The new Hallmark movie Spring Breakthrough will premiere this weekend on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. The film stars Keesha Sharpe as a single mother who finds love when she least expects it. Rhyon Nicole Brown plays her daughter and Demetrius Grosse plays the man who steals her heart.
New Hallmark movie
In Spring Breakthrough, Keesha Sharp plays Monica, a mother looking forward to her daughter’s annual spring break trip home. But her excitement is tempered when she loses her job and finds out that her daughter (played by Brown) won’t be returning home. Instead, her daughter announces that she is engaged to a young man named Shawn (played by Akono Dixon).
The news comes as a shock to Monica, since she didn’t even know that her daughter was seeing someone. Convinced that her daughter is too young to be married and is making a huge mistake, Monica packs her bags and heads to The Gulf Shores for the engagement celebration, secretly determined to put an end to it.
On the way, she meets Clark Randall (played by Grosse) at the airport, who also happens to be Shawn’s godfather. The two spar over what she perceives to be his juvenile attitude. But as she learns more about Clark, Monica begins to have a change of heart and finds that she might be ready to open herself up to love once again.
Mahogany series
The movie is part of Hallmark’s Mahogany series, a collection of films based on the card brand of the same name.
“Mahogany is a beloved brand by millions of consumers around the world and we are thrilled to bring the brand to life on screen with this first new movie,” said Toni Judkins, senior vice president of programming development at Crown Media – Mahogany. “We are committed to telling beautiful, emotionally rich, authentic stories that show Black women experiencing the joys of love through romance, sisterhood and community.”
The first movie in the series premiered in 2022. Unthinkably Good Things starred Karen Pittman, Erica Ash, and Joyful Drake as friends who find romance during a journey through Tuscany.
Famous location
Spring Breakthrough was filmed in Fairhope, Alabama. The movie showcases the beauty of the Grand Hotel Golf Resort & Spa in Point Clear.
In an interview with Southern Living, Sharp said she loved filming in Alabama.
“Most of the things in Fairhope were family run…What I loved about it was it felt like it was [a sense of] community, which you don’t get a lot in cities,” she said. “It felt like they cared about their town.”
About the cast
Keesha Sharp is a renowned actress, writer, director, and producer. From 2002 to 2008 she starred on the CW comedy series Girlfriends, a role that won her a nomination for an NAACP Image Award.
She has appeared on the TV shows Cold Case, American Crime Story, Are We There Yet, Empire, and Lethal Weapon.
Demetrius Grosse starred in Straight Outta Compton, Saving Mr. Banks, and This is Martin Bonner. He has also appeared on the TV shows Justified, Criminal Minds, ER, NCIS, Heroes, Bones, Dexter, CSI: Miami, and Frontier.
Spring Breakthrough will premiere on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries on Sunday, April 30 at 7/6c.
Karen Pittman will star in the first of Hallmark’s Mahogany movies
Filming has begun in Italy on Unthinkably Good Things, the first in a series of movies under the Crown Media’s Mahogany banner. Named for the Mahogany greeting card line, the movies will tell stories “through the unique lens of Black culture,” according to Crown Media. It will air on Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.
Unthinkably Good Things (which is a working title and subject to change), stars Karen Pittman, Erica Ash, Joyful Drake, Jermaine Love, and Lance Gross.
A Crown Media spokesperson said the network was excited to introduce the first movie in the new series.
“Mahogany is a beloved brand by millions of consumers around the world and we are thrilled to bring the brand to life on screen with this first new movie,” said Toni Judkins, senior vice president of programming development at Crown Media – Mahogany. “We are committed to telling beautiful, emotionally rich, authentic stories that show Black women experiencing the joys of love through romance, sisterhood and community.”
Karen Pittman shared the news on her Instagram page.
“I couldn’t be more proud and excited,” she wrote.
Joyful Drake shared a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot on her Instagram page.
“Sometime you get to shoot an amazing movie in Italy!!” she wrote. “My God is awesome! Won’t He do it!! #blackgirlmagic.”
Hallmark’s Mahogany brand
Hallmark began producing greeting cards aimed specifically at African American consumers in 1962, according to the company’s website. The Mahogany line debuted in 1987.
Crown Media announced in July 2021 that it would expand the brand to include movies as part of an overall push toward diversity in its films and TV shows.
“Before I arrived, we had begun to expand our brand inclusiveness in front of and behind the camera,” said CEO Wonya Lucas “I’m proud of the progress this team is making to expand diversity in our programming and it is nothing short of seismic.”
Unthinkably Good Things
According to a synopsis released from the network, Unthinkably Good Things follows Allison (Pittman), who is living in Tuscany and is at a crossroads in her personal and professional lives. When her friends from home Melina (Drake) and Reese (Ash) come for a visit, they are able to give her the advice she needs.
The network says the movie exemplifies Hallmark’s core ethos of family, community, human connection, positivity, and the transformational power of love.