Trading in their playbooks for scripts for Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, a new, original movie premiering this year during Hallmark Channel’s 15th anniversary of Countdown to Christmas are Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid, Chiefs Guard Trey Smith, Wide Receiver Mecole Hardman Jr., Running Back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Defensive End George Karlaftis and other players to be drafted later. Diedrich Bader (American Housewife, Office Space), Megyn Price (The Ranch, Rules of Engagement), Richard Riehle (Barry, Office Space) and Christine Ebersole (Bob Hearts Abishola, The Kominsky Method) have been added to the roster as well. The movie will also feature a special appearance by Taylen Biggs, Chiefs fan and red carpet correspondent. The announcement was made today during Hallmark Media’s session at the Summer 2024 Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, CA.
“Diedrich Bader, Megyn Price, Richard Riehle and Christine Ebersole are the perfect acting MVPs to round out the family of Chiefs superfans at the heart of our story,” began Samantha DiPippo, Senior Vice President, Programming, Hallmark Media. “After we announced the movie, fan excitement reached a fever pitch – with Coach Reid, Trey Smith, Mecole Hardman Jr., Clyde Edwards-Helaire and George Karlaftis getting into the game with us, viewers will have even more to cheer about.”
As previously announced, Hunter King plays Alana Higman, who’s sure that her family’s lifelong history as Kansas City Chiefs superfans makes them a frontrunner to win the team’s “Fan of the Year” contest. Tyler Hynes stars as Derrick (Hynes), Director of Fan Engagement, who is tasked with evaluating how Alana and her family stack up against the other two finalists. As the pair spends time together, it’s clear there’s a spark between them but when her grandfather’s (Ed Begley Jr.) vintage Chiefs, good luck winter hat goes missing, Alana begins to doubt everything she believed about fate, destiny and even questions her future with Derrick – unless, that is, a little Christmas magic can throw a Hail Mary.
Production went full throttle this month, filming in and around Kansas City, MO locations, including the iconic GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, marking the first time the loudest stadium in the world has been used as a filming location in a Hallmark movie.
NFL Films and Skydance Sports serve as the executive producer of Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story, alongside Executive Producer Dustin Rikert. The film is produced by David Wulf. John Putch directs from a script by Julie Sherman Wolfe.
A newly formed venture between Skydance Media and the NFL, Skydance Sports is designed to create a top-end sports content studio and expand multi-platform sports programming across a broad range of formats.
Hallmark Media is entertainment’s leading destination for feel-good content. The company operates three cable networks – Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Mystery, Hallmark Family, and Hallmark Movies Now, a subscription video on-demand streaming service. Hallmark Channel features an ambitious slate of new, original movies, scripted series, and the popular annual holiday franchise, Countdown to Christmas. Hallmark Mystery features a unique mix of movies and acquired series focused on the lighter side of the suspense and mystery genres, as well as its own seasonal programming event, Miracles of Christmas. Hallmark Family showcases timeless storytelling for the whole family centered around faith, love, and community. Hallmark Movies Now, the company’s subscription streaming service, offers commercial-free movies and series from Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Mystery, and more, including exclusive content you can’t find anywhere else.
ABOUT KANSAS CITY CHIEFS:
Founded as the Dallas Texans in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) by sports pioneer Lamar Hunt, the franchise moved to Kansas City in 1963 and became known as the Kansas City Chiefs. The team currently competes in the West Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Under the guidance of the Hunt Family and the leadership of Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, the mission of the Kansas City Chiefs is to Win with Character, Unite our Community, Inspire our Fans and Honor Tradition. For information about the Kansas City Chiefs, visit chiefs.com.
NFL Films is widely recognized as the most honored filmmaker in Sports and continues to produce innovative franchises and documentaries across multiple networks and platforms, including Quarterback on Netflix, Hard Knocks on HBO/Max, Peyton’s Places on ESPN+, eight 30 for 30 films on ESPN, and recent premium programming across Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Paramount+, MGM+, Fox, NBC, CBS, NFL Network, NFL+ and The Roku Channel. In 2023, NFL Films productions earned seven #1 rankings on five different platforms. Bullies of Baltimore was the #1 ranked 30 for 30 film premiere in the history of the ESPN+ platform, Quarterback was the #1 series on Netflix for 8 days and Top 10 in 16 countries, The Pick is In was the #1 ranking Roku Original documentary premiere of all time, Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the New York Jets was the #1 unscripted series for six straight weeks on Max, and Kelce became the #1 movie or series on Amazon Prime Video, only to be surpassed by Bye Bye Barry just two months later as the platform’s #1 documentary of all time in the U.S.. Completing the extraordinary year, HBO’s Hard Knocks: In Season with the Miami Dolphins became the #1 series on Max in the final week of 2023. With 138 Sports Emmy Awards to its credit, NFL Films remains a gold standard in premium sports content, providing an elevated and connected viewer experience with unprecedented access to the athlete story. NFL Films is a part of NFL Media, the owned and operated media division of the National Football League, which is comprised of NFL Network, NFL Films, the NFL App, NFL.com, NFL+ and NFL RedZone. For more information on NFL Films, visit NFLFilms.com.
ABOUT SKYDANCE SPORTS:
Skydance Sports, the joint venture between the NFL and Skydance, has quickly become the preeminent studio for leagues, teams, elite athletes and A-List Hollywood talent seeking to produce premium, sports-related entertainment. Initially launched in 2021, the studio’s first two projects include the Sports Emmy-nominated docuseries Good Rivals and the critically acclaimed film Air which received two Golden Globe Award nominations including “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.” In 2022, Skydance partnered with the NFL and NFL Films on a joint venture to significantly expand multi-platform programming across sports in a broad range of formats for partners, fans, and viewers around the world. The partnership’s first projects include an upcoming docuseries chronicling the Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty and franchise owner Jerry Jones for Netflix and Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants for HBO, as well as the Sports Emmy-nominated NFL Draft: The Pick Is In which for The Roku Channel and Kelce for Prime Video which both broke records on their respective streamers upon release.