Our movies are so heartwarming. They are for the family, and they bring you back to a time and place, whether it's present or past, thinking of memories with loved ones -- that just makes you feel good. We don't have an agenda at our network. We simply want to entertain people with wonderful, high-quality content.
Actress and filmmaker Candace Cameron Bure surprised fans in 2022 when she left the Hallmark Channel and signed with upstart Great American Family, where she was named chief content officer for the rival of her former employer.
Since then, Great American Family has experienced rapid growth, released dozens of original movies, and lured other stars from Hallmark, including Danica McKellar. It also launched its own streaming channel, Great American Pure Flix (following a merger with Pure Flix).
Crosswalk recently spoke with Bure. Below are five questions, with her answers edited lightly for clarity:
1. Great American Family has been T.V.'s fastest-growing network for 12 straight months. What do you attribute that growth to?
We're so thrilled with everyone who has tuned in and found our channel. We know it's not the easiest channel to find right now because we're a brand new network, and we're growing, and there are so many cable channels out there to choose from. I think it is so fast growing because of the content that we have. Our movies are so heartwarming. They are for the family, and they bring you back to a time and place, whether it's present or past, thinking of memories with loved ones -- that just makes you feel good. We don't have an agenda at our network. We simply want to entertain people with wonderful, high-quality content.
2. Is there anything that sets Great American Family movies apart from movies on other platforms?
Our network really focuses on faith, family, and country. And that's what sets us apart. So you'll see that not every movie we have talks about faith in a super-prominent way, but there are mentions of it. And unlike many other movies out there that will always focus on all the other aspects and the commercial aspects of Christmas -- we definitely have that in our movies -- but we will bring you back to prayer before meal times or talking about [the fact] that Jesus is the reason for the season. And we're not afraid of that; we want to incorporate that in all of our movies without hitting you over the head with faith, either. Because we recognize there are lots of people who come to our channel and watch our movies that may be of a different faith, that may not have faith at all, but we hope that you get a little -- a tinge -- of what faith in God means to us at the network and within our movies. And then we also love our country. My movie, My Christmas Hero, really honored our military this year. I was so grateful to produce that movie and star in it. I had not done one that had honored the military. Our network is all about being proud Americans. I mean, that's what our network is named after -- it's Great American Family.
3. You, of course, are outspoken about your faith. At what point in your career did you decide that you weren't going to just have faith in the background, but you were going to be upfront about your faith?
My faith has always been very important to me. While my movies haven't been faith-based movies over the years, they were always just a stepping stone that if people wanted to look into who I am on a Candace Cameron Bure level -- not a character that I'm playing -- that [on] my website and when I would speak in interviews that I would be fully genuine and authentic and who I am as a Christian woman. And so that has always been a part of my life, really, since I've been in the business. And I've been in the business for over 40 years. As our country becomes more and more divided over social issues, it's also become more important for me as a woman, as a mother and a person in our industry to be able to have a voice for what's important to me. And that's my Christian faith. And so making movies that have more faith content has become more important to me as I've gotten older.
4. You're partnering with a book-of-the-month club for children, the Generous Kids Book Club. What is that, and why did you want to be involved?
It's geared toward kids ages four to 12, and the books teach about values that matter. But it's also more than books -- you're gonna get a hardcover book every month, but then you're going to get all kinds of fun things like stickers and trading cards and discussion questions and other activities along with videos that you can look at online with these animated characters. We're teaching generosity, empathy, compassion, kindness, giving, and gratitude. These books are really a collaboration of parents and educators who have come together to write these wonderful books and teach long-lasting values that will change the world.
5. A few years ago, you were in a For King and Country music video, "Joy," where you portrayed a gloomy, pessimistic person. Of course, you're very optimistic. How did you get that role?
I've been friends with Joel and Luke [Smallbone] for quite a while. And Joe called me up one day, and he said, "Candace, we have a new song coming out. We're shooting a video in like two days in L.A. -- would you happen to be available?" And I didn't even know what I was getting myself into. He told me that I had to be the pessimist, which goes against my nature completely. I love those guys so much. I love their music so much. I love their family. I felt very honored to be a part of that music video and just a part of their lives.
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
