“It's always nerve-wracking when you try something different and go outside the box a little,” Sweeney admitted during an exclusive interview with MediaVillage. “I was nervous. I wanted them to do well. I wanted to do [the network] proud and make movies that people wanted to see. In the end, everyone just wants the audience to enjoy it. So, there’s always that struggle of finding an audience interested in something a little more intense.”
In the new installment, Alex finds herself embroiled in a podcast about a woman accused of murdering her husband. While it’s fairly certain she will be convicted, Alex believes the evidence doesn’t quite add up to murder. And with the trial in progress, time is of the essence if Alex wants to see justice prevail.
“What I love about the podcast premise in general and the ones that I listen to [in real life] is they can choose whatever case they are interested in at that moment,” she said. “In this one, we went for a more current, urgent case where Alex is really trying to help her listeners understand what the prosecution's version is, along with what the defense's version is. Drew (Benjamin Ayres, pictured above and below with Sweeney) is also covering it for the paper, so I loved the feeling of the ticking clock and that Alex has to get to the bottom of it in time. It was really fun to get the whole group working together and have Alex feel that sense of family and unity, and that's something she notices.
“We feel really good about the movies we have made,” she continued. “They were exciting, while still very much in keeping with the Hallmark family brand, which is very important to everyone, including me, being a family person. It was fun to challenge myself and my writer Melissa (Salmons) to create something that would give the audience thrills, excitement, danger and mystery all rolled into one.”