Paul Campbell Is a Proud Voice in Hallmark Channel's New Direction

quotI pay attention to the newsquot he continued quotObviously Hallmark had come under fire in the past and had issues with certain groups about how they39ve handled the samesex stuff and diversity Basically inclusion and not just the LGBTQ stuff but people of color and diversity in general A lot of their messaging especially during the most recent BLM protests was 39We will do better and we can do better39 A lot of people said put your money where your mouth is so reading the script I was like 39Here we go There39s the mouth there39s the money39quotCampbell also revealed that part of the joy of making the movie for him was witnessing the behind the scene39s evolution of certain aspects to its storytelling quotIt was fun to see how much harder they leaned into things as script revisions kept coming outquot he recalled quotThey made bigger storylines for some characters to really celebrate them It wasn39t like 39We39re just going to kind of float it in and hope no one notices39 They were putting this front and center because this is our new direction I knew right away there39d be controversy and they were going to get pushback from certain groupsquotTo be honest I spent the last week on Twitter fiercely battling people coming at Hallmark and coming at me about the change in contentquot he added quotBut overwhelmingly people are saying 39I am so impressed with what Hallmark is doing Even from some much more conservative Christian communities who are saying 39This is the right thing to do This is the right direction and we support what you39re doing39 So many other people are saying 39This is the first time in my life I feel like I will see myself or my relationship or my culture represented in a movie on Hallmark Channel and I39m so excited to watch39 So yes they39re making waves but I think in the best way possiblequotCalling Campbell a trailblazer for spearheading this new programming direction is about the best thing you could quotI do feel like a onequot he shared quotTo be honest I think they picked the right guy I have so many friends in LGBTQ communities I feel had been underrepresented So to be able to finally celebrate them with the work I do is extraordinary I have no time for intolerance or prejudice no time And I have no problem standing up and being vocal about it Discrimination has no place in the world that we39ve created so if Hallmark was looking for a wallflower or somebody just going to stand by and let this out I39m not the guy I39m out there throwing punches I39m fighting and I39m celebrating this new directionquotAccording to Campbell he couldn39t have had a better partner in Sustad who has also become a writing partner to play his 39wedding buddy39 and embark on this journey with quotI wouldn39t change the casting at allquot he said quotKim39s great and I say that because she39s very funny and authentically does drama It39s what this movie needed so I couldn39t see anybody else It helps having worked together before as you develop this shorthand I also liked that Nate was a little bit offbeat for the typical leading man and I was excited our executive producer said 39Lean into the humor in the script39 I think that39s also a part of the new direction of Hallmark It created such dynamic realistic storytelling in terms of relationship developmentquotWedding Every Weekend also provided it39s British Columbia based cast and crew with another first quotThe movie was slated to start shooting a week after COVID19 shut everything downquot he revealed quotWe were the first production out of the gate to film in phase three of the reopen on June 20 It was fairly normal and part of that was just using really clever photography Everybody wore masks sanitized and various departments were encouraged to stay within their departments and have limited interaction with other departments The actors didn39t wear masks while background performers did unless the cameras were rolling and distanced as much as possiblequotA lot of interior weddings in the script were moved outdoors when possiblequot he addedquotWe had morning temperature checks too The only difference and you can39t see it in the film because of clever filmmaking is 50 of the background performers in the wedding scenes are mannequins You won39t be able to spot them still it was odd looking out at a sea of half mannequinsquotI think it39s just being really diligent with the protocols we have in placequot he offered in closing regarding COVID19 and filming quotIt seems to be up to the individual productions but as far as what39s going to become normal it39s really hard to say We39ve been really fortunate that we haven39t had any cases within the industry but it39s bound to happen and then when it does I think everyone has to reassessquotWedding Every Weekend is telecast Saturday August 15 at 9 pm on Hallmark Channel as part of the network39s annual Summer Nights programming eventPhotos courtesy of Crown MediaClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNetamp160

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Paul Campbell Is a Proud Voice in Hallmark Channel's New Direction

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