Sarasota arts leader decorates new Hallmark holiday movies
SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Christmas is a 24/7 event for more than two months on the Hallmark Channel and sister cable network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, with non-stop original movies and past favorites keeping viewers in the holiday spirit.
While familiar stars like Lacey Chabert, Allison Sweeney, Ashley Williams, Nikki DeLoach, Tyler Hanes, and Ryan Paevey appear on screen, another name is being seen more frequently, Andy Sandberg, who is also the artistic director and CEO of the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Englewood
Last year, Sandberg co-wrote the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film “Five More Minutes,” which was inspired by a hit song by country star and 2011 “American Idol” winner Scotty McCreery.
This season, he has crafted the story for a spinoff film, “Five More Minutes: Moments Like This,” which is scheduled to debut on Dec. 17. And he also wrote the screenplay for the recent Hallmark Channel film “Haul Out the Holly,” in which Chabert plays a woman who returns to her family home on a cul-de-sac, where the neighbors are crazy about Christmas decorations and are secretly playing matchmaker with her now-grown childhood friend, played by Wes Brown.
According to theTVRatingsGuide.com, “Haul Out the holly” had the best ratings for Hallmark since 2020.
“Moments Like This” stars Ashley Williams as a young widow whose “Christmas wish for her son is answered in unexpected ways when she returns to their old home,” according to a description from the cable channel. She co-stars with Lucas Bryant.
The new film and the original were designed to capture emotions expressed in McCreery’s song “Five More Minutes,” which deals with the loss a grandparent and a wish that he had just a few more minutes with him.
Sandberg said the song had nothing to do with Christmas. “We...