SHANNEN DOHERTY STARS IN "GROWING THE BIG ONE," A HALLMARK CHANNEL ORIGINAL MOVIE WHICH HAS BEGUN PRODUCTION FOR AIR IN 2010 ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

Shannen Doherty ("Beverly Hills, 90210") has been cast to star in "Growing the Big One," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie about a young woman who inherits her family farm which is deeply in debt and decides to enter a pumpkin-growing contest in hopes of saving it with the winnings. In the process, she falls in love with both her new partner in the pumpkin contest and the simple life of her grandfather's small town.

The holiday-themed movie has begun production in Vancouver, Canada and will premiere on Hallmark Channel in October, 2010.

Emma Silver (Doherty), a big city girl and radio talk show host, returns home when her grandfather passes away. She soon finds out that her grandfather's farm is saddled with debt because he couldn't bear to sell it and see it turned into a parking lot or a highway. He also leaves Emma with a handful of his prize-winning pumpkin seeds and a note that says he's counting on her to take care of things that he couldn't.

Emma's new boss sees it as an opportunity for a gardening radio/webcam show, even though Emma knows nothing about the topic. Her grandfather's handsome neighbor is willing to help out but he wants to share half the prize money. Reluctantly, Emma agrees to her new partner's terms and soon realizes she's signed on for more than she bargained for.

"Growing The Big One" is being produced by GBO Films Inc. Howard Meltzer ("The Brooke Ellison Story"), Jane Goldenring ("Pizza My Heart") and Ted Bauman ("Pictures of Hollis Woods") are the executive producers; Randy Cheveldave is the producer. Mark Griffiths ("Our House") is directing from a script written by Diane Mettler and Emmy Award nominee Anna Sandor ("Miss Rose White").

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 88 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the highest-rated cable networks and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel which focuses on the greatest family movies of all time.