Actress/singer Amber Riley (“Glee”) has been cast to star – and sing — in the lead role in the original UP Premiere Movie My One Christmas Wish (working title), an emotional drama inspired by the real-life story of driven, straight-A college student Jackie Turner, whose loneliness during the holidays drives her to post a heartbreaking want ad for a family at Christmas on craigslist.
Production began this week in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on the holiday drama produced by Entertainment One Television and directed by James Head (“R.L. Stine’s The Haunting Hour,” “The Dead Zone”). My One Christmas Wish will air exclusively on UP this November as part of the network’s annual “Everything You Love About Christmas” programming schedule.
The ensemble cast includes Matreya Fedor (UP’s My Mother’s Future Husband, “Cedar Cove”), Priscilla Faia (“Rookie Blue,” “Psych”), Ali Skovbye (Further Adventures in Babysitting, The Gourmet Detective), Ken Tremblett (My Life as a Dead Girl, “The Whispers”) and Jarod Joseph (“The 100,” “Wayward Pines”). Spyder Dobrofsky (Enough About Jack, Mom’s Day Away) wrote the screenplay.
Jackie Turner is a straight-A college student, who was abused, abandoned and starved as a child. Although she has resolutely turned her life around, the holidays are still very painful for her.
Facing another lonely holiday break on campus, Jackie takes an ad on craigslist for My One Christmas Wish – a family for Christmas – and even offers to pay $8 an hour. To her surprise, responses flood in.
Among the numerous heartfelt invitations and letters of support, she also hears from other young people struggling with the same overwhelming emptiness that comes with spending the holidays without loved ones.
Moved and inspired, Jackie decides to throw a big Christmas party – with the last-minute help of her advisor, friends and support group – to find families for all those troubled folks who emailed her, and finds one for herself as well.
“My One Christmas Wish is the emotional, inspiring real-life story of abuse survivor and accomplished college student Jackie Turner, whose heartbreaking ad on craigslist led to an outpouring of love and support for her online,” said Barbara Fisher, svp, original programming, UP. “What distinguishes Jackie is that she channeled all of that social media support into a modest, real-world Christmas party for the lonely people who responded and those who wanted to support them. We are delighted to have the NAACP Image Award-nominated, multitalented, recent ‘Dancing With The Stars’ winner Amber Riley starring in the film.”
