New Christmas movies will start soon but could the writers’ and actors’ strikes impact how many Christmas movies are released in 2023? Get updates on Hallmark Christmas movies, Lifetime Christmas movies, GAF Christmas movies, and more.
Christmas movie season is almost here but this year is different than most. The Writers Guide of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have been on strike since this summer.
There have been questions about what would happen with the usual Christmas movie schedules this year since filming is often taking place very close to the release dates which often start in October.
How the Strike is Impacting The Stress-Free Christmas
Influencers and content creators can join SAG-AFTRA and are being asked to stand in solidarity with those striking. While I’m not currently a member of the union if I promote struck work I would be banned from joining in the future.
I also personally support the strikes and do not want to cross the picket line. So until the strike has ended I will not be sharing my usual Christmas movie schedules.
I hope that a deal can be reached before the holidays and if that happens I will quickly pull together the schedules and get them up for everyone to enjoy and print. You can sign up for email updates to be sure to hear right away if the schedules are posted.
I’m sorry for any inconvenience this may cause and I hope you will understand my standing with those striking.
How Can I Support the Strike?
Standing with the workers does not mean you need to skip your favorite Christmas movies. SAG-AFTRA and WGA have said they are not calling on boycotts at this time. You can still watch and enjoy all the new Christmas movies coming out this year.
If you also want to support the strike you can learn more from SAG-AFTRA and WGA.
I’ve got details on what the channels that usually bring us a lot of new Christmas movies are doing this year and how the strike has impacted them to help you figure out what movies will be available.
Hallmark Christmas Movie Update
Hallmark has already announced it will have 40 all-new Christmas movies this year. They have said that their season has not been impacted by the labor dispute.
“Christmas is a year-round business at Hallmark, so we were able to mitigate early in the year understanding that the strikes were unfortunately imminent. We’re grateful to meet all our goals for a full, all-new holiday slate and to bring our viewers the content they love most to celebrate the season.” – Lisa Hamilton Daly, EVP of programming at Hallmark Media said to Variety.
Lifetime Christmas Movie Update
Lifetime hasn’t released their Christmas movie schedule yet or commented on the strike. It is expected they will have a new lineup this year.
GAF Christmas Movie Update
GAF has announced 21 new movies will be released this year starting in October. They have also stated that the strike did not have an impact on movies for 2023 but could for 2024.
“We saw [the strike] coming, and we put all of our movies into production in March, April, May and June. We’ll have a full slate of Christmas movies and we produced everything that was scheduled to run in 2023 before the strike started. 2024 is a different story, but for 2023, we’re in a good place.” GAF’s Bill Abbott said, per Movieguide®.
UPtv Christmas Movie Update
UPtv has announced they will have eight new Christmas movies this year and a music special. They will start airing in November. They have not commented about the strike and the impact on their movies.
2024 Christmas Movies and the Strike
As Bill Abbott brought up, 2024 Christmas movies may be impacted by the strike depending on when it ends. Writing and filming for next year’s movies usually starts very soon.
If the strike doesn’t end soon it could delay a lot of movies for next year and reduce the number of movies that are able to be released. Until the strikes end we won’t know what will happen but it’s something to be aware of.
Continue to follow The Stress-Free Christmas as we will bring updates as we have them. Here’s hoping for a resolution to the strike and more Christmas movies!
Mary White says
It’s now Oct 14 2023. The strike is over. New Christmas movie season starts tonight and yet Lifetime can’t even get a schedule out? If it can’t be announced before the season starts then when is New Year’s Eve? Yes, being sarcastic but lots of truth in it as well. Do better Lifetime.
Lisa Sharp says
I’m not Lifetime or in any way associated with Lifetime. This is a personal site run by one person. The SAG-AFTRA strike isn’t over only the WGA strike has ended. I’m sorry for any inconvenience but these are printable schedules I offer for free and I won’t promote struck companies. We should urge these companies to work with SAG-AFTRA.