Toronto’s Chesler/Perlmutter Productions is breaking out of its traditional Christmas strategy with Rescue on the 55th Floor, now filming in Hamilton and Brantford, Ont.

The family-targeted TV movie is licensed to Super Channel in Canada and UP TV in the U.S., with international distribution by Beta Film International. Lewis Chesler, David Perlmutter, Robert Vaughn and The Good Witch‘s Catherine Bell all serve as executive producers, with Vaughn directing and Bell starring. The film has also landed 19-2‘s Adrian Holmes and Bitten‘s Greg Bryk in lead roles.

The film centres around Beth Davis (Bell), an architect who learns that a building she designed has caught on fire – and that her family is trapped inside of it.

The film marks a return to Chesler/Perlmutter’s roots, notes Lewis Chesler, and allows the company to showcase its prowess at making high-quality MOWs at broadcaster-friendly budgets.

“In the ’90s we did over 35 films for HBO and Showtime that were not your mother’s Hallmark Christmas movie,” he notes, while acknowledging holiday films have become a core aspect of the company’s business. “Like any other company, we want to diversify.”

Principal photography will wrap at the end of the month and Chesler/Perlmutter plans to deliver the MOW to networks for the first of next year.

The company had a particularly successful holiday season last year, with its On the Twelfth Day of Christmas premiering on Hallmark Channel last December to record ratings, earning 5.4 million unique viewers, winning the week (of Dec. 12) and the day on the channel. And its Merry Matrimony was not far behind, earning 5.1 million unique viewers and was, in November, the most-watched original movie premiere of 2015 for Hallmark Channel.

The company has confirmed new holiday orders for this year, but further details could not be confirmed as of press time.