Entertainment

Steven Ackerman/Hallmark

Hallmark's 'Christmas Connection' Turns A Missed Flight Into A Holiday Miracle

by Kathleen Walsh

Everyone loves a good Christmas movie, but Hallmark movies are a special kind of Christmas movie. They are made to be enjoyed with an oversized sweater, hot chocolate, and possibly a pint of ice cream. Which is why I'm very much looking forward to what the network's latest creation has in store for me this Sunday. But is Christmas Connection based on a true story? These types of movies are wonderful, but not exactly known for their realism. But hey, maybe this extended meet cute could happen. After all, anything can happen during the holidays.

Christmas Connection is a classic tale of love, romance, serendipity, and missed flights. According to the Hallmark website, the story is about a charming flight attendant who, by a series of adorable mishaps, winds up spending the holidays with a single dad and his adorable daughter. I bet you can figure out the rest. The official movie description reads:

Flight attendant Sydney is tasked with looking after Leah, an unaccompanied minor. After Leah is safely delivered to her father, Jonathan, Sydney finds a package Leah left behind and delivers it to Leah. She missed her connection, and Jonathan invites her to spend the holidays with them.

As hard as I looked (and trust me, I basically scoured Google), I could not find any evidence that this actually happened in real life. If it did, no enterprising journalist as ever written their story for publication. Maybe I should get on that. However, do not lose heart, my friends, because there are plenty of other heartwarming flight attendant stories that really did happen. For example the flight attendant in Japan who let a man use the seat beside him for his wife's ashes, or the flight attendant who passed encouraging notes amongst the passengers.

But even though Christmas Connection isn't based on a real story, this particular holiday movie still has plenty going for it. For starters, it was written by screenwriting duo Gregg Rossen and Bryan Sawyer who, if their IMDB pages are anything to go by, basically write a script for a Hallmark movie once a week. So they could probably write a screenplay for Hallmark in their sleep — which means this movie is definitely going to have everything you were hoping it would have. (Sometimes a little cheesiness is welcome around the holidays, you know?)

In an interview with Script Consultant, the duo explained how they work as a team to create these scripts:

As for our career writing, we’ve mostly written as a team. In comedy it’s really useful to have a collaborator both for pitching or to brainstorm jokes, etc, and also it helps to generate material faster. Also a collaborator can tell you if something is funny, or tasteless, or just stupid. For other genres or more personal stories, there seem to be fewer writing teams, but those genres have never been that interesting for us.

Of course, Hallmark movies aren't the only thing keeping this pair of hardworking scriptwriters in business. Variety reported in 2015 that the duo was working on a script to be set at the star-studded Met Gala entitled Met Gala Heist. I'm honestly shocked that this movie has not already been made yet. It hasn't shown up in theaters yet, so I'll just sit here waiting patiently for this movie to show up because I need it in my life.

So no, Christmas Connection is not based on a real event. However that is definitely not going to stop me from watching it on Dec. 17.

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