After eight years of diligently honing her skills behind-the-scenes as a director, longtime Hallmark star Ashley Williams has earned a coveted spot in Disney Entertainment Television’s 2024-2025 Directing Program, Deadline first reported on February 6, 2025.
The year-long opportunity includes the chance to shadow highly successful directors, direct a Disney-produced series, work closely with other cohorts in the program, and earn her Directors Guild of America membership, she told EntertainmentNOW on February 7. But what does all of that mean for her future at Hallmark?
Williams, who created Hallmark’s Make Her Mark mentorship program for aspiring female directors, said fans won’t see her any less. In fact, she’s already been juggling her onscreen roles and her work with Disney, she said, even sharing a “hilarious” example of “wearing both hats” while aboard the first-ever Hallmark Christmas Cruise in November.
Ashley Williams Says She’s Used to Switching Gears Between Acting & Directing on Hallmark Sets
Eli Johnson/HallmarkWilliams has been on a roll at Hallmark lately, from the January launch of her first unscripted series (she hosts “Small Town Setup” on Hallmark+) to gearing up for filming two movies in Spain with Hallmark pal Alison Sweeney. The last quarter of 2025 was also jam-packed with fan events, including a weekend in Kansas City at the Hallmark Christmas Experience and sailing on Hallmark’s first-ever fan cruise in November.
By that time, Williams had already been quietly chosen as one of the cohorts in Disney’s directing program, she told EntertainmentNOW. In the fall, she spent weeks shadowing the director of an undisclosed ABC TV series and directing an episode — all while promoting her latest Christmas movie, “Jingle Bell Run,” and traveling for Hallmark events.
In fact, the days she was aboard the cruise overlapped with some of the prep she was doing on the ABC series, she said. So one night, she had to juggle attending a gala on the Hallmark ship with attending a virtual production meeting for the ABC show.
“That was hilarious,” Williams laughed. “I’m all dressed up, I’ve got big eyelashes on, and I’m just being my fancy Hallmark self. And then I hand my microphone to Chris Polaha, I walk off the stage, they walk me back to my room. I pulled a sweatshirt over my head, put a baseball cap on and ran a production meeting over Zoom! People were like, ‘Where’d you go?’ and I was just like, ‘Oh, I had a little work to do!'”
“But you know, that’s the that’s the kind of thing I’ve been doing for years,” Williams told EntertainmentNOW. “So for example, like when I’m shadowing a director on a Hallmark movie, I run to the bathroom after I complete a scene, change into my normal clothes and hand back in my (movie) wardrobe, and then stand there for the rest of the day, shadowing them on a scene that I’m not in. That’s what I do!”
Ashley Williams Prides Herself on Being a ‘Multi-Hyphenate’ as Her Hallmark Colleagues Cheer Her On
Though directing is a passion for Williams and she’ll continue to attend workshops and meetings with her Disney program cohorts this year, she told EntertainmentNOW she has no plans to leave behind her four-decade acting career, which has included sitcoms “The Jim Gaffigan Show” and “How I Met Your Mother.”
“I am always and forever an actress,” she said. “I will be an actress as long as people will hire me. Directing is a little passion of mine. And I don’t think it’s asking too much for a woman to be a multi-hyphenate.”
After she shared her Disney news via Instagram on February 6, celebrating the chance to “help pave the way for more powerhouse women behind the camera,” she was flooded with congratulatory notes from many of her Hallmark colleagues including Lacey Chabert, Bethany Joy Lenz, Pascale Hutton, Melissa Peterman, and Will Kemp.
“Mistletoe Murders” star and rom-com screenwriter Sarah Drew wrote, “Beyond thrilled for you!”
Polaha wrote, “Boom!” and Crystal Lowe, who’s been part of Williams’ Make Her Mark program as an aspiring director, commented, “RESPECT!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥”
“Shifting Gears” star Kat Barrell chimed in, “Huge congratulations!!!! So well deserved !!!!🔥🔥”
In addition to future acting roles, Williams told EntertainmentNOW that her next goal behind-the-scenes is “to direct a Hallmark series.” At the rate she’s going, there’s no doubt she’ll make it happen.
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Ashley Williams Lands Coveted Disney Gig: Will It Impact Her Future at Hallmark?