Hunter King and Tyler Hynes in “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.”
Julie Sherman Wolfe wants to be clear, as she says, “I’ll start with the Taylor and Travis thing. As far as informing the movie goes, that was sort of a jumping off point.”
She’s talking about the new Hallmark movie “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story.”
And, of course, she’s referring to supercouple, Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce and superstar singer Taylor Swift and their well-documented romance.
But, the movie isn’t about a performer and a player, it’s about Chiefs superfan Alana who’s trying to win the Fan of the Year Award as a Christmas gift for her family, while falling in love with someone in the Chiefs front office along the way.
The movie stars Hunter King as Alana, Tyler Hynes, Ed Begley Jr., and Diedrich Bader, and features Travis Kelce’s mom, Donna, as well. Sherman Wolfe wrote the film.
King says, “I mean, I’m a Swiftie. I don’t know who isn’t a Swiftie. So we’ll take all the Swifties we can get, right?”
But, as it turns out, King is also a huge fan of the sport as well. “I grew up loving football. I was a really big Peyton Manning fan and I would YouTube his videos on how to throw a football. And then I was like, ‘I’m going to be a quarterback when I grow up,’ and my dad’s like, ‘I got news for you…’ So, I don’t get to be a quarterback, but I get to be a part of a football movie.”
Hynes interjects that, “And she’s got an arm on her.”
Lara Krug, VP and Chief Marketing Officer with Kansas City Chiefs agrees with Hynes, saying, “[She] she sent us a video of herself throwing a football” and it was incorporated into the movie.
The film is the result of a partnership between Hallmark and the Chiefs as explained by Samantha DiPippo, SVP Programming at Hallmark Media.
“The second we really sat down and started talking about what this could be, I think we instantly knew that there was a massive opportunity to make something truly magical here. And for us, it’s amazing to shoot in Kansas City. This is obviously the home of both of our iconic brands, but it’s also the biggest movie we’ve ever done,” she says.
Krug says that while the narrative definitely has football all over it, “It’s really about celebrating the fans and their passion.”
DiPippo wants to point out that, “You don’t have to be a Chiefs fan to love this movie.”
In a twist of fate, Sherman Wolfe was not exactly a Chiefs supporter when she took on this project. She was in fact mourning her favorite team’s recent Super Bowl loss to the Chiefs, explaining that she’s a die hard 49ers fan.
“I was still wearing black, and [DiPippo] said, ‘Okay, are you sitting down,’ and she told me all about the movie. And honestly, I feel so strongly about the passion that fans have for the game of football, and I think it transcends a particular team. So, I was able to separate my own personal angst from that and write a movie that, if you didn’t know I was a 49er fan, you would think that I was a Chiefs fan.”
Krug adds, “I think regardless of being a Chiefs fan or not, [this movie is about] so much more than what is currently happening in the cultural zeitgeist. For us, we’re fans of our fans, so if we can tell a story where you get to combine [that] with Hallmark, it’s perfect.”
King agrees, as she adds, “I don’t know who wouldn’t want to watch this movie. It’s centered around love and passion and football and Christmas and family.”
Circling back to talk about a certain star and whether her fans should tune in, King believes that, “For a lot of Swifties, [all of this is] kind of her brand, so come on board, watch it. It’s going to be great.”
Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story premieres Nov. 30 on Hallmark Channel at 8/7c as part of the network’s 15th annual Countdown to Christmas.
