Cindy Busby parks herself in 'Marry Me in Yosemite'

Thanks to the latest of Cindy Busby's many Hallmark Channel movies, she got to know Yosemite National Park extