Hallmark is all in with Jane Austen.
The network is premiering all-new original movie inspired by the author’s works, spanning contemporary romance, comedy and fantasy, with titles that include Paging Mr. Darcy, Love and Jane and An American in Austen.
In Hallmark’s first period adaptation, the network is debuting Sense and Sensibility under its Mahogany brand.
For over 30 years, Mahogany has been committed to connecting, celebrating, and uplifting Black culture.
Set in the Regency Era, The narrative follows the three Dashwood sisters and their widowed mother as they are forced to leave the family estate at Norland Park and move to Barton Cottage, a modest home on the property of distant relative Sir John Middleton. There the women experience love, romance, and heartbreak.
Deborah Ayorinde, Bethany Antonia and Dan Jeannotte star in the film.
In approaching the classic story within the Mahogany brand, Toni Judkins, SVP Development at Hallmark Media, says, “So it wasn’t really a call to try and make this an African-American experience, but being true to the property, and adding those layers, be it color, or little Easter eggs.”
Executive producer Tia A. Smith adds that, “as a card-carrying Jane-ite, I really wanted to make sure that we preserved the story, that we stayed true to it — those tones of love, of sisterhood, of hope. So, making sure that the story was protected, that the authenticity was there, was key to what we were doing. It’s all in the details.”
In addition to all of this, Judkins says that this particular Austen novel fits perfectly into the Mahogany brand because, “[this] is about love and sisterhood and family and purpose, [all] put it into this well-loved traditional story from Jane Austen, and it seemed just like a natural fit.”
Judkins points to the inclusion of Vanessa Riley on the creative team for making sure that the entirety of the project was historically correct.
Riley, an Author and preeminent Black Regency expert, says, “Part of my role was to make sure everyone understood from a historical standpoint the traditions, and illuminate more of Black history. Black history is Regency history. They’re Easter eggs throughout the sets — you will see paintings of Black heroes who lived during this timeframe, famous women that you all should know, and every aspect was intentional from the hair to the costumes.”
Costume designer for the film, Kara Saun, created 68 pieces in 20 days.
“It was really about telling the fashion story along with the story of all the characters, explains Saun.
Within those pieces, while the Regency era often features muted colors, Saun chose to use a bright palate.
About that decision, Saun says that she used vivid colors because, “I really wanted to bring our own unique style and vision to Sense and Sensibility And the way that you can think about it really is these colors did exist in the regency era. You may not see it all the time in [other] regency era films, but they're a very big part of the regency era, and it was us just bringing that to light.”
She adds, “Everything that I designed in this movie had a reason for being. There's nothing there just by chance. It's all intentional.”
The team behind Sense and Sensibility is aware that right now there are many other period shows and movies available for consumption, but Judkins believes that this is fine. What really matters, she says is that people take in the intricacies of the path the characters take.
“It’ a journey to love and all the different ways that we as women have to learn how to get out of our own way. Have to learn how to give ourselves over to the experience of love, and have to teach men sometimes,” she says with a laugh.
‘Sense and Sensibility’ airs Saturday, February 24th at 8/7c on Hallmark, and is available for streaming on the Hallmark Movies Now app.