HALLMARK CHANNEL ANNOUNCES THE START OF PRODUCTION IN WINNIPEG ON "THE CHRISTMAS HEART," STARRING TERI POLO, PAUL ESSIEMBRE AND TESS HARPER, EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY EMMY(R) AWARD WINNER PATRICIA HEATON

Original Screenplay Written By Ms. Heaton's Brother, Michael Heaton, Award-Winning Journalist for Cleveland Plain Dealer

Hallmark Channel announces that production begins today in Winnipeg on "The Christmas Heart," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie starring Teri Polo, Paul Essiembre and Tess Harper, which premieres on the network this Holiday season. "The Christmas Heart" is a Xmas Heart Films production. Executive Producers are Emmy(R) Award winner Patricia Heaton, David Hunt, A. J. Morewitz and Juliette Hagopian. "The Christmas Heart" is written by Cleveland Plain Dealer "Minister of Culture," pop culture journalist and Ms. Heaton's brother, Michael Heaton.

In "The Christmas Heart," the tight knit neighbors on Arthur Avenue have proudly been lighting Christmas luminaries for 40 years, but that long-standing tradition is cancelled this year when Matt Norman, a boy in the neighborhood, is hospitalized and desperately needs a heart transplant. A donor is found, and Life Flight quickly gets the heart airborne on Christmas Eve, fighting a winter storm with no time left to lose. The neighborhood lights the luminaries in honor of Matt and his family, and their loving exhibition turns out to be the miracle that save's Matt's life.

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 available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of 87 million subscribers. The top-tier program service is distributed through approximately 5,500 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel is the nation's leading destination for quality family programming with an ambitious slate of original TV movies and specials, as well as some of television's most beloved sitcoms and series, including The Golden Girls, Frasier, Little House on the Prairie, and The Waltons. The channel is also home to The Martha Stewart Show and other lifestyle content. Hallmark Channel's sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on family-friendly movies with a mix of classic theatrical films, presentations from the acclaimed Hallmark Hall of Fame library, original Hallmark Channel movies and special events.