The new Hallmark Christmas movie “A Novel Noel” features Julie Gonzalo as a New York book editor who takes a temp job running a Maine bookstore. Photo by Allister Foster

If somebody sent you a script for a typical Hallmark Christmas movie, it would seem obvious it should be set in Maine.

The stories often center on a successful woman who ends up in a small town at Christmas, complete with evergreen trees and snow. She meets some quirky small-town folk and ends up running the local Christmas festival. She also discovers love or the true meaning of life, or both.

“What makes for a good Hallmark Christmas movie? It’s someplace cozy, homey and warm and I think Maine absolutely has all those elements,” said Nina Weinman, a Los Angeles-based writer who has worked on about 18 Hallmark holiday movies. “It’s the small hometown where everyone knows your name.”

At least eight Hallmark Christmas movies have been set in Maine over the years, including “A Novel Noel,” which premiered this holiday season. It’s the story of a burnt-out New York City book editor who takes a temporary job running a bookstore in fictional St. Ives, Maine and finds a renewed passion for creativity, among other things. It can be seen at 8 p.m. on Dec. 27 on the Hallmark Channel.

Some of the other Hallmark holiday movies that capitalize on Maine’s brand and charm include “Cranberry Christmas” (2020), set on a cranberry farm in Bristol; “Christmas On My Mind” (2019), in the fictional town of Bedford Harbor; “Nostalgic Christmas” (2019), set in fictional North Bay; and “Let It Snow” (2013), at a Maine ski lodge. Weinman’s latest movie, “Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle” (2024), ends with characters deciding to move to Maine, so a young family member can be near a therapy horse farm.

None of the Maine-set Hallmark Christmas movies were filmed here. Most are shot in Canada, which offers much more lucrative financial incentives to film companies than Maine does. Canada also has a coastline, snow and evergreen trees that can be used to tell a Maine story. Snow and trees are pretty much essential in Hallmark’s holiday films.

“Maine just fits into that hometown feel that we love to see in our Hallmark stories,” said actress Heather Hemmens, who grew up in the tiny Maine town of Waldo and has starred in two Hallmark Christmas films. “There’s something mystical about Maine. It’s very rural, full of good people and lots of trees.”

Maine native Heather Hemmens with Marco Grazzini in a scene from the 2024 Hallmark Christmas movie “Christmas Under the Lights.” Photo by Courtney Julien

CHRISTMAS COMFORT FOOD 

Hallmark began its Countdown to Christmas schedule of holiday movies in 2009 and now, to keep up with demand, the company releases more than 30 new ones every year. Some people love the films for their holiday nostalgia and feel-good stories, while others deride them for being trite and overly sentimental.

Hemmens has seen firsthand how popular the movies are. She’s met thousands of fans while touring the country for the past month to promote her latest Hallmark movie, “Christmas Under the Lights,” which can be seen Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. on the Hallmark Channel. She and other Hallmark Christmas stars met their audience at events in New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Then they all took a cruise to the Bahamas, with 3,000 Hallmark movie fans on board.

Although Hemmens’ current Hallmark movie is set on a ranch in Washington state, it follows the network’s tried and true formula: a woman returns reluctantly to her hometown at Christmas, organizes a festival, and falls in love.

“I think people like these movies so much because everybody loves a happy ending. When you watch Hallmark, it’s like comfort food,” said Hemmens, who began acting in school in the small Midcoast town of Brooks, and later with the Belfast Maskers theater group.  “You know you can watch something that’s uplifting, hopeful.”

Julie Gonzalo in a scene from “A Novel Noel,” a Hallmark Christmas movie set in a small Maine town. Photo by Allister Foster

Maine, of course, is not the only state with tiny towns and charming holiday scenes. Hallmark movies are often set in other New England states, or in small towns in the Midwest. Weinman has set several in Pennsylvania, where she has family. A Hallmark movie last year, called “Mystic Christmas,” was set in the coastal town of Mystic, Connecticut.

HALLMARK’S MAINE SET 

Rachel Wagner, a Utah-based film critic and a host of the Hallmarkies Podcast, said a big lure for Hallmark movie fans – who largely live in big cities and suburbs – is the romantic idea of life in a small, close-knit town. And Maine is one of the states best known for that.

“You want a place with a Christmas feel, with snow and trees, so Maine makes a lot of sense,” Wagner said. “It’s kind of the Norman Rockwell version. ”

So what kind of stories do Hallmark Christmas movies use Maine to tell? What characteristics of the state and its people make it into the plots? A good way to answer this question is to look over the below list of Christmas movies with Maine-set stories that have appeared – or will appear – on the Hallmark Channel.

• “A Novel Noel” (2024) — A New York City book editor, burnt out on her job, finds herself running a bookstore in fictional St. Ives, Maine. Working and bickering with the store owner’s son rekindles her passion for creativity and other things. Starring Julie Gonzalo and Brendan Penny.

• “Time for Them to Come Home for Christmas” (2021) — A woman with amnesia is brought to a hospital in fictional Covington, Maine. She and her handsome nurse follow the only clue they have to her identity, a newspaper clipping for a Christmas tree lighting in South Carolina. Starring Jessy Schram and Brendan Penny.

• “Cranberry Christmas” (2020) — A separated couple pretend to still be happily married to help their Maine town’s Christmas festival and their family’s cranberry farm in Bristol, Maine. Stars Nikki DeLoach and Benjamin Ayres.

• “Christmas On My Mind” (2019) — A woman suffering from short-term amnesia after hitting her head on some ice coming out of a bridal shop, returns home to the fictional town of Bedford Harbor, Maine, at Christmas. Starring Ashley Green and Andrew Walker.

• “Nostalgic Christmas” (2019) — Anne Garrison returns to fictional North Bay, Maine, her hometown, for the holidays. With her father about to sell his toy store and the town’s lumber mill for sale, she’s pressured into being co-chair of the town Christmas celebration. Starring Brooke D’Orsay and Trevor Donovan.

• “Let It Snow”  (2013) — An executive is sent to a lodge in Maine that’s been purchased by a resort company with plans to turn it into something more modern. But she decides there’s a lot of charm to the place, among them the owner’s handsome son. Starring Candace Cameron Bure, Jesse Hutch and Alan Thicke.

• “The Wishing Tree” (2012) — A teacher at a Maine boarding school has the job of staying behind at Christmas with students who have nowhere to go for the holiday. Lessons are learned all around. Stars Jason Gedrick.

• “Fallen Angel”  (2003) —  A successful Los Angeles lawyer returns to his late father’s home in Maine and confronts his past. Stars Gary Sinise and Joely Richardson.

Julie Gonzalo and Brendan Penny in the new Hallmark Christmas movie “A Novel Noel,” set in a small Maine town, and its bookstore. Photo by Syd Wong