Alison Sweeney’s Christmas movie shakes up brand norms

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Alison Sweeney

Alison Sweeney and Niall Matter’s new Hallmark movie, “This Time Every Year,” isn’t your typical Hallmark Christmas movie. In fact, this new film breaks the mold in several significant ways. And that was a big part of Hallmark’s plan, she revealed in several interviews.

In “This Time Each Year,” Kevin (Matter) and Lauren (Sweeney) are a married couple still in love, but separated for almost a year while co-parenting their son. Kevin wants reconciliation and celebrates nearly a year of sobriety. Lauren’s mother is visiting for the holidays and Lauren admits that she hasn’t yet told her mother that they are separated. So they decide to pretend they’re still together, which could spark a new romance.

The film falls outside of Hallmark’s “traditional wheelhouse,” Sweeney said

Sweeney told TV Insider that she had been working on the script for this film for over three years. The idea resonated with Hallmark, since the network wanted to rely on different styles of storylines.

“We talked about wanting to do something outside of their traditional wheelhouse, to expand their scope to include other stories,” she told TV Insider. “And that’s the thing that everyone said to me when we were making this movie: ‘I feel like this is my story.’ …Hallmark was very excited, and it was all about how to manage the telling of the story within the framework of what we consider to be the trust that Hallmark has built with its audience…We wanted to tell a deeper story while honoring what people want from a Christmas. movie, which is fun, romantic and Christmas.

But in an interview with Forbes, she assured fans that this movie isn’t dark.

“We all agreed it was time to start telling stories that show how, especially around the holidays, difficult issues can surface,” she said. “…Sometimes you have to accept your reality, and that’s what these characters are striving for…It’s not really dark or anything like that. It has everything a good film has, and it was magical for us to tell this story in a different way.

In an interview with Soaps She Knows, Sweeney admitted that even though the film subverts Hallmark tropes, it still stays true to the audience.

“We’re not trying to break the rules about Christmas, but we wanted to highlight it, bring a little depth to it, make it a little deeper,” she said. “…I hope we handled it delicately and honestly, and I hope we still gave the public a wonderful Christmas.”

Sweeney told People that the sobriety angle is something she thinks many will relate to. And, she added, Hallmark is eager to tell more stories that delve deeper into real-life struggles.

“Everyone at Hallmark told us they wanted to find opportunities, not in every movie, but in some, to really push the story, push the characters deeper, create more elements that we can relate to. identify,” she told People.

“Having Kevin come and celebrate his first anniversary of sobriety was a really important way for us to tell this story because it creates tension and obstacles during the holidays,” she continued while speaking with People. “As much as we love Christmas, Christmas can be a stressful time for families. That’s when people say it’s the hardest time of the year (staying sober)…I think a lot of people will relate to that.

This is Sweeney’s 30th landmark film

This is Sweeney’s 30th Hallmark movie, and it kicks off Hallmark Mystery’s Miracles of Christmas lineup.

Sweeney told Forbes that she first became interested in screenwriting after feeling like a story wasn’t unfolding the way she preferred.

“There were times when the story didn’t turn out the way I thought it would,” she said. “I remember one day I was on set, and I was so frustrated, because I knew that wasn’t how I wanted to tell the story, but at the time , it wasn’t my job… I started writing how I would have written the scene I just needed to get it off my chest. It was really cathartic for me and I found it. which I really enjoyed. So I continued writing.

Stéphanie Dubé Dwilson is a sports and entertainment contributor for Heavy covering Texas Longhorns and Hallmark football. She covered presidential election results live in 2016 and 2020 for Heavy. She is an attorney with a master’s degree in science and technology journalism and runs a UFO news and FOIA reporting website called The Verified Report. Learn more about Stéphanie Dubé Dwilson