Photos: All photos belong to LollyChristmas.com except the Christmas Con Logo (That’s 4 Entertainment).

There are many things I love to do at Christmas every year; I love the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Preview weekends, decorating in early November, when the Starbucks red cup comes out and they drop the menu of festive drinks, looking at the Christmas lights around my town, seeing the decorations in the department stories, watching Christmas movies, listening to music – and most of all, spending time with my family. Imagine my absolute joy when I found out there was a way I could do nearly all of that in one place… enter the first annual CHRISTMAS CON!

That’s 4 Entertainment created the first ever 3-day winter wonderland convention of fun where you can shop for gifts, window shop decor, listen to music and engage with your favorite stars from beloved Christmas made-for-television films that help make your seasons bright every year.  The event, which was held November 8-10th at the NJ Convention and Expo Center in Edison, NJ, was then sponsored by the Hallmark Channel, which resulted in even more promised holiday magic!

When my daughters and I originally heard about the convention a few months ago, we knew it was going to be something we had to be apart of — I mean, this lineup was insane, we’re talking appearances from stars like: Chad Michael Murray, Melissa Joan Hart, Holly Robinson Peete, Lacey Chabert, Alicia Witt (who also performed!), Andrew Walker, Cameron Mathison, Ryan Paevey, Jackée Harry, Nikki DeLoach, Erin Krakow, Paul Greene, Melissa Claire Egan, Rachel Boston, Danica McKellar, Jack Wagner, Jesse Metcalfe, Ashley Williams and Jonathan Bennett, who also served as the M.C.

Andrew Walker in MERRY & BRIGHT (Photo: Crown Media)

One—or many—could say that Andrew Walker is the ‘Prince of Hallmark,’ and that might be why he has not one, but two new Christmas movies spanning both of Hallmark’s top networks this holiday season!  I chatted with Andrew about Merry & Bright, in which he co-stars with Jodie Sweetin and Sharon Lawrence, as well as his surprising second festive film alongside Ashley Greene; his outlook on acting, holiday traditions, and lots more!

Your new movie, “Merry and Bright”, premieres this weekend on Hallmark for the 10^th Anniversary of Countdown to Christmas. Can you tell me a bit about that?

Sure! It’s about a girl (Jodie Sweetin) who inherits a candy cane company from her grandfather, and the business has not been doing too well; she’s been struggling to keep it afloat and to grow it.  I represent an investment group that comes in to turn the business around.  I’ve been assigned by the investors to go in to, basically, just dismantle things and help her grow the business, and obviously she’s a very proud woman and she’s a very proud business owner, and she doesn’t feel like she needs my help so, she’s kind of giving me some pushback on that. Ultimately, we end up finding a common ground and, along the way, we end up falling for each other.