A Dream Comes to Life at Christmas Con

FEATURED PHOTO: Photo, above: Host of Christmas Con 2019 Actor Jonathan Bennett, Actor Rachel Boston, Christina Fligliola of That’s 4 Entertainment, convention headliner Actor Lacey Chabert, and Actor Nikki DeLoach.

It began last Thanksgiving when four friends gathered in Holmdel for dinner. Best friends since 2007 when they met through their mutual love for the music group the Spice Girls, Christina Fligliola invited Liliana Kligman, Alexandra Isaza, and Trinh Ho to join her once again for their tradition of binging on favorite foods and decorating the tree while watching Christmas movies. Realizing they couldn’t be the only ones with holiday traditions wrapped around the television, they began kicking around a crazy idea that turned into a dream they backed with hard work and a good deal of elbow grease. That dream turned into Christmas Con 2019, the first convention of its kind, and a company called That’s 4 Entertainment run by the four friends.

Held for three days in November at the New Jersey Convention and Expo Center in Edison, Christmas Con meshed together a version of Comic Con with a holiday street fair. Nineteen actors from the Hallmark family of Christmas movies met with more than 10,000 fans, many dressed from head to toe in Christmas themed hats, sweaters, antlers, and lights. Friends, families, and die-hard Hallmarkies (as fans refer to themselves) traveled from as far away as Europe and states across the country to get autographs and pictures with their favorite stars, attend panel discussions by the actors, several podcasters, and writers, shop with the vendors, and join in on both an ugly sweater and a gingerbread house contest. There were even two accepted marriage proposals.

“We accomplished exactly what we set to do from the beginning and even more,” shared Fligliola. “Our vision was to create a place that could bring all of us fans together with not only each other, but with the stars we all love, and that is what we achieved.”

The day after That’s 4 Entertainment announced on its Facebook page that The Hallmark Channel had joined the convention as the Official Sponsor, tickets started selling out. Within a few days Fligliola and the others were scrambling to rearrange things in order to add more availability. Tickets ultimately sold out completely, with requests for next year already coming in.

“It was great to have The Hallmark Channel come on board,” said Fligliola. “Their interactive booth was incredible, and we were honored to have them as the centerpiece of our show floor.”

A graduate of Holmdel High School, Fligliola is a singer/ songwriter who attended college in New York and goes by the stage name Majesty. Her last dance single, Living in the Moonlight, charted on Billboard and she’s due to start a radio tour in England she had to postpone for the convention. She also has a power ballad called Invincible coming out in January.

Fligliola’s background in the entertainment industry, along with Kligman who is a producer and runs Café Oscuro Films, helped the fledgling event planners navigate all the moving parts. Having studied the ratings for Christmas movies, they found New Jersey had the third highest consumption of any market.

“It would have been too difficult to plan the very first Christmas Con remotely,” explained Fligliola. “We knew we needed our first one to be in a city close to where one of us lived. So New Jersey was a perfect fit.”

Crown Media Family Networks, to which The Hallmark Channel belongs, have made more than 230 holiday original movies with record numbers of viewers watching each year. The convention took place as the 10th anniversary of The Hallmark Channel’s “Countdown to Christmas’’ programming is happening. It includes a record 40 new holiday movies this season to celebrate 40 years of Hallmark movies, with most celebrities attending Christmas Con having a movie in the lineup.

Danica McKellar, actor, mathematics writer, and education advocate, was filming her upcoming movie, Christmas at Dollywood, the Saturday of the convention. The star, best known for her portrayal of Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years, flew in on Sunday to meet with fans and host a panel discussion with close friend Actor Rachel Boston. Exhilarated from having worked so closely with Dolly Parton and having had Dolly star alongside her in the movie, McKellar shared behind the scenes stories with the fans and her new-found love for Dollywood. She also shared tips on engaging children with mathematics when an audience member and mom, Jenifer Santoro, Manasquan, asked for her daughter Ryleigh who was celebrating her eighth birthday at the convention.

For anyone who watches the Hallmark channels, Christmas Con was a present to unwrap. There were limitless stories of how and why people attended. Two sisters met at the event, one who lives in Illinois the other in Florida, to share their love for the movies and the holiday. Four sisters from Brooklyn Ubered in with  their mother as an early Christmas present and spent the day taking group pictures with their favorite stars. There were families everywhere, dads and kids, just as enthusiastic as the moms about the movies that are geared toward female audiences. And for every group of female friends there was a husband and wife older than sixty who gushed while meeting one of the performers.

“It was so much fun to meet so many of the Hallmark stars in person,” shared fan and convention attendee Gislaine Grondin of Middletown. “I couldn’t get over how genuinely kind and sweet they all were.”

Both the fans and the actors expressed a genuine joy at coming together. Actor Nikki DeLoach, whose movie Two Turtle Doves was one of the first of the season on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, shared hugs with many attendees and had a blast surprising several fans by popping into their photos at The Hallmark Channel booth. When one fan told her how much her most recent film meant to her, DeLoach was visibly moved.

“We made the movie for you,” answered DeLoach who has starred in several Hallmark movies and began her career more than 30 years ago as a Mouseketeer on The New Mickey Mouse Club. “It’s about learning to enjoy the holidays again after losing someone you love. It’s my favorite movie I’ve made so far because I knew it would help and touch a lot of hearts.”

Actor Lacey Chabert headlined the convention, with Actor Jonathan Bennett serving as host. The two are well-known for their movie Mean Girls and Bennett initiated a fan-based social media push for the two to be teamed in a Hallmark movie next year. The pair hosted a celebrity panel together and started the convention festivities the first night by lighting the 17-foot Christmas Tree in the center of the “Town Square”. Both said many times how much fun they were having, and how much it meant to them to meet so many fans. Chabert and Bennett said they are on-board for Christmas Con 2020.

“For me, my favorite part was the tree lighting,” said Fligliola. “That energy walking through the crowd behind Lacey (Chabert) as she went out to light the first ever Christmas Con tree was electric. It was thrilling to watch her have that incredible moment with her fans and one I won’t forget.”

Actors in attendance: Alicia Witt, Andrew Walker, Ashley Williams, Cameron Mathison, Chad Michael Murray, Danica McKellar, Daniel Franzese, Erin Krakow, Holly Robinson Peete, Jack Wagner, Jackee Harry, Jesse Metcalfe, Jonathan Bennett, Lacey Chabert, Melissa Joan Hart, Melissa Clair Egan, Nikki DeLoach, Paul Greene, Rachel Boston, and Ryan Paevey.

Click here to see photos from the Inaugural Christmas Con.