Melissa Joan Hart will star in multiple new “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” holiday movies, as well as the made-for-TV hoarder film “Dirty Little Secret” at Lifetime, as part of a new multi-year deal with the cable channel, Variety has learned exclusively.
Under her new pact, Hart will star in, direct and executive produce several movies for Lifetime. For the “Ripped From The Headlines” movie “Dirty Little Secret” (working title), which is set to debut this summer, Hart stars as a mother hiding her extreme hoarding tendencies that are destroying her family.
Additionally, Hart will star in and executive produce new movies for Lifetime’s 2022 and 2023 Christmas slates, having previously starred in six holiday films for the cabler, including “Mistletoe in Montana,” “Dear Christmas” and “A Very Merry Toy Store.” Hart has previously executive produced eight Lifetime films with her production company Hartbreak Films, including the recent “Christmas in Tune” starring Reba McEntire.
Hart will also direct one movie for Lifetime as part of her new agreement, which will join her previously directed Lifetime films, “The Santa Con” and “Feliz NaviDAD,” starring Mario Lopez, and “The Watcher in the Woods” remake starring Anjelica Houston.
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Inspired by true events, “Dirty Little Secret” follows seventeen-year-old Lucy (Lizzie Boys), who has been painfully isolated from her peers for years, refusing to let anyone near her house in order to hide her family secret — the overwhelming mountain of items filled in every crevice of space in her home. She quietly plans her escape to college while managing her mother Joanna’s (Hart) hoarding disorder. Outwardly a highly functioning nurse, Joanna maintains the dysfunction in their home with an obsessive grip, but after a tragedy, Lucy must decide if she will hide her mother’s secret or expose it to the world.
“Dirty Little Secret” is directed by Linda Lisa Hayter from a script written by Doris Egan, Nancey Silvers and Annie Frisbee. Linda Berman serves as an executive producer and Navid Soofi serves as a producer. “Dirty Little Secret” is inspired by the book of the same name by C.J. Omololu.
Hart join’s Lifetime’s growing roster of actresses that will star in and executive produce multiple projects for the channel, including Reba McEntire (“Reba McEntire’s Christmas in Tune”), Toni Braxton (“Fallen Angel’s Murder Club”), Angie Harmon (“Buried in Barstow”), Sarah Drew (“Stolen Hearts: The Lizbeth Meredith Story,” “Reindeer Games”), Tia Mowry (“Miracle in Motor City”) and Jenna Dewan.
Hart is represented by Gilbertson Entertainment and APA.
“Having worked with Melissa over the years, we know she is capable of so much and wearing so many hats, and I’m excited to continue our relationship with her to develop new projects — especially as she takes on a very different role with ‘Dirty Little Secret,’” Tanya Lopez, executive vice president of scripted content at Lifetime/LMN, told Variety.
Hart added: “I’m thrilled to be able to continue my long-standing relationship with my Lifetime friends and can’t wait to bring some fresh new ideas, both in the holiday genre and beyond, to the audience.”
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