WRITERS BRYCE AND JACKIE ZABEL WIN COVETED 2008 WRITERS GUILD AWARD FOR LONG FORM ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY, 'PANDEMIC,' A HALLMARK ORIGINAL MOVIE EVENT ABOUT AN UNEXPECTED STRAIN OF AVIAN FLU AND HOW AN OUTBREAK IN LOS ANGELES LEADS THE MILITARY TO QUARANTINE THE ENTIRE AREA

Hallmark Original Movie Event Stars Tiffani Thiessen, French Stewart, Faye Dunaway, Eric Roberts and Bob Gunton

Bryce and Jackie Zabel were announced winners February 9 of the Writers Guild Award 2008 for the Long Form Original screenplay, "Pandemic," a Hallmark Original Movie Event which many compare in structure to Crash with microbes.

"Pandemic" which stars Tiffani Thiessen, French Stewart, Faye Dunaway, Eric Roberts and Bob Gunton, premiered as a three-hour event on Hallmark Channel in May 2007 and won last night's WGA Long Form Original category which is defined as "more than one-hour, multiple nights and multiple viewings."

"Pandemic" is a story about one person infected with an avian-type flu virus who causes a catastrophic outbreak when he boards a jetliner in Australia bound for Los Angeles and dies en route, exposing hundreds in the cabin to the disease. In flight, one person after another succumbs to sickness, causing the military to immediately quarantine all passengers upon arrival. Several aboard the jet break free, fanning out into the city and spreading the deadly plague to all they encounter, launching a potentially global pandemic. It is a race against time to find a vaccine before millions die.

About the Zabels' WGA win, Bryce Zabel says, "On a personal level, Jackie and I are so honored because this award comes from a panel of writers who actually read the scripts instead of watch the movies.

"We think it's humbling to be among the honored screenwriters who demonstrate why the work of writers is valuable and worth fighting for at this critical moment in the WGA's history. Here's to [an end to the current WGA strike and] everyone going back to work in the days ahead!"

"Pandemic" is an RHI Entertainment Presentation of a Mirabow Productions, Ltd. in association with Larry Levinson Productions. Robert Halmi, Jr. and Larry Levinson are executive producers. Nick Lombardo, Michael Moran and H. Daniel Gross are the co-executive producers. Kyle Clark and Jim Wilberger are the producers. The director is Armand Mastroianni and Bryce and Jackie Zabel are the writers.

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 84 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.