Danica McKellar, longtime star of holiday movies for Hallmark Channel, is getting into business with GAC Media. McKellar has signed a four-picture deal to star in and executive produce original films for the company’s flagship networks, GAC Family and GAC Living. For her first project, McKellar stars in and executive produces the original movie, The Winter Palace premiering in January 2022 on GAC Family.

“Danica is a world-class talent who is among TV’s most beloved and enduring stars,” said Bill Abbott, President & CEO of GAC Media. “Her combination of creativity and passion is second to none, and I am thrilled to have her join GAC’s close-knit family.”

Abbott, former CEO of Crown Media Family Networks, parent of Hallmark Channel, has been bringing in established Hallmark Channel talent he worked with while running the network, and McKellar is the latest. She joins another well known Hallmark holiday movie star, Trevor Donovan, who recently signed a similar multi-picture pact with GAC.

Among the biggest draws to cable television during the holiday season, McKellar has appeared yearly in a Hallmark Channel holiday movie since 2015, most recently in You, Me and the Christmas Trees, which premiered last week on Hallmark Channel. Under the GAC Media deal, which extends through 2023, she will do rom-coms and holiday films for GAC Media exclusively.

McKellar recently guest starred on ABC comedy Home Economics and is set as a judge on Fox’s upcoming unscripted competition series Domino Masters, set for early 2022.

McKellar, who was first introduced to television audiences as Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, is also the New York Times bestselling author of children’s books at McKellarMath.com, including Math Doesn’t Suck, Kiss My Math and, most recently, The Times Machine.

A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, McKellar earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics while contributing original research which resulted in “The Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem,” published in Britain’s Journal of Physics. McKellar has been featured on the front page of the Science section of The New York Times. She is recipient of the UCLA Award for Graduate Achievement and the Communications Award from the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, which includes the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. She has testified before Congress about the importance of women in math and science and was named “Person of the Week” by ABC World News for tackling math education and simultaneously breaking the stereotype of the “math nerd” with her highly entertaining and illuminating books.

McKellar is repped by Matt Sherman Management and attorney Dave Ryan at FTSA.

GAC Media is home to GAC Family and GAC Living, which launched on September 27. GAC Family (formerly Great American Country) features family-friendly, holiday-themed movies and series that celebrate American culture, lifestyle and heritage. GAC Living (formerly Ride TV) is the unscripted companion to GAC Family.

Source – Deadline