A Utah action-film fan became a Hallmark romance director

John Lyde is a Utah director who says he began with action films, inspired by James Cameron, the Titanic director, and Robert Rodriguez, the Spy Kids director. He now makes the quiet romances and Christmas stories that fill family-friendly streaming rows. One of them, Love's Portrait, premiered on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, a cable channel built around romances and mysteries. Relay has 11 films he directed, from 2012 to 2024.

His account shows how small these films can be. Lyde says he found success with films that cost between $150,000 and $200,000, when many films had budgets of $500,000 to $1,000,000, and on one romantic comedy set the crew was seven people and two actors.

Who is John Lyde?

Lyde was born in Salt Lake City in 1976, grew up in Orem and has lived in Lehi for about 20 years. Editing is his favorite part of the job, he says, and he has cut films for several Utah directors, including Ryan Little and Kurt Hale, both Utah filmmakers. He has also worked as a cinematographer.

His clients fall into two camps. For Arrowstorm Entertainment, a Utah studio, he made science fiction and fantasy, including Mythica: The Iron Crown and Mythica: The Godslayer in 2016. For Covenant Communications, a Utah publisher and producer of faith-based films, he made family dramas. He describes the work simply: "Working with friends is what I love about it."

What did his Christmas films look like?

Miracle Maker came out on 3 November 2015 and is a Christmas Western. A ragged traveler named Thomas Keating, played by Jake Stormoen, arrives in the town of Woodhaven with a dog and a chicken after a mysterious telegraph, and the residents, who badly need a miracle, slowly warm to him. Lyde directed from a script by Sally Meyer, a screenwriter he has worked with repeatedly, based on a story by the Covenant author Ann Acton. The actor Brian Krause plays a leading role. It was shot in Utah, at This Is the Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City, in the old town of Heber City and in American Fork.

Lyde has said the message is that you can make your own miracles. His earlier Christmas for a Dollar, from 2013, followed a family with a single dollar to spend. KSL called it the first film co-produced by Catholics and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with Paulist Productions, a Catholic media group, working alongside Covenant. Miracle Maker was made by the same partners.

Drama

How did he end up on Hallmark?

Love's Portrait premiered on Sunday 4 September 2022. Lyde directed it and wrote it with Brittany Wiscombe, a producer and screenwriter. Lily, a museum curator played by Aubrey Reynolds, finds a painting that looks like her and traces it to a post office in rural Ireland, where she meets William, played by Richard McWilliams, and his sister Saoirse. William knows more about the painting than he says, and telling her could cost him the romance.

The film really went to Ireland. Photography ran from October to late November 2021, mostly in County Kilkenny, in the village of Inistioge and at Jerpoint Abbey near Thomastown, with some scenes shot in Springville and Provo, Utah.

Romance

Which of his recent romances are on Relay?

Several of his newer romances share producers, with Brian Brough credited on Love's Portrait, My One True Love and Love in Tahiti, and Candlelight Media Group listed on My One True Love and Romance on the Ranch.

My One True Love came out in July 2022, two months before Love's Portrait aired. A fortune teller tells Ali, played by Andriana Manfredi, that she will lose her job, move and fall in love with a man named John. When the first predictions come true, her friends set out to have her date every John they know.

Love in Tahiti arrived on 9 June 2023. Brielle, a diver played by Lary Muller, returns a class ring she finds in the waters off Tahiti to Marcus, a US Navy serviceman played by Oran Stainbrook, and the search shows her what her own life lacks. It is also catalogued as Treasures of the Heart.

Romance on the Ranch came out on 1 October 2024. Sara, a photographer played by Suzanne Pereira, leaves Chicago for a new start, and her camper breaks down at a ranch where a rancher named Aidan helps her. The reviewer Dazzling Erin called it predictable but liked it, comparing it to a Hallmark-style romance with pleasant characters and a scenic setting.

Romance

What to watch first

Start with Love's Portrait for the Irish setting and the mystery. Pick Miracle Maker for the holidays, and My One True Love for the lightest of the romances. If you like fantasy, Relay also has both of his Mythica films.

Romance