Crown Media's Wonya Lucas and Michelle Vicary on Expanding Brand Inclusiveness

The event marked the press39 formal introduction to Lucas pictured at top left who joined Crown Media last year quotI39m a brand person through and through and I39ve had the great fortune of having worked for some of the most iconic brands in the media industryquot she said by way of introduction quotI consider it an honor to now lead the iconic Hallmark media brands This company has had tremendous success and I see my role as continuing to evolve our brand to fully embrace the breadth and depth of the Hallmark logo brand which includes a sense of optimism and hope and of course lovequotNow these are universal themes that are inherently inclusive and available to all peoplequot she continued quotBefore I arrived we had begun to expand our brand inclusiveness in front of and behind the camera I39m proud of the progress this team is making to expand diversity in our programming It is nothing short of seismic The significant achievements made in the DampampI space in 2020 laid the groundwork for us to branch out in our storytelling to approach the complexity of what it means to love and be a family in a more authentic varied and inclusive way We will continue to strive to defy common stereotypes and give our characters more depth and dimension in short to more broadly represent the human condition What a difference a year makesquotIt went without saying that Lucas joined Crown Media under the most trying of circumstances quotYou might say that the timing wasn39t optimalquot she told reporters quotAfter all who imagines starting their dream job amid a pandemic where your entire workforce is working remotely Although certainly not ideal I had the opportunity to see the drive vision and core values of this company under the toughest of circumstances and to truly appreciate the resilience creativity and collaborative spirit of the teamquot2020 presented considerable challenges for our programming team given the industrywide production shutdownsquot she continued quotBut with Michelle at the helm this team navigated an accelerated schedule to deliver 66 original movies including a slate of 40 new original holiday movies across Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies ampamp Mysteries They also developed and produced new seasons of Hallmark Channel39s scripted series When Calls the Heart Good Witch and Chesapeake Shores all of which roll out this year And they reimagined the network39s daily lifestyle program Home and Family with our talent shooting all the cooking and crafting and decorating segments from their homesquotLucas spoke about Hallmark39s continued ratings success and its robust presence across multiple social platforms including Facebook Instagram Twitter and Pinterest Not surprisingly however it was the company39s recent efforts to broaden its scope concerning inclusivity representation and diversity via broader storytelling that became the focus of the sessionquotThe Hallmark brand is inclusivequot Lucas asserted quotAll you have to do is walk into a Hallmark store and you can see stories you can see cards for the LGBTQ community for the African American community and so on and so forth We39re really seeking to make sure that everyone sees themselves in our movies because whether we39re talking to consumers of different races and ethnicities even generationally there are common themes and things they39re looking for in our movies So what we39re doing moving forward is adding a little more authenticity and complexity to the storylinesquotquotI39m so proud of thatquot Vicary pictured top right added making a special reference to the success of The Christmas House this past holiday season which featured a loving gay couple among its core characters In a first for Hallmark the movie was recently nominated for a GLAAD Award quotIt was a multigenerational story really beautiful funny and heartwarmingquot she said of the movie quotI39m also really excited about our first gay lead character coming up in Mix Up in the Mediterranean Jeremy Jordan plays twins one is gay one is straight and through a comedy of errors they switch places We39re super excited for that moviequotAs for the naysayers who were initially unhappy with such changes in the network39s content Lucas said quotI believe that people have moved on and based on our ratings success this holiday season are watching us and leaning into what we39re doing on both of our networks I can only look at where we are today and really be excited about where we39re goingquotAn example near and dear to my heart is Christmas Comes Twicequot she continued quotThe lead character is an astrophysicist and as a former engineer I loved seeing a strong biracial woman who is a scientist That was something new realistic and fresh for usquotAsked about the plethora of programming competitors that are fighting for a share of Hallmark39s hugely successful Christmas success Lucas replied quotHallmark has been in the Christmas business well before there was a network whether it39s ornaments or cards for 100 years It makes sense we would lean into Christmas and we would own Christmas because it39s inherently a part of our brand It39s who we are That39s one of the reasons why the line extensions in consumer products and all the things that the team has done make a lot of sensequotEd Martin contributed to this reportClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Crown Media's Wonya Lucas and Michelle Vicary on Expanding Brand Inclusiveness

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