Everyone has heard of Hallmark movies, but how many do people actually watch?
Hallmark produces around 40 new Christmas movies each year, and has over 300 holiday films on their channel. How can they fund so many productions in a short amount of time? Hallmark has this science down to a tee. They film all of their movies in Canada, where tax credits make shooting less expensive, and each movie has a budget under 2 million dollars, which may seem like a hefty sum, but in the movie business, it is really not. Compared to iconic Holiday movies such as“Elf” which cost over 30 million, or Jim Carrey’s famous “Grinch” that cost 123 million dollars, Hallmark movies are much easier to produce.Hallmark makes over 350 million dollars each holiday season just based on their Christmas movies.
The most famous Hallmark movies include “The Christmas Prince,” which follows a young journalist who gets sent abroad to get an inside scoop on the prince of a country. The movie is obviously set in the winter season and is also followed by two sequel movies. The other popular Hallmark movie, “The Christmas Card.” which is a story about a young soldier in Afghanistan who is deeply moved by an anonymous letter sent by a woman in California. Upon his return from his tour, he is on a mission to find this girl. Both movies are set in the Christmas season, providing a great setting that really encapsulates the audience in the Christmas season. Hallmark makes so many Christmas movies per year, and there are only so many that get attention. Why is that?
Hallmark constantly faces backlash on their lack of diversity in actors and plots. Most people who feel that they cannot be represented in a Hallmark movie might turn to Netflix or Hulu to find a holiday movie that resonates with them. The plots to the movies usually consist of some sort of romance and conflict subplot, so the movies may feel stereotypical and dull over time.
Freshman Maddison Morris shares her thoughts on Hallmark movies: “Yeah, I honestly do watch [Hallmark movies] if they are on…you’re all cozied up on the couch and relaxing,” said Morris when talking about how Christmas movies can put you into a festive mood.
Hallmark’s strategy to produce an immense amount of films with a low budget proves to be successful enough to keep repeating this process every year. They generate a high revenue every year by doing this. However, while their films can provide many people comfort during the holiday season, they continue to face backlash for a variety of reasons. Hallmark recently has been trying to emphasize in bettering their channel. By taking these criticisms into consideration and changing some things, Hallmark has the opportunity to stay relevant for a long time.
