QVC is entering the ever-growing original holiday movie space this year with the debut of its first-ever title in the genre, “Holly & the Hot Chocolate.”
Streaming on the ad-free QVC+ platform starting Thanksgiving Day, the film is about Holly, “a big-town food critic who unexpectedly finds herself stuck in the small town of Pine Falls over Christmas,” according to QVC’s description. Surrounded by locals who love the season as much as she does, Holly soon learns at the heart of their holiday spirit is a special hot chocolate recipe sold in the town square. With the help of a charming, if unassuming tow truck driver, Holly will discover firsthand why Pine Falls is one of America’s Best Christmas Towns—and What Makes Their Hot Chocolate So Magic.”
The idea for the movie came from QVC’s “In the Kitchen” host David Venable, who appeared in “Holly & the Hot Chocolate” as a hot chocolate vendor.
“It’s a magical story, and it teaches us that as our audience spends more time with us and our hosts, we want to bring them into the world of holidays in an organic, inorganic way, and all the ways they choose to be with us,” said Soumaya Sriraman, QVC’s Head of Live Broadcasting and parent company. HSN Qurayyat Retail Group diverse.
Of course, since it’s a QVC production, it wouldn’t be complete without a link to the product, which comes courtesy of iconic New York City dessert shop Serendipity. Venable will go live selling the special hot chocolate featured in the movie, a show put on in partnership with Serendipity, while telling behind-the-scenes stories from the production and displaying movie props from the set.
“The team orchestrated it in a way that didn’t feel forced,” said Sriraman, who previously served as head of Prime Video Channels at Amazon, adding: “QVC believes, at its core, that shopping should not be soulless. Shopping is about relationship and making sure we bring the customer in Our journey is with us.”
Competing with holiday TV movie giants Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix, and Freeform, as well as newcomers like BET+ and Great American Family, is no easy task, but Sriraman believes QVC’s audience appetite for “Christmas in July” programming is a good sign it will adjust.” Holly & the Hot Chocolate” too. And she’s willing to take a risk to see how it turns out.
“Broadcasting is a space where you can experiment with new formats, new connections from storytelling to commercial, from product placement to more inorganic, nonfiction and episodic pieces,” Sriraman said. “We already have a pretty large footprint, in terms of both our linear families as well as our streaming reach. We just launched on the Roku channel and continue to get our express channels in the right places our customers expect them to be. It’s all just scratching the surface.”
“Holly & the Hot Chocolate” starring Ryan Farrell, Hanna Gaffney, Steve Gerbin, Olivia Grobe and Venable. It was directed by John McIver and written by McIver and Mike Gleeson, based on an idea by Venable.
The movie will stream via QVC+, which is available through streaming devices including Roku, Fire TV, and qvcplus.com throughout the holiday season.
Watch the trailer for “Holly & the Hot Chocolate” online diverseExclusive video above.
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