BIOGRAPHIES
MINKA KELLY (Ginny) was born in Los Angeles. Her big break, the role that really put her on the acting map, was her “Lyla Garrity” in the acclaimed series Friday Night Lights, which debuted in 2006. She has since appeared in Parenthood, Charlie’s Angels and Almost Human. Her feature films include (500) Days of Summer (Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon‐Levitt), Just Go With It (Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston) and The Roommate. She played Jacqueline Kennedy in Lee Daniels’ The Butler.
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JASON LEE (Jack) is best‐known as the title character in the series My Name Is Earl, as well as Memphis Beat. Lee was a professional skateboarder prior to taking his first major movie role, in Kevin Smith’s Mallrats (1995); he has appeared in many more Smith films, including Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Clerks II and Cop Out. His many additional notable films include Heartbreakers, Stealing Harvard, A Guy Thing, Vanilla Sky, Almost Famous, Dreamcatcher and Mumford. He voiced the supervillain “Syndrome” in The Incredibles and “Dave” in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films.
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MAGGIE ELIZABETH JONES (Frankie) lives in Atlanta; she’s 11, and loves reading, especially the Harry Potter books. She plays soccer and basketball. Maggie appeared in the feature movies Identity Thief (Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy) and We Bought a Zoo (Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson) and was a series regular on Ben and Kate.
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JAREN LEWISON (Kyle) appeared in the popular kids’ videos Barney: Let’s Go On Vacation and Barney: Let’s Play Outside, starting at age six. Jaren’s favorite subjects (Grade 8 in 2014‐15) are English and History. He plays football, soccer and baseball, as well as taking acting classes, in Dallas. Jaren was in the TV series Barney and Friends and the Hallmark Channel movie A Christmas Promise.
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CONNOR PATON (Stretch) starred in his Chilliwack, B.C. high school production of Grease. He loves sports, and plays soccer, basketball and football. He also enjoys painting (canvases, not houses); English is his favorite subject at school. He was a featured player in the Canadian reality competition series Cache Craze.
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JEFF BLECKNER (Director) has directed his fifth Hallmark Hall of Fame film. Earlier projects are The Russell Girl (Amber Tamblyn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Loving Leah (Lauren Ambrose, Mercedes Ruehl), Beyond the Blackboard (Emily VanCamp, Treat Williams) and Remember Sunday (Alexis Bledel, Zachary Levi). He made his television directing debut back in 1975, on the comedy Welcome Back, Kotter. Subsequent series credits include Knots Landing, Dynasty, Hill Street Blues and Boston Legal. His many distinguished longform projects include Do You Remember Love, Serving in Silence: The Margaret Cammermeyer Story, The Beach Boys: An American Family and The Music Man.
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JONAH LISA DYER & STEPHEN DYER (Screenplay by) hail from Texas (Ft Worth, Jonah; Dallas, Stephen). The married couple co‐wrote the screenplay for the 2011 feature Hysteria, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It starred Maggie Gyllenhaal, Hugh Dancy, Jonathan Pryce and Rupert Everett. Stephen Dyer served as producer on both Hysteria and the 2012 feature, The Playroom.
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ANDREW GOTTLIEB (Produced by) has worked on 18 previous Hallmark Hall of Fame productions: Christmas in Conway, Christmas with Holly, Have a Little Faith, Beyond the Blackboard, The Lost Valentine, Front of the Class, The Russell Girl, Crossroads: A Story of Forgiveness, The Valley of Light, Candles on Bay Street, Silver 3
Bells, The Magic of Ordinary Days, The Blackwater Lightship, In Love and War, Missing Pieces, Rose Hill, Journey and Blind Spot. He has served as producer or co‐producer of 20 other films for television, and began his producing career on the original Hawaii Five‐ O.
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NAKETHA MATTOCKS (Co‐Executive Producer) is Vice President, Original Movies, at Disney Channel. She was a consultant at Lifetime before that, serving as an executive on such telefilms as Betty and Coretta, A Killer Among Us, Twist of Faith and House of Versace. At Paramount she supervised development and production for Alfie, Charlotte’s Web, Coach Carter and Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
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FRANK KONIGSBURG (Executive Producer) has produced or executive produced dozens of movies and miniseries in his 30‐plus years in the business. Earlier projects include The Tommyknockers and The Last Don; recent titles include Lies in Plain Sight and William & Kate. His 1986 feature Nine ½ Weeks starred Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger.
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BRENT SHIELDS (Executive Producer) leads the creative process for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, spearheading development, production and post‐production. In his role as producer of more than 60 films, Shields has successfully brought to television such classic works as William Faulkner’s Old Man, Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native, Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost, as well as contemporary works by such acclaimed writers as August Wilson, John Grisham, Pat Conroy and Anne Tyler. He has also directed five Hallmark Hall of Fame productions, including Durango and The Magic of Ordinary Days.
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Press Contacts:
Ellen N. Jasa Russ Patrick Pam Slay Hallmark Hall of Fame Patrick Communications Hallmark Channel 816 274‐8099 310 385‐9401 818 755‐2480 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]