GREAT AMERICAN MEDIA ANNOUNCES SEQUEL TO STORIED FRANCHISE, "WHEN HOPE CALLS," STARRING CINDY BUSBY, CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL, NICK BATEMAN, WENDY CREWSON, HANNEKE TALBOT, MORGAN KOHAN, AND RYAN-JAMES (RJ) HATANAKA, BEGINS SEASON TWO PRODUCTION FOR SERIES PREMIERE JANUARY 2025

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2024 -- Great American Media announced its sequel to a storied TV series, inspired by beloved author, Janette Oke, "When Hope Calls," begins filming in late September for a World Premiere in January 2025 on Great American Family, then streaming on Pure Flix.

"When Hope Calls" season two stars Cindy Busby (Crown Prince of Christmas) as "Nora," Christopher Russell (A Dash of Christmas) as "Constable, Mountie Michael," Nick Bateman (A Christmas Miracle with Daisy) as "Wyatt," Wendy Crewson ("Frankie Drake Mysteries") as "Tess Stewart," Hanneke Talbot ("Star Trek") as "Maggie Parsons," Morgan Kohan ("Sullivan's Crossing") as "Lillian Walsh," and Ryan-James (RJ) Hatanaka ("Criminal Minds") as "Mountie Gabriel."

"When Hope Calls" is a spinoff of Oke's legendary book series, When Calls the Heart and followed a pair of sisters, Lillian Walsh (Kohan) and Grace Bennett (Jocelyn Hudon) to the town of Brookfield, circa 1916. "When Hope Calls" is a family drama centered on the town's orphanage and its residents who meet tremendous challenges while creating a hopeful, faith-filled community on the cusp of change in the frontier town while nurturing the children in their care.

"We were fortunate early on to understand that Janette Oke's faith-filled characters had such rich origins that building entertainment universes from this world would present themselves over and over," said Bill Abbott, President & CEO, Great American Media.

"When Hope Calls" had 10 episodes in season one, followed by two one-hour Christmas episodes in 2021 that saw Lori Loughlin reprise her role as Abigail Stanton. There are eight episodes in season two, and while the opening episodes pay homage to the romance of "Lillian" and "Mountie Gabriel," new characters are introduced that are seminal to the orphanage and children, the sprawling farms and ranchlands, and to the town of Brookfield who welcome a new Constable from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, "Mountie Michael" (Russell).

"When Hope Calls" is executive produced by Brad Krevoy, Cara Russell, Lorenzo Nardini, and Amy Krell (full producer billing block released soon). Bradley Walsh directs from Original screenplay by showrunner and writer, Alfonso Moreno.

ABOUT GREAT AMERICAN MEDIA

Great American Media is home to a family-friendly portfolio of brands including Great American Family, Great American Pure Flix and Great American Faith & Living. As the flagship linear TV network, Great American Family features original Christmas movies, rom-coms and classic series that celebrate faith, family and country. Great American Pure Flix is a leading faith and family streaming service that inspires, uplifts and entertains with content that you can confidently stream with the entire family. Other platforms include, Great American Faith & Living, the unscripted companion to Great American Family that celebrates faith, family, and country every day and every season; Great American Adventures and Pure Flix TV, FAST channels (free ad-supporting streaming TV). Great American Media was established in June 2021 by Bill Abbott and a group of US-based family offices.