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Hooking TV viewers the Hallmark way

Hallmark Entertainment has caught on in a big way with the discerning television audiences who crave for quality software. The fledgling, but fast-rising-in-popularity television channel is the only one of its kind which shows films specially made for television, with good stories and lavish production values, almost on par with a Hollywood film. As part of their millennium celebrations, the channel is treating its viewers with attractive fares, and one of them includes the spell-binding Arabian Nights, which boasts of mind-blowing special effects. In an exclusive interview to Screen, Robert Halmi Sr., the founder and chairman of Hallmark Entertainment Network, spoke on the telephone from Singapore, where he was shooting for Monkey King, about the concept behind the channel and its expansion plans...

How and why did you think of making films just for television?
The television audience is much bigger than the theatre audience. In addition, I can do the movies of any length for TV. If you do a feature film, it has to be restricted to two hours. And I seldom do two-hour movies. My films like Arabian Nights and Monkey King are all four hours long or maybe even 10. Two hours is too short a time to tell a good story. The way we produce a movie is such that it can be shown on a big screen. And it is our choice not to show it on a big screen. I mean we can show Arabian Nights in the theatre, make a four-hour movie out of it. But nobody wants to sit for four hours in a movie theatre. So, it is easier to show it at home, and you can do it over two nights.

How do you go about selecting the subject, the cast and the director for a film? What is it that you look for in a TV film?
While shooting our movies, we go anywhere in the world to be authentic, and we shoot very little in studios. We are always scouting new locations. Our movies are based on literature, history and it’s for the whole family. The basis of a Hallmark movie is family entertainment, not concentrating on violence or sex, only on narrating a good story.

The budget of your films is almost like that of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the cast also boasts of leading film stars, like Paul Newman and others. Is it worth the amount you are spending?
In the last 10 years, eight of the top 10 television movies in the USA have been Hallmark masterpieces. These movies ca-nnot be seen on the widescreen - but only on Hallmark Entertainment Network. Most of these movies also get nominated and win Emmy awards. So in terms of the amount being spent - the results speak for themselves.

In India, leading film stars don’t like to work for television since it ruins their career in films. Aren’t the leading film stars in US apprehensive of working for television films?
The leading Hollywood film stars are always on the look-out for movies in which they are able to explore their acting capabilities. Hence Hallmark productions always features big Hollywood stars like Whoopi Goldberg, Wesley Snipes, Paul Newman, who give up big bucks for the satisfaction of being part of a Hallmark production experience.

What kind of response have these television films evoked in the US?
Hallmark movies have received over 30 Emmy awards, and that speaks a lot. And we have managed to hook a majority of the television audiences who eagerly look forward to our films.

When was Hallmark Entertainment Network established? How has it grown over the years?
Hallmark Entertainment Network was launched in 1995, and has since grown to reach viewers in 65 countries. We have had a very encouraging response from viewers. World over, our subscriber base is growing 10 per cent every month. We have 65 million now, and we project to get 200 million next year. The basis of a Hallmark movie is that it is family entertainment, where we want to show good stories with a message. Our cast is also not typical television actors - they come from the theatre. As I said earlier, we usually have big names in our movies.

In India, there has been no concept of a channel airing specially made television films. Plus you have many channels like Star Movies, HBO, TCM, airing Hollywood films. Under these circumstances, what will attract an Indian viewer to Hallmark? And how is it faring in India?
Yes, the concept is new to India, but that’s what makes us stand apart from competition. We do not consider Star Movies, HBO to be our competition as they show Hollywood movies which viewers can also watch on the big screen. Our movies are exclusively available for viewing on television and provide clean entertainment, that can be viewed by the entire family. Further, people want to watch these kind of movies. They are sick and tired of the exploitative kind of movie-making and they like to see something valuable. The channel has been very well received by the Indian audience and we have achieved a reach of six million households within 10 months of our launch in India.

What’s the next big film you are planning to shoot?
I will be shooting Jungle Book next year. Though Jungle Book has been made many times, no one has really done justice to it. I will base it as close as possible to Rudyard Kipling’s original story. I want to shoot on location in Rajasthan and some other locales, which are still being decided. There will be Indian actors and Indian crew involved, just like the crew shooting Monkey King in Singapore has Singaporean actors and crew involved.

Tell us about the landmark Hallmark films?
All Hallmark movies are big-budget movies shot on location all over the world. We have produced over 45 movies in 1999 alone. Merlin, one of Hallmark’s top-notch blockbusters, was filmed on location in London and Wales, at a cost of over 35 million US dollars. It attracted 35.3 million viewers in its US premiere, making it the highest rated network TV mini-series in the last four years.

Cleopatra was shot on location in Morocco at a cost of US $ 30 million. These are really fantastic budgets for movies, which are made for television. Jungle Book too will be along the lines of these other grand Hallmark productions.

Salma Khatib