EXCLUSIVE: Hallmark Media has set its next class of creatives chosen to participate in Make Her Mark, its reciprocal women’s directing mentorship program that aims to support and increase representation of women behind the camera.
Four aspiring directors – Angie Nolan, Hannah Michielsen, Huriyyah Muhammad, and Sarah Wilson Thacker – were selected to begin the mentorship phase of the program. Hallmark actor and writer, Nikki DeLoach, also joins.
As part of the program, participants work towards the opportunity of directing a Hallmark movie while shadowing an established director throughout the entire production process. Ashley Williams founded the on-the-job mentorship initiative.
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“We’re beyond excited to continue growing our Make Her Mark family with such talented, well-rounded creatives and it’s our privilege to help set them up for success,” said Williams. “We can’t wait to see the incredible work and creative vision they will bring to the screen.”
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Additionally, previously announced Make Her Mark participant Eva Tavares will make her directorial debut with The Christmas Baby, an all-new “Countdown to Christmas” movie starring Ali Liebert and Kat Barrell, which premieres Sunday, December 21, on Hallmark Channel and streams the next day on Hallmark+. Program alumni Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe is set to direct her fourth Hallmark movie, premiering in the Spring.
“Our Hallmark Media family is immensely proud of the impact that Make Her Mark has made on our productions since its inception in 2023,” said Hallmark Media’s Senior Vice President of Physical Production, Randy Pope. “While Hallmark movies are beloved by a wide range of viewers, it’s well known that our stories are predominantly made for women, so the opportunity to provide up-and-coming female filmmakers their well-deserved shot in the director’s chair is incredibly meaningful to us.”
Several participants have completed the first phase of the program: Nolan (Adventures in Love & Birding); Muhammad (Tidings for the Season); Metchie (The Cases of Mystery Lane: Death is Listening); and DeLoach (True Justice: Family Ties).
Short bios of the newly selected participants can be found below.
Nolan is a filmmaker, actor, and theatre writer/director with 30 years of experience in BC’s film and TV industry, working primarily as an Assistant Director. For 15 years, she helped create and grow the Whistler Film Festival Talent Labs and Industry Summit. She stepped down as Director of Industry Programming in 2018 to further pursue her filmmaking career.
Michielsen most recently directed the CBS series Matlock starring Kathy Bates. She has directed second unit scene work on shows such as CBS’s Sheriff Country and Netflix’s Locke & Key, while also producing and directing several short films. As a First Assistant Director, her credits also include FX’s What We Do In The Shadows, and Netflix’s Self Made: Based on the Life of Madam CJ Walker, among others.
Muhammad is an award-winning director, writer, and producer who is an alum of the AFI Directing Workshop for Women and Film Independent’s Episodic Directing Intensive.Her work has screened at Sundance, AFI Fest, Austin Film Fest, UrbanWorld, New Voices in Black Cinema, and the American Black Film Festival, among others. She is an NAACP Image Award nominee, an HBO Short Film Competition winner, a SeriesFest winner, and a Reel Sisters Trailblazer Award recipient.
DeLoach is an actress, writer and producer best known for her collaborations with Hallmark, including The Perfect Catch, A Dream of Christmas, Our Holiday Story, Home Turf, A Grand Ole Opry Christmas, and Love Takes Flight. After working as a creative executive at LD Entertainment, she pivoted into development and producing. Along with her writing partner, Megan McNulty, she wrote Christmas for Keeps as well as the ongoing mystery franchise True Justice on Hallmark Mystery, which they also developed, among other projects.
Wilson Thacker is a Student Emmy Award and the ASC Student Heritage Award winner who recently penned a feature film for Matt Kaplan’s ACE Entertainment and is a Ryan Murphy Half Initiative alum (where she shadowed on 9-1-1 on ABC). Her narrative directing work includes a half-hour drama pilot through the PlayStation Emerging Filmmakers Program (The Many Lives of Ayn Winters) as well as several narrative shorts commissioned by Google.