GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE LAURA LEIGHTON TO STAR IN "DANIEL'S DAUGHTER," A TOUCHING ORIGINAL MOVIE NOW IN PRODUCTION IN TORONTO FOR AIR ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

Golden Globe nominee Laura Leighton ("Melrose Place") has been cast to star in "Daniel's Daughter," an original movie about how the bonds of love and family can survive the test of time. It has begun production in Toronto, Canada, to premiere on Hallmark Channel in January 2008.

Leighton stars as Katherine, a successful New York magazine editor who is about to marry a wealthy businessman in what is set to be the biggest society event of the year. When her estranged father dies and she finds that his last request was for her to spread his ashes in her hometown on an island off the coast of Massachusetts, she reluctantly leaves her job and wedding planning to handle the annoyance, bringing along her tireless assistant for support. Once there, she begins to learn that there may have been more to her father than she believed, and that there may be more for her in life than what she thought she wanted.

"Daniel's Daughter" is being produced by Cypress Point Productions in association with QVF, Inc. films. Gerald W. Abrams ("Nuremberg") is the executive producer; Susan Murdoch is the producer. Neill Fearnly is directing from a script by Tracy Rosen.

Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 85 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,300 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the top 10 ad-supported cable networks in Prime Time and Total Day household ratings and is the nation's leading network in providing quality family programming. Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel.