Sean Astin stars in Hallmark's "Santa Switch"

It's a holiday takeover when Santa agrees to share the reins with Sean Astin and Ethan Erickson in "Santa Switch," a Hallmark Channel Original Movie.

Ethan Erickson is a struggling dad who gets a new start when a strange encounter magically replaces his mall Santa gig with the real thing in World Premiere of Santa Switch, premiering Saturday, December 7 at 8pm ET/PT. 

Starring alongside Erickson, Academy Award Nominee Sean Astin (The Lord of the Rings) plays Kris Kringle's uptight assistant Eddie who is determined to keep Christmas on schedule. Anne Dudek, Annie Thurman and Griffin Cleveland also star. 

As the Christmas season approaches, Dan Ryebeck (Erickson) is facing unemployment, and struggling to pay for the gifts he thinks will impress his two kids, Sally (Thurman) and Joe (Cleveland). Always chasing a new business idea, Dan hasn't had time for family, including his wife Linda (Dudek), who is finally fed up and filing divorce papers. Threatened by Linda's handsome and successful young boss, Trevor, Dan knows he must make this Christmas the best one yet to win his family back. But after auditioning for a mall Santa job and quickly losing his cool, Dan is frustrated and broke, blaming the holidays for his troubles. Little does he know his luck is about to turn around when the real Kris Kringle (Donovan Scott) pays him a visit from the North Pole. Deciding to take a vacation and leave Dan in charge, Kris sends his hard-working elf assistant Eddie (Astin) to guide Dan as the new Santa Claus, hoping he'll learn a lesson in Christmas spirit. With the sudden power to impress Linda and the kids by making every wild Christmas wish come true, Dan soon gets carried away. As the fate of the whole world's Christmas rests in his hands, can Dan focus on what his family really needs without flubbing his greatest gig yet?

Source

Sean Astin's radio schedule October 9

Sean Astin's Radio Call-in Schedule 

Wednesday October 9th  

6-8am PT (9-11am ET) 

Sean will be doing the round of morning drive-time radio shows talking about his Vox Populi Kickstarter campaign. All times are Pacific Time, please adjust for your local time. Schedule is subject to change without notice; not all stations may work outside the US.

6:00amPT

WOGL-FM, 98.1 Philadelphia

Morning Show: The Breakfast Club

Hosts: Ross Britton, Val Knight and Frank Lewis

Format: Classic Hits

Hotline: 610 668 0753

Listen Live Here! 

Update on Sean Astin's Animated Holiday Movies

Sean Astin voices the naughty elf Winter in the upcoming holiday movie "The Naughty List," which will premiere December 7, 6pm ET on Cartoon Network. The DVD will be released November 12 at the usual retailers.

Any guesses as to which one is Winter and which one Snowflake? Sparkle is the one in the middle. ;-)

The North pole on the eve of Christmas, and two elves get themselves in hot water. When Snowflake’s mischief-loving brother Winter goes too far with a prank, they both get stuck on the naughty list, doing a seemingly never-ending list of chores for Santa.  

Keeping them company there is a spunky young reindeer named Sparkle, who joins the boys as they try to make up for Winter’s misdeed. As they start to feel like they might never get off the naughty list, Winter’s inability to follow the rules put the North Pole in a serious jam, right before Santa’s big night. 

Suddenly Christmas needs to be saved and there’s nobody else who’s up to the task. It’s up to the trio of mischief-makers to save the holiday and make Santa proud. Can they fix things in time? Or will they be stuck on the naughty list for good?

Meanwhile, the Halloween themed movie "A Monsterous Holiday" will premiere on the Cartoon Network Wednesday October 16, 6pm ET (check your local listings for other air times). It will be available on DVD on October 15. Watch the trailer here.

The Cartoon Network can be viewed live here.

Official HD Trailer for The Freemason

A wealthy banker lies ritualistically and brutally murdered. 

The banker's daughter and only heir, Rana (Alex McKenna), calls upon Cyrus Rothwell (Randy Wayne), a brilliant but eccentric freelance writer, to assist in the investigation. 

