Earlier this month we asked our readers to help us craft the perfect Hallmark movie based in Fort Worth.
We listed a few reasons why we believe Cowtown would be the perfect backdrop for a Hallmark movie + included a survey for our readers to provide their thoughts as well. Spoiler alert: you all had a lot of thoughts — 66 of you, to be exact.
Here are a few responses we received that we believe would give the Hallmark executives some inspiration for when they choose Fort Worth as their next filming location.
The Hallmark movie title
“Christmas is Worth loving” — @seewhatstickstx
“A Cowboy Christmas” — @k__garrett
“Taylor Sheridan’s Short Go in Cowtown” — Andra B.
“A Cowtown Christmas” — Almost everyone
“Roped into love” — Lindsey J.
Major plot points
“The main actress comes home from New York to assist her family in renovating and selling an old vintage shop on Magnolia that isn’t doing well. But the little town has the grand tree lighting in Sundance Square. And they live in the Christmas neighborhood by TCU with the street names, Mistletoe, etc.” — Melissa P.
“Move the Stock Show and Rodeo timing up to December for the movie, then tourists can come for the actual Stock Show and Rodeo in January. Former FTW cowgirl who lives in Dallas now and no longer rides, her ex-boyfriend is a bull rider who is famous now. She comes home for the holidays and they run into each other. He gets hurt so he has to stick around for a while, she takes care of him and starts riding again.” — Irene R.
“A restaurant marketer loses her job in NYC right around Christmas. She decides to come back home to Fort Worth for the holidays to regroup. Her family takes her to Sundance Square for the tree lighting and she pops into Reatta (renamed something else for the movie) afterward for a nightcap. She gets chatting with the bartender and learns about the growing restaurant scene and the bartender’s dreams of opening up his own farm-to-table restaurant. They visit his family’s farm in the country where she is wooed by a slower, richer life. Can she give up her big city dreams for Cowtown and a classy cowboy? Will she learn that she can fulfill her dreams without the rat race of a cutthroat restaurant machine? It’ll be a Christmas miracle.” — Reagan Gieseking
“Based on the life of the man who used to sell paper and pencils downtown. He did not have use of his legs and used a crawler to get around. Willie Nelson wrote the song ‘Pretty Paper’ about this person.” — Ron W.
“Dallas socialite gets iced in at their cousin’s place over Christmas weekend. And when the neighborhood’s power goes out, they get to truly experience the Christmas spirit when all the local businesses come together and open up so people can stay warm and gather together.” — Lisa B.
“Bachelor Justin Evans owns a ranch in Hood County where he raises performance horses for showing at Will Rogers MC. He meets Sports Legal Counselor Becca Castillo at the nearby Cowgirl Hall of Fame and there’s a spark. However, he then meets up-and-coming musician Lainey Martin at the Drover and takes her to a show at Tannahill and there’s another spark. The two women get into a heated exchange at the Water Gardens (formerly Hell’s Half Acre) where someone gets pushed into the tranquil pool. Later, after a romantic kiss under the Lightscape cathedral, a body is found floating under the Japanese Garden bridge.” — Andra B. (Editor’s note: This one took an... unexpected twist. Hallmark, maybe skip over that last line.)
Who plays the lead?
“T-Bone Burnett since he is from Fort Worth” — Fred J.
“John Travolta and Reba” — Linda T.
“Kellie Rasberry from KiddNation - Staring in a Hallmark movie is her bucketlist dream!” — Ariel Brockwell
“Chad Michael Murray and Jen Lilley” — Deanna B.
“George Strait” — Saunya B.
“Eric Nelson, Zendaya, and Karen Gillan” — Andra B.
Location
“Mainly in the Stockyards, but should show off restaurants in Magnolia, 7th Street, Sundance Square with the tree and people (maybe the Parade of Lights)” — Heather M.
“Scenes in the Stockyards and Sundance Square, but home is a ranch, condos in downtown, or Magnolia.” — Irene R.
“Joe T. Garcia’s, horseback riding, brewery visit, Fort Worth Courthouse, and a carriage ride” — Deanna B.
“A scene at Billy Bob’s” — Lindsey J.
Your move, Hallmark.
