Hallmark Exec Bill Abbott Out

"I think Christmas has become almost a secular type of holiday more than Hanukkah, which really does have more of a religious feel," Abbott said, calling his movie titles "subjective." "I think Hanukkah, from a religious point of view, is not necessarily as commercial and not necessarily as much about gift-giving and it’s really about what those eight nights signify from the religious point of view.

While the film and TV industries, among others, are embracing inclusion onscreen, in the executive ranks and among writers, producers and directors, Abbott says Hallmark is "open" to doing any type of movie — including with gay leads . Five years ago, Hallmark parent Crown Media launched its own in-house production company — Crown Media Family Network Productions — to take over full creative control on its original movies .

Typically, the push for inclusive programming starts with executives who put out a mandate that they're looking for specific types of content — i.e. stories about non-white families or shows with black leads. "We are always encouraging people to bring us stories across the board. And it’s not always that simple a process where you put the word out and you get back three great scripts and three great stories. We put the word out that we’re doing an original series and we get 50 bad stories. So it’s not as easy as I think you’re making it sound and it’s certainly something that we do discuss consistently with our team and with our talent and with the agencies," Abbott asserted.

"The reality is when you produce as much content as we do — which is 100 movies a year, five original primetime series, a daytime lifestyle show that’s two hours a day, 52 weeks a year, basically live-to-tape … and countless specials — there’s only so much time in the day," the exec said when asked about how much he's asked the creative community for more inclusive holiday scripts.

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