A couple of years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity of interviewing the marvelous writer who has provided Hallmark network fans with an extensive variety of incredible and fun stories–Rick Garman. Since that time, he has worked on numerous productions in both the capacity of producer and writer, and I decided it was high time to reach out to him again for a follow-up interview. In anticipation of the premiere of the first of the 2019 Christmas movies with which Rick has been involved–Nostalgic Christmas–I am happy to share our most recent chat!

Photo by Heather Shiver – Blue Owl Photography – Savannah, Ga

RH: Since our last interview, you have done some more writing and producing with Hallmark. Let’s talk about The Perfect Bride 2. How did that sequel come about? Any chance for a third film?

Pascale Hutton, Kavan Smith Credit: Copyright 2017 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: David Strongman

RG: The first movie had done very well and there had been talk about doing a sequel, but I was busy working on a bunch of other projects and nothing more had been mentioned. I figured it wasn’t going to happen and had forgotten about it. Then I ran into Kavan {Smith} and Pascale {Hutton} at Hallmark’s Winter Television Critics’ Association event and they asked me how the script for the Perfect Bride sequel was coming and I said, “What script for what sequel?” It seems as if the whole thing came together very quickly and I was the last to know that it was happening! That was January and the movie was on the air in June so there were definitely some stars aligning on that project.

There had been some discussion of a third movie, but I think everyone agreed that Molly and Nick’s story had a nice conclusion at the end of the second one with (spoiler alert!) them getting married.

The good news is, I’m working on a new film for Kavan and Pascale that should be airing in 2020!

You were responsible for either writing or executive producing several location movies. What is unique and fun about working on these? What are the challenges from your end?

Christmas At the Palace with Brittany Bristow, Lacey Chabert and India Fowler

The biggest part is the research. Advance teams do a great job of scouting possible locations and sending back photos, but since I’m not always able to visit myself, I spend a lot of time on the internet finding out as much as I can about a place before I write a film set there. You’d be amazed at what you can see on Google Earth and Google Street View. After that, it’s trying to infuse as much local color into the script as possible, while remaining mindful that the characters are the story and too much detail or history can slow things down.

You wrote several Christmas movies for 2018. Please comment on any that were special and/or memorable for you.

Candace Cameron Bure Credit: ©2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman

I did work on five movies last year – I wrote A Shoe Addict’s Christmas, Welcome to Christmas, and Christmas at Pemberley Manor, which were all based on books. I co-wrote Christmas at the Palace, and I did the story for Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa. I loved all of them, but A Shoe Addict’s Christmas was special to me because the story, about a woman meeting her guardian angel at Christmas, was so different. That made it a lot of fun to develop, and I got a chance to work with Candace Cameron Bure, who had some very valuable input into the script and her character Noelle. And then to have Jean Smart saying things I wrote… that was a huge honor for me. I also really enjoyed Welcome to Christmas because working with Eric Mabius is always a huge pleasure.

behind-the-scenes
Valentine In the Vineyard

You were tasked with writing the third Vineyard movie. I happen to know this one was a long time in coming. Since the other two were written by others how did you go about crafting this third and final (we assume) movie?

I had a done Frozen in Love starring Rachael Leigh Cook and produced by Jim Head and the whole experience was terrific. So, when Valentine in the Vineyard came around, we put the band back together, so to speak. The first thing I did is watch the first two movies and read the scripts to get a feel for who the characters were and then I just dove in. I don’t want to say it was easy, but it kind of was. Rachael, Brendan Penny, the rest of the cast, and the writers of the first two films had created such rich characters that it wasn’t hard to find their voices and continue the story. Of course, the real star was Larry the Llama – he made all of us look really good!

Please tell us about the Christmas movies coming up this year and anything special you would like to mention about them.

First up is Nostalgic Christmas with Trevor Donovan and Brooke D’Orsay, on which I acted as executive producer. It’s a sweet story about a woman who returns to her hometown to help her dad close up and sell the wooden toy store he has owned since she was a child. While there, she is drafted into helping plan the town’s Christmas celebrations with a widower and they are helped along by a series of carved wooden Santa Claus figurines that wind up giving them solutions to problems they encounter along the way. That airs Thursday, October 31 at 9/8c on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Then, I wrote another film for Rachael Leigh Cook entitled A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas that will be airing on Thursday, November 7 at 9/8c on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. It’s based on the book A Christmas Bride by Hope Ramsay and tells the story of a woman who comes home to help her sister plan her Christmas wedding at the inn her family once owned. The only obstacle is the man who now owns the inn, who is trying to find ways to move on after his wife passed away.

Welcome To Christmas

Finally, I got an opportunity to write another Christmas movie for Eric Mabius. This one an original story of mine entitled It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. In it, Eric stars opposite Tricia Helfer as rival mayors who battle it out in a statewide competition to find the town with the most Christmas spirit. This one is a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to seeing how it turns out. It will be airing Saturday, December 21 at 8/7c on Hallmark Channel.

