Ion Television has inked a deal with Aro Entertainment for a pair of originally produced holiday-themed films.
Christmas Town will bow Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. on Ion, now in some 94 million homes, while The Christmas Clause is set for the same time on Dec. 18. Deal terms were not disclosed.
“These two original films reinforce Ion Television’s plans to grow its original content library and complement our expanding schedule of off-net series and feature films,” said Stacey Nagel Galper, senior vice president, programming and strategic planning, in a statement. “We intend to continue to expand our programming and provide our audiences with a broad range of entertaining programs to watch.”
Christmas Town, starring Nicole de Boer (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Dead Zone) and Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers, Stigmata, Melrose Place), brings Liza McCann (de Boer), a cynical young reporter and single mom, and her eight-year-old son to visit her father, a stuffy ex-banker living in a small community in Central California known as “America’s Christmas Town.” At the edge of town, a mysterious warehouse sits behind gates. While Liza reunites with her father and unexpectedly meets Kevin (Muldoon), the cute, laid back local café owner who believes in the magic of Christmas, her son sees the spirit first-hand as he sneaks over to the warehouse and spies what he believes to be elves, a sleigh, reindeer and even Santa Claus. In the end, Liza learns how to believe again – not just in Christmas, but in the possibility of love.
Co-produced by Cinamour Entertainment, The Christmas Clause, starring Lea Thompson (Caroline in the City), delves into the world of Sophie Kelly (Thompson), a top-rated lawyer with three kids and a husband that take up all her time. All of her family and work stress comes to a chaotic halt days before Christmas at the shopping mall when she sees Santa and wishes for a different life. However, the grass is not always greener as a single, successful lawyer with her own firm and the most eligible bachelor vying or her attention. Freedom has its price as she realizes the sweet life is not so sweet and must race against time to find the true meaning of family and love before Christmas.
