Behind the Screens with Joshua Maloni

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For the next few weeks, the Buffalo Bills will be playing in Hallmark Stadium.

Production began this week on “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,” a Hallmark Media “Countdown to Christmas” film set to air sometime (multiple times, actually) between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A press conference was held Thursday in the Highmark Stadium tunnel leading out onto the field where the Buffalo Bills have set their flag as AFC East champions.

Senior Vice President of Programming for Hallmark Media Samantha DiPippo said, “We have been so thrilled to partner with Skydance Sports, the NFL, and our first ‘Holiday Touchdown’ movie (with the Kansas City Chiefs) was the No. 1 movie in cable last year. I think what we were so excited to be joining with the Bills this season was when we were thinking about what's our next ‘Holiday Touchdown.’ The Bills just made sense. There's a lot of love for this community, for this team.

“We filmed up here before, and we were really excited to partner with the entire executive team from the Bills, once we met with everybody and saw how enthusiastic they were about Hallmark, and really thinking about this story that we could tell up here. It's been very exciting.

“I think, when you think about Hallmark Channel and you think about Christmas, there's a lot of our audience that watches with their family, with their kids, with their parents, with their siblings, and it's just such a communal experience. And when we did the first ‘Holiday Touchdown,’ I think that really struck a chord with our audience, with NFL fans, and just sports fans. You didn't have to be a fan of that team.

“But for us, it's really telling a lovely Christmas movie in the only way that Hallmark can. We're excited to extend that to the Bills this season.”

Production has begun on the new Hallmark "Countdown to Christmas" feature "Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story." The film will air between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

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“Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story” stars Holland Roden (“Holidazed,” “Teen Wolf”), Matthew Daddario (“Shadowhunters”), Tracy Pollan (“Natalee Holloway,” “Law & Order: SVU”), Caroline Aaron (“Ghosts,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Steve Schirripa (“Blue Bloods,” “The Sopranos”) and Patti Murin (Broadway’s “Frozen,” “Mystic Christmas”). The script is from Vanessa Marano (“Switched at Birth”) and Danielle Morrow (“iCarly”).

Earlier this week, it was announced Joe Pantoliano (“The Matrix,” “Goonies,” “The Fugitive,” “The Sopranos”) signed on, replacing Tony Danza, who had a scheduling conflict.

The film will feature several Buffalo Bills cameos, from coach Sean McDermott, running back Ray Davis, safety Damar Hamlin, offensive tackle Dion Dawkins, tight end Dawson Knox, long snapper Reid Ferguson, defensive tackle DeWayne Carter and wide receiver Joshua Palmer; and Buffalo Bills legends Jim Kelly, Steve Tasker, Thurman Thomas, Scott Norwood and Andre Reed.

“This cast is huge, and we are so thrilled to have beyond just our family core of cast,” DiPippo said.

“We have an amazing ‘Sopranos’ reunion with Joe Pantoliano and Steve Schirripa.”

She noted, “If you look at the amount of players that are also going to be joining us in this film, it’s very exciting.”

Buffalo Bills long snapper Reid Ferguson and Senior Vice President of Programming for Hallmark Media Samantha DiPippo address the media at a press conference held Thursday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park.

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Ferguson said his wife is “a huge Hallmark fan.”

“I heard one of the producers has filmed over 1,000 movies, and I’m pretty sure she's seen all of them,” he said.

“The opportunity presented itself and I jumped on it.”

Dawkins, who’s interested in a film career once his Pro Bowl-playing days are finished, actually attended an NFL workshop this offseason wherein he was given the chance to make a short film.

“It feels great to even be one of the names picked, to be able to be a part of this because, you know, Buffalo, we're all we got, right? And if there's certain people that can connect that bridge from a TV screen to a living room, I'm glad that I'm one of those people,” Dawkins said. “I give my heart to this community every year, with all the community stuff that I do. And for me to have the opportunity to give my heart a little more with being on – I'm going to call it the big stage – it's cool. I think that's really cool.”

Buffalo Bills Pro Bowl offensive lineman Dion Dawkins speaks of his newfound passion for moviemaking.

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Dawkins also is a big Hallmark fan – but then, “Everybody's a Hallmark fan,” he noted. “We all grew up on Hallmark. The holiday seasons don't really go by without Hallmark. Really, Christmas. The holiday, Christmas season does not pass without Hallmark.

“And that's one of those things that I didn't even know what I was really watching growing up, until you really realize, ‘Dang, that was Hallmark!’ ‘Dang, that was Hallmark!’ And then you see Gram’s watching it, Mom's watching it, Dad – everybody watching, and then it's just like it becomes a part of the culture of the holiday.”

Kelly, the NFL Hall of Fame quarterback who led the Bills to four straight Super Bowl appearances, said, “I'm excited – of course I am. It's good anytime you are part of a Hallmark movie. You know that's special, because I've watched many. I don't remember them all (laughs), but I know I've watched plenty over the years. It's exciting, especially to give people a little taste of what we already know here in Buffalo.”

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In describing the plot of “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,” Marano explained, “It's about two friends who have known each other for years, lifelong Bills fans, who ultimately end up discovering that there is sort of a Christmas mystery within the family that they kind of figure out how to solve together.

“But at its core, it's really about family. It's really about the people in your lives who have been there from the beginning, who mean so much to you, and how we show up for each other. And that's ultimately the story that we wanted to tell, because that is the energy of Buffalo – is people showing up for each other. And that was the most important thing to capture with the plot of this film, is displaying that those are who these people are.”

Production has begun on the new Hallmark "Countdown to Christmas" feature "Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story."

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“Countdown to Christmas” has been a wildly successful endeavor for Hallmark, taking top ratings rankings for more than a decade – and spawning competition from several other networks looking to capitalize on the holiday season.

“I think it's a tradition for a lot of families,” DiPippo said. “ ‘Countdown to Christmas’ is the place to watch holiday content. You know, our movies are iconic, and our audience really comes to us because they know exactly how we're going to make them feel. There's a lot of love that goes into our movies. And when we announce our slate every year – which usually happens sometime in September – the fans just gobble it up. They're just waiting for it.

“I've never experienced the type of fandom that Hallmark Channel has. It's incredible. We love our fans, and we've expanded even more into our fan experiences with our ‘Hallmark Christmas Cruise’ and our ‘Hallmark Christmas Experience’ that is down in Kansas City. And when you see how they interact with our talents, our Hallmark family members, it's really incredible to feel and understand how much these movies and our shows mean to our fans. It's incredible.”

For the writers of “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story,” the challenge they’re embracing is “there's obviously a lot of things that you're juggling,” Marano said. “You're juggling that it's a Christmas story, that it's a romance story, that it is a Buffalo Bills story, and that it does, sort of … fit into that mold that we're used to seeing. And so, through juggling that, you just hope your own voice sort of shines through, which we think we did a good job of, hopefully.”

Morrow said Hallmark executives “are very supportive of making something your own and trying things that haven't been done before, and really encouraging of that, too. So, anytime we thought, ‘Well, we have to do this because of Hallmark,’ they really encouraged us to listen to our own voice and then help shape where we go from there.”

In addition to the “Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story” cast and roster of Bills, the production is utilizing local talent for crew, extra and stand-in roles. Filming has taken place at the Oishei Children's Hospital and will include parts of East Aurora. The movie is expected to wrap June 12.

“We say this line in the movie, but it feels very authentic to our crew and to this entire production. But it is definitely built for Buffalo, built by Buffalo,” DiPippo said.

 

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