of the network's following. "Hallmark Channel and the similar connection a beautiful, kind, inclusive outlet from the chaos and accent of the existent satellite landscape."
What heightens the experience, ultimately, are the actors, who each person amassed their ain devoted fanbases aft entering longterm originative partnerships with the network.
"They bash an outstanding job," Vicki Mangulson, who traveled from New Jersey to conscionable her 2 favourite starring men—Hynes and Ryan Paevey, the Unleashing Mr. Darcy histrion whose autograph she proudly sported connected her arm—at the event. "Their benignant hearts, their lukewarm eyes, their loving souls, we person to travel them."
And the feeling is mutual, with galore of the network's apical talents expressing their disbelief astatine the audience's loyalty.
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"It's 1 of the biggest surprises of my life," Hynes, whose devotees person taken connected the moniker of—you guessed it—"Hyneys," admitted. "I'll ne'er hide these conventions, each azygous 1 of them."
As for Paevey, he hopes to convey to the fans that helium cares conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic they do.
"I subscribe to a weird thought successful presumption of acting wherever they are similar customers of mine," helium explained. "The films I nutrient are the products and I person to enactment each the clip to marque definite they are blessed with what I americium bringing to them—because if they're not, past I'm fired, dude."
While pistillate viewers marque up the bulk of the fanbase (almost each of RomaDrama's attendees are women), their transportation to the starring ladies is conscionable arsenic potent.
"The girls and the boys are different," star Ashley Williams, who besides produces movies for Hallmark, said. "For me, it's similar I americium gathering a clump of girlfriends, and I'm like, 'Hi, however are you?' And they're like, 'Oh my gosh, my parent passed away. Can I archer you astir it?' But I consciousness similar with the boys, they're like, 'Can I consciousness your abs?' No 1 is asking to consciousness my abs and I'm glad! I conscionable privation to bent retired with a clump of women!"
With specifically curated experiences similar a bridal ablution for histrion Brittany Bristow, the accidental to perform a country with an actor, karaoke nighttime and wellness and wellness sessions, RomaDrama offers fans "the quality to unrecorded their dreams," Palmer explained, by having up-close and idiosyncratic entree to the talent. Basically, you can call yourself a Hallmark movie pb and unrecorded retired your phantasy for the weekend.
"This is not your modular tube and drape convention," Palmer explained. "RomaDrama guests locomotion distant with truthful overmuch much than an autograph and a selfie. We are helping them make memories done once-in-a-lifetime experiences...where fans and their favourite celebrities go friends."
But a cardinal portion of the acquisition is the assemblage among the normal goers, who traveled from crossed the state due to the fact that of their shared emotion for feel-good content. Events similar RomaDrama, arsenic good as That's 4 Entertainment's yearly Christmas Con, supply this niche fanbase the uncommon accidental to congregate IRL. ("I had nary thought they had conventions similar this," Trevor Donovan, who precocious made the determination to Hallmark's rival GAC Network, told E!. "I ne'er thought for a 2nd I would beryllium doing thing similar this.")
"When you're successful precocious school, you person these antithetic groups, similar the play nine oregon the chess nine and you person your radical wherever you similar thing akin and that's wherefore you go friends," Holiday Date prima Bristow said. "As adults, its not arsenic often that we spell retired of our shells and articulation a group. For the astir part, it's harder to find a abstraction wherever you find the information to enactment successful that activity. So for each of the fans to emotion these movies so much, it's similar their play club, their communal theme. It's truthful cool."
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In a clip wherever determination are much TV channels and contented to ticker than ever before, Hallmark has managed to stay a changeless contender successful the ratings rat contention since its debut successful 2001. Most notably, their yearly Countdown to Christmas programming, which officially launched successful 2011, has consistently made Hallmark Channel the most-watched cablegram network from October-December.
And, according to Andrew Walker, who has fronted 19 movies, the audience never fails to amusement up.
"I knew we were portion of a precise peculiar assemblage erstwhile astir 8 to 10 movies successful wherever it felt similar adjacent if I did a atrocious movie, radical would inactive enactment me," helium said. "Even if I felt ace captious astir the show I enactment out, radical would inactive beryllium like, 'Andrew, you were truthful great. I loved that movie!'"
Paevey believes it's the network's committedness to feel-good amusement that has helped it clasp onto its dedicated audience, contempt the somewhat formulaic quality of the movies.
"You've got to person 1 bastion wherever the contented is consistently uplifting and bully and happy," Paevey said. "And yes, that means radical are going to beryllium capable to foretell the ending. Yes, these 2 radical are going to extremity up together, neither of them is going to die. The full thought is that they person a spot to spell wherever they tin consistently ticker contented that volition marque them consciousness better. And truthful if the worst things that tin beryllium utilized against you is that it's predictable, I deliberation you are astir apt doing okay, particularly if the predictability is happiness."
That lukewarm and fuzzy harmless abstraction that the movies provides takes connected an adjacent deeper meaning for immoderate of the normal attendees. Palmer recalled gathering a instrumentality named Debbie Anderson, who was precocious widowed and had been diagnosed with pharynx cancer, at the 2021 RomaDrama lawsuit successful Tennessee. Debbie had skipped chemo to beryllium astatine the convention, and this twelvemonth she near her hospice halfway successful Pennsylvania and made the travel to Florida connected her own. Her "only wish," Palmer said, was to spot Hynes 1 much time.
"I was moved to tears erstwhile I saw her beauteous look airy up successful Tyler's presence," Palmer shared, "and astatine that moment, I felt the quality and powerfulness of our show's existent purpose... love, hope, and joy."
Hynes said often overwhelmed by the emotional conversations helium has with fans.
"This is immoderate of the heaviest worldly that is being shared with me," helium explained, "and the astir gracious individuals that I americium gathering who are sharing these things and to someway person immoderate benignant of interaction connected their life, arsenic humble arsenic it whitethorn be, it seems to beryllium meaningful to them, and this is incredibly meaningful to me."
And Hynes isn't the lone histrion to brushwood a instrumentality who has leaned connected Hallmark for comfortableness during a challenging time.
"I've had respective tear-jerking, tear-inducing stories," Donovan said, "A pistillate came with her ma successful a wheelchair and they some cried telling maine astir however she was going done chemo and watching these movies was the 1 happening that would bring a grin to her look and made her hide astir her sickness for a while."
Williams shared a akin encounter, explaining, "These are existent radical and they are crying and telling maine my movie got them done their crab attraction due to the fact that they would beryllium determination during the infusions. It's truthful amazing."
Bristow, who starred successful her archetypal Hallmark movie successful 2019 aft a bid of supporting roles, feels she's received adjacent much from the fans, crediting them for her promotion.
"I cognize that I americium wherever I americium successful presumption of my vocation due to the fact that of the fans," she said. "I cognize these fans person truthful overmuch to connection due to the fact that erstwhile I was conscionable the sidekick successful my precise archetypal Hallmark movie, these radical gathered astir me, lifted maine up and cheered maine connected and the web noticed and that's wherefore I americium wherever I americium now."
Hey, there's a crushed wherefore Hallmark Channel is the spot wherever emotion happens.
Tickets for RomaDrama's Christmas successful Chicago! are disposable now.
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