Any more recent set visits or plans to do such? As a writer, what are the benefits to visiting these sets?

Candace Cameron Bure, Jean Smart Credit: ©2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Steven Ackerman

The last one I visited was the Winnipeg set of A Shoe Addict’s Christmas, which was great fun because I got to spend time with both Candace and Jean and they are both lovely people.

By the time they get to shooting, my work is done so there isn’t a lot of benefit to the movie when I visit the set, but it does remind me how hard people work to make these films and how blessed I am to be a part of it. The night I got there they worked over fifteen hours until the wee hours of the morning, outside in the rain and near-freezing temperatures. They are much heartier people than I could ever be!

Any other upcoming works (movies, books. etc)?

Pascale Hutton, Kavan Smith Credit: Copyright 2017 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Ricardo Hubbs

Many more for Hallmark including the aforementioned project with Kavan and Pascale (which I can’t divulge too much about yet other than to say it’ll be filmed somewhere scenic and probably tropical). Another film for Rachael Leigh Cook based on her original story idea in which she plays a meteorologist; a movie with lots of down-home music called Country at Heart, starring Jessy Schram and Niall Matter; and my first mystery movie for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries called the Destination Mysteries, about a travel writer who gets caught up in murders and other nefarious goings-on and helps a roguish FBI agent catch the culprits. That is scheduled to be filming in Malta in January. There are several others for Hallmark that are circling for 2020 and am working on some other projects as well that aren’t ready for public consumption yet.

I addition, I just released the third novel in my Interitas series entitled Interitas Volume 3: Unequaled. The fourth volume will be out in 2020.

How will you be celebrating the holidays this year?

My holiday tradition is to spend all day at the movies. I’ve been doing it every year for most of my adult life and I really look forward to it. I think the one gift a lot of people forget to give on Christmas is one to themselves, so this little tradition is a form of “me time,” but I also often have friends drop in and join me for various movies I see. It’s a lot of fun!

How have you seen the Hallmark brand change over the past few years that you have been working with them? Why do you believe it is growing at such a record pace?

Lina Renna, Benjamin Ayres Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Farah Nosh

The primary thing I have seen change is the size and makeup of the audience that watches Hallmark Channel movies. When I started doing this a few years ago, the main thing I’d hear is “My mother loves that channel” or maybe “My grandmother” or “My sister.” Now, I hear “I love that channel!” from so many different types of people, young and old, women and men, and from all walks of life.

I always describe Hallmark Channel movies as comfort food. These are very unusual, often discomforting or distressing times we live in, and I think people need the respite from the drumbeat of bad news. Sit down with a Hallmark Channel movie and you know you’ll get two hours where no one is going to die, nothing terrible is going to happen, no one is going to be treacherous or cruel, and everyone comes together as a family, as friends, and/or as a community. I think people need that more than ever and I’m honored to be a part of it.

Photo by Heather Shiver – Blue Owl Photography – Savannah, Ga

There is absolutely NOTHING like interviewing a screenwriter because I find that they are often privy to upcoming productions about which others in the industry may have no knowledge. Rick has consistently been a fountain of knowledge every time I contact him, and I am pleased to see all the phenomenal opportunities for this Christmas and, of course, 2020! Rick is one of those extraordinary writers who understands the brand of Hallmark like some out there in the industry do not (or, at least, CHOOSE not to). While he can write an epic Lifetime thriller or act as script doctor on a screenplay that is plagued with incongruities, Rick’s specialty has definitely become writing quality films for this family-friendly network that are brimming with humor and a whole lot of heart. Moreover, he adds his own signature spice to the mix of every film, and we applaud the fact that his scripts are a cut above the majority in this industry. In spite of the success he has had with the network, nevertheless, he never takes anything for granted and recognizes the fact that it takes more than a clever script to dazzle audiences. He has witnessed the dedication of the massively talented industry professionals who have brought his scripts to life, and his respect for them only increases in those instances.

I hope that Hallmark fans will tune in to watch all of the Christmas projects on which Rick has labored. (October 31st on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries/November 1st on W Network for Nostalgic Christmas, A Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas November 7th on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas December 21st on the Hallmark Channel–keep checking for the latter two to appear in the Canadian TV lineup.) Additionally, I would invite everybody to visit Rick’s links below and consider following him where applicable. I mean, after all, aren’t you excited about Destination Mysteries? {Can I take SOME credit since I have been suggesting that a mystery series travel overseas to film on location?? 😉 } And who is ecstatic about the upcoming movie with Kavan and Pascale (which MIGHT be filmed on location too!?)?? I am endlessly grateful to Rick for taking the time to share so much with my readers and me yet again, and here’s hoping that decades from now we both will still be fulfilling our dreams with Hallmark!

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