Food Network Wraps Production on First-Ever Scripted Movie CANDY COATED CHRISTMAS

Candy Coated Christmas has wrapped production. The film is a discovery+ entry into original scripted content and built on Food Network's exponential popularity during the holiday season. It stars Molly McCook (Last Man Standing), Aaron O'Connell (The Haves and The Have Nots), Jae Suh Park (The Big Short), John McCook (The Bold and the Beautiful), with the network's own Ree Drummond (The Pioneer Woman) making her feature debut. The fictional story takes place during the holidays, set in the picturesque Peppermint Hollow, the Peppermint Capitol of the world. Candy Coated Christmas will deliver on the food-centric content that Food Network fans love and it will bring in audiences that enjoy the feel-good stories associated with the holiday season. Directed by Ellie Kanner (Love and Sunshine) and written by Alex Yonks, Kanner and Joey Plager, Candy Coated Christmas is produced by MarVista Entertainment in association with Go Films. Executive producers are Ellie Kanner, Joey Plager and Larry Grimaldi, Hannah Pillemer and Fernando Szew for MarVista Entertainment.

Food Network's unscripted series attracted more than 55.4 million P2+ viewers during 2Q21 while during the same time, Ree Drummond's popular series, THE PIONEER WOMAN drew more than 13.1 million P2+ viewers.

"Last year, nearly 60 million viewers watched Food Network between Halloween and New Year's Day," said Kathleen Finch, Chief Lifestyle Brands Officer, Discovery, Inc. "Food Network fans live for the holidays, so creating a Christmas movie featuring one of our biggest stars is an exciting way to expand our offerings and to showcase an incredibly popular talent like Ree. We've created the kind of Christmas movie that only we can -- it's a perfect gift for our passionate fans."

Drummond, known for her long-running Food Network series THE PIONEER WOMAN and her role as co-host of Christmas Cookie Challenge, makes her feature debut, bringing her down-to-earth appeal and real-life experiences as a proprietor to her role as the owner of a bakery who warmly befriends a newcomer to town.

"Candy Coated Christmas was so much fun to be part of; it had all the magical elements that make holiday movies so special," said Drummond. "Any initial nerves I felt about joining this project completely melted away when I stepped into the sweet, charming world of Peppermint Hollow!"

Adds Larry Grimaldi, SVP Creative Affairs, MarVista Entertainment, "We are thrilled to collaborate with Food Network and discovery+ on their first scripted holiday movie. Combining MarVista's long-standing expertise in telling quality, feel-good holiday stories with Food Network's promise of providing entertaining lifestyle content is a perfect recipe to bring joy to the world."