Teaming up with veteran homicide detective Leon Weed (Sean Astin), they suddenly find themselves thrust into the cryptic world of Freemasonry- pitted against a killer searching for a legendary relic, shrouded by hundreds of years of myth and mystery. Freemasons Sheldon Lombard (Richard Dutcher) and Jericho Beck (Joseph James) decide to help Cyrus while teaching him about Masonic history, Rothwell's troubles multiply as he deduces the killer is one of the banker's close inner circle. With an inheritance of millions hanging in the balance, everyone is a suspect and every action perceived as motive. Rothwell's path becomes even more cloudy as his relationship with the beautiful heiress dances on the edge of charm and collusion. Cyrus begins to realize that if he does not solve the case soon he might be the next victim.

Cyrus is forced to come to grips with powers beyond his natural senses as well as his own mysterious past ties to Freemasonry in order to unmask the killer before they strike again.

Sean Astin does ADR for The Freemason

Sean Astin is currently in Toronto filming Guillermo Del Toro's FX pilot The Strain, but that doesn't stop him from working on other projects. Today he did additional dialog recording at Number 9 Audio Group for The Freemason, which was filmed in Salt Lake City last April.

Press Release: Sean Astin Launches Kickstarter Crowd Sourcing Campaign

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- 

WHO:	Popular film and television actor and political enthusiast, Sean Astin has just launched a crowd funding effort to raise $30,000 from Kickstarter to take his Vox Populi online political radio show to the next level. With the government shut down, average people are looking at elected officials and wondering why they aren't communicating. Astin's show is an example of how that can be effectively done.
WHAT:	The weekly show (Broadcast on the Toad­-Hop Network) brilliantly matches guests with opposing viewpoints. The premise of the show is to use civil discourse to explore often hot button topics. Sean expertly interviews notable subjects while effortlessly guiding the broader conversation, creating a unique model for political talk radio. Currently he has completed thirty-five 2 hour shows with 12,000-15,000 loyal listeners each week. The KickStarter, once funded, will help create a more fully produced listening and viewing experience, continuing the important conversations which cover politics, government and world events.
WHEN:	October 1, 2013 through October 30, 2013
WHERE:	Astin's Kickstarter fund can be found here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1537018232/vox-populi-voice-of-the-occasionally-interested-pe
MORE:	About Sean Astin: Sean Astin (born February 25, 1971) is an American film actor, director, voice artist, and producer best known for his film roles as 'Samwise Gamgee' in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, 'Mikey Walsh' in "The Goonies," and the title character of "Rudy." In television, he appeared as 'Lynn McGill' in the fifth season of "24" and currently voices 'Raphael' in the Nickelodeon "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" TV series. Astin is currently in production for the much anticipated series "The Strain" for FX based on Guillermo del Toro's Novel Series.

CONTACT: For interview requests or more information:
	David Lust	Vice President	Rogers & Cowan	davidl@rogersandcowan.com
	Sean Astin	Founder and Host	Vox Populi	seanastinvoxpopuli@gmail.com

More Exclusive Images from Ribbit

Here are some exclusive images from the upcoming animated feature film "Ribbit," starring Sean Astin as the titular frog.

Ribbit is a frog with an identity crisis. Unlike frogs, he hates hopping and has a strong aversion to water. Feeling a misfit, he is full of questions about his life… and so together with his best friend, Sandy (voiced by Cherami Leigh), he embarks on a soul-searching journey in search of the truth and his rightful place in this world. 

Ribbit (Sean Astin) and Sandy (Cherami Leigh)

Ribbit and Sandy with Terence the Toucan, voiced by Tim Curry.

Learn more about Ribbit on their Facebook page.

Images courtesy of writer/director Chuck Powers.

Sean Astin's Vox Populi Kickstarter Project

Sean Astin has opened a Kickstarter Project to help fund advancements for his popular political podcast, "Vox Populi: The Voice of the Occasionally Interested People," which airs and is archived on toadhopnetwork.com/f/Vox

Sean explains how the funds will be used:



Here is Sean's personal message about the project: