{"id":5882,"date":"2015-02-15T08:11:54","date_gmt":"2015-02-15T13:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=5882"},"modified":"2015-02-15T08:11:54","modified_gmt":"2015-02-15T13:11:54","slug":"rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html","title":{"rendered":"Rachel Boston opens &#8220;A Gift of Miracles&#8221; on HM&amp;M"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The world premiere of <em>A Gift of Miracles<\/em> airs tonight (2\/15) @ 9:00 PM (ET) on Hallmark Movies &amp; Mysteries.<\/strong>The uplifting film stars Rachel Boston (Lifetime&#8217;s <em>Witches of East End<\/em>), Jesse Moss (Hallmark&#8217;s Channel&#8217;s <em>Cedar Cove<\/em>) and acting legend Rita Moreno.\u00a0 My mini-review of the film followed by a conversation with Rachel Boston follows the trailer.<strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com\/a-gift-of-miracles\">from the Hallmark Movies &amp; Mysteries website<\/a>): <\/strong><em>A pragmatic PhD candidate <\/em>(Rachel Boston)<em> must let go of her logic when she finds a list of items to give away written by the late mother she never knew. With the encouragement of her enthusiastic new mentor<\/em> (Jesse Moss)<em>, she attempts to return everything on the list and begins to encounter unexplainable coincidences that lead her to understand the world\u2019s smallest marvels have the greatest meaning. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"A Gift of Miracles\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/t91jyksftbo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Mini-Review: <\/strong>In\u00a0<em>A Gift Miracles, <\/em>writer Bart Fisher does a solid job incorporating some wise insights on how to live life into a well-crafted teleplay with some good twists and interesting, likable characters. Among the practical thoughts on life put forth in Fisher&#8217;s script are: If you express what you love with passion others will follow; Sometimes the most beautiful flowers will take extra time to bloom; It&#8217;s important to face that fear that is keeping you from your true path; Perseverance in the face of discouragement is important in reaching positive goals; Left-brained (organized and logical) and right-brained (intuitive and creative) people balance each other; Don&#8217;t cling to anger &#8212; toward others or yourself; Giving and accepting forgiveness frees all of us.<\/p>\n<p>While <em>A Gift of Miracles<\/em> may be a bit New Age-y for some &#8212; with God going by aliases like The Universe or Life &#8212; the ideas expressed, I think, mesh will with traditional faith values.\u00a0 Add to that engaging performances by Rachel Boston (as PhD student Darcy Miller), Jesse Moss (as Nathan, her writing mentor), Andrew Airlee (as Darcy&#8217;s father) and Rita Moreno (in a key role as a woman whose story intertwines with Darcy&#8217;s in a surprising way) and you have a pretty decent way to spend\u00a0 a couple of hours unwinding on a Sunday night.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>A Gift of Miracles<\/em> is Recommended.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>A Conversation with Rachel Boston<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>JWK: <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423997841898_14813\">So, what attracted you to \u201cA Gift of Miracles\u201d and what do you hope audiences take from the film?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9986\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9985\">\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9984\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9983\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9982\"><strong><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10047\">RACHEL BOSTON:<\/span><\/strong> I was drawn to the\u00a0story of awakening. To tell the story of a woman who had built walls around her heart and through a series of events, starts\u00a0to awaken to the miracles around her.\u00a0 The message is to\u00a0always hold onto\u00a0hope and miracles happen everyday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10049\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10048\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10047\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong> <strong>What was it like working with Rita Moreno?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10053\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10052\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10051\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9982\"><strong><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10047\">RACHEL BOSTON:<\/span><\/strong><\/span> So wonderful.\u00a0She&#8217;s such a positive person and very bright spirit. She&#8217;s been through so much and is filled with joy. Truly inspiring and resilient and we had a lot of fun on set.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9990\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9989\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9988\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong> <strong>With <em>Witches of East End<\/em> ending its run, any chance we\u2019ll be seeing your characters give more gifts away? And would you like to do another series?<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9994\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9993\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9992\"><strong>RB:<\/strong>\u00a0 I would love to do another TV series. I really enjoy working in television and the evolution of a character over time. In film and theater, you know the story and the journey from beginning to end but with TV,\u00a0you can keep peeling away layers and exploring a new world each week. That was certainly the experience on <em>Witches<\/em> and that&#8217;s what I hope to find\u00a0on the next series as well.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9998\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9997\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9996\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9988\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong> <\/span><strong>In general, what do you look for when choosing which scripts to say \u201cyes\u201d to?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10001\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10000\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9992\"><strong>RB:<\/strong><\/span> It starts with an\u00a0emotional connection for me.\u00a0A story and character\u00a0that gets inside my heart and asks\u00a0me look at the world in a different way.\u00a0 When I read <em>A Gift of Miracles<\/em> for the first time, it made me cry and then I read it three more times in the next two days. Something was pulling me towards this story. Scheduling wise it was challenging\u00a0because I was filming <em>Witches of East End<\/em> and started pre-production three days later\u00a0but\u00a0I was so\u00a0happy that we made it work.<\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10006\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10005\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10004\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9996\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9988\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <strong>When did you know you wanted to be an actress and what\u2019s the best advice you \u00a0received?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10013\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10012\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10011\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9992\"><strong>RB:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0I told my parents I wanted to move to New York City and be an actress when I was around\u00a0 seven or eight. I started singing in the church choir and loved performing. The best advice I ever received was on the set of <em>American Dreams<\/em> from Virginia Madsen who is now a dear friend. I asked her what she did when she got nervous and she said, &#8220;Just feel your feet.&#8221; \u00a0That&#8217;s helped me in many situations. Just stay grounded and stay\u00a0present.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10017\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10016\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10015\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10004\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9996\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9988\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> <strong>You executive produced and starred in the film <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt2141623\/\"><em>Black Marigolds<\/em><\/a>. Any plans to do more producing or, perhaps, directing?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10021\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10020\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10019\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10011\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9992\"><strong>RB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> I am looking forward to getting more involved with producing. Working on script development, casting, editing, and music\u00a0is incredibly\u00a0inspiring to me, and it&#8217;s wonderful to see something you love come to life. And with\u00a0independent films, like <em>Black Marigolds<\/em> or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/media\/rm2584720128\/tt1691154?ref_=tt_ov_i\"><em>The Pill<\/em><\/a>, which we shot in NYC, you create something right from the heart. The crews are much smaller so it turns into this creative little family and everyone gives all they have. True\u00a0labors of love. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10057\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10056\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10015\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10004\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9996\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9988\"><strong>JWK:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> <strong>What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10061\">\n<p id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10060\" class=\"yiv6305386137MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10059\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10019\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_10011\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1423570580819_9992\"><strong>RB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> There are so many stories I want to tell!\u00a0 Right now I am looking for an\u00a0inspiring TV series and also working on development with the executive producer of <em>A Gift of Miracles<\/em> on a new film so hopefully we will be making\u00a0that very soon!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em><strong>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. The world premiere of A Gift of Miracles airs tonight (2\/15) @ 9:00 PM (ET) on Hallmark Movies &amp; Mysteries.The uplifting film stars Rachel Boston (Lifetime&#8217;s Witches of East End), Jesse Moss (Hallmark&#8217;s Channel&#8217;s Cedar Cove) and acting legend Rita Moreno.\u00a0 My mini-review of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1085,24,31,1],"tags":[7931,35,7932,7927,7935,7926,6960,7928,7929,7930,7925,7934,7933],"class_list":["post-5882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forgiveness","category-movies","category-television","category-uncategorized","tag-a-gift-of-miracles","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-american-dreams","tag-andrew-airlee","tag-bart-fisher","tag-black-marigolds","tag-hallmark-movies-mysteries","tag-hallmarks-channels-cedar-cove","tag-lifetimes-witches-of-east-end","tag-rachel-boston","tag-rita-moreno","tag-the-pill","tag-virginia-madsen"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rachel Boston opens &quot;A Gift of Miracles&quot; on HM&amp;M<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rachel Boston opens &quot;A Gift of Miracles&quot; on HM&amp;M\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. The world premiere of A Gift of Miracles airs tonight (2\/15) @ 9:00 PM (ET) on Hallmark Movies &amp; Mysteries.The uplifting film stars Rachel Boston (Lifetime&#8217;s Witches of East End), Jesse Moss (Hallmark&#8217;s Channel&#8217;s Cedar Cove) and acting legend Rita Moreno.\u00a0 My mini-review of&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-15T13:11:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. 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The world premiere of A Gift of Miracles airs tonight (2\/15) @ 9:00 PM (ET) on Hallmark Movies &amp; Mysteries.The uplifting film stars Rachel Boston (Lifetime&#8217;s Witches of East End), Jesse Moss (Hallmark&#8217;s Channel&#8217;s Cedar Cove) and acting legend Rita Moreno.\u00a0 My mini-review of&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2015-02-15T13:11:54+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html","name":"Rachel Boston opens \"A Gift of Miracles\" on HM&amp;M","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-02-15T13:11:54+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-15T13:11:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2015\/02\/rachel-boston-opens-a-gift-of-miracles-on-hmm.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rachel Boston opens &#8220;A Gift of Miracles&#8221; on HM&amp;M"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5882"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5885,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5882\/revisions\/5885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}