Next Saturday, November 27, Hancock Park writer Stephanie Sourapas will see a longtime dream come to fruition — her first produced film, “Making Spirits Bright,” will debut on the Hallmark Channel at 3 p.m. as part of its “Countdown to Christmas” lineup.
Sourapas, who has a background in advertising and has also written children’s books, began collaborating with her screenwriting partner and longtime family friend, Tom McCurrie, several years ago. Another romantic comedy they wrote on spec attracted a manager, who eventually set them up with the Hallmark connection and the assignment to write the new holiday movie.
“This was always my dream, and this is fulfillment,” Sourapas told the Buzz yesterday.
According to Hallmark, the plot of “Making Spirits Bright,” starring  Taylor Cole and Carlo Marks, centers on “The son & daughter of rival holiday decorating families [who] help mend their fathers’ decades-old feud, finding romance along the way as they compete in the town’s holiday decorating contest.”
Sourapas said that like most of the channel’s holiday-themed movies, this one features an empowered female lead and a happy ending, and is very family-friendly — something grandparents would feel comfortable watching with their grandkids of all ages, at all the big holiday gatherings starting this week.
But if your gatherings are just too busy, and you can’t catch the initial screening next Saturday, don’t worry — Hallmark will run the movie eight more times before Christmas, so you’ll have plenty of chances to check it out and see how Sourapas’ holiday wishes have already come true. (In fact, she and partner McCurrie are already hard at work on another holiday movie for Ion Television for next year.)
