Making movies—especially Christmas movies—is Candace Cameron Bure’s passion, just as listening to and writing about country music is mine.
Bure produced more than 25 holiday-themed films for Hallmark Channel before switching to the recently redesigned Great American Family (GAF) channel in 2022. She is following the trend this year with two more Christmas movies for GAF, for which she also acts as Chief Creative Officer.
She was among the first to feature in the genre that has grown to be really hot in the previous 15 years.
“I totally enjoy creating these films,” she said. They thaw my heart. They make people so very happy. And across my career, that has always been my guiding principle. Working on these films excites me.
Given that these films are well-known for always having a happy ending regardless of what else goes on, I wanted to know how she came across new storylines.
Bure said, “For these Christmas movies, we follow a formula we keep inside. By the end of it, we are sure our couple will fall in love. A kiss is going to happen. But what I’m always searching for, especially with Great American Family films, is that we’re trying to find that religion thread across them, something that is a little bit more significant and deeper inside the Christmas component. Within scripts, that is what I am searching for. But as I get older, I search for screenplays showing people who have also grown up.
Unbelievably, Bure is now 48 years old and no longer inhabits jobs demanding a 30-something character. Bure produces in addition as performs. She makes films in which she stars as well as those in which someone else takes the stage.
Still the best rated holiday film on the Hallmark Channel is her “Christmas Under Wraps.” Former Hallmark CEO Bill Abbott said Bure was “The Queen of Christmas Movies.”
“I’m glad people have turned in to see my movies, but really making the movies is what most concerns me. People wanting to tune in and enjoy them excites me, Bure said.
Though every holiday movie on GAF is not faith-based, Bure informed me that they are “absolutely leaning into a lot more faith content for the coming years.”
Inspired by a message from her late father, “A Christmas Less Traveled,” (premiering Nov. 16) follows “Desi,” (Bure), on a road trip to rediscover her family’s treasured memories. She meets “Greyson,” (Eric Johnson), along the road on a trip of surprising self-discovery.
In the next film, “Home Sweet Christmas,” (which opens Dec. 1), Sophie Marlow (Bure) meets Sam (Cameron Mathison), her long-lost pal, upon her return to the property of her great-uncle, who recently passed away. Although the house is for sale, they find neither of them is yet ready to let go.
She also started the Christmas Festival honoring Great American Families in New York City. It will take place in UBS Arena between November 22 and December 29. Celebrities, special screenings, photo opportunities, ice skating, celebratory craft projects, holiday-themed cuisine and beverages and Santa make up a huge immersive experience.
Bure said, “Other holidays have disadvantages for photographs and autograph signing. Although you can definitely meet some of us from the channel, there is so much more than that. There is going to be outdoor ice skating. One can meet Santa and snap pictures. Every night, we set up a Christmas tree lit just like in one of our Christmas movies. Your whole family and friends will have an outdoor experience here.
With luck, the event will go well and they will be able to bring it to other locations, including Nashville, going forward.
Candace has stayed near to audiences’ hearts from her legendary performance as “D.J. Tanner” on “Full House” to her Emmy-nominated work on “The View. Currently serving Great American Media as the Chief Creative Officer, she keeps generating original material while executive-producing movie projects including “Unsung Hero.”
Entering its tenth season, Bure’s podcast “The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast,” is a committed philanthropist working with Skip1.org, The Salvation Army, and more.
She said of Skip1.org, “We build kitchens in schools worldwide, in impoverished nations and here in the US and working with homeless communities too. Skip One’s appeal to me is that we are not requesting an additional monetary gift. We are requesting you to donate that money instead, to skip anything, to give a small sacrifice.
I have to admit that the Candace Cameron Bure you heard on podcasts and TV matches the one I personally met. She is intelligent above her years, polite, and reflective. I’m happy they let a Nashville country music writer venture outside her comfort zone and highlight the well-known television and movie actress who has permeated so many of our lives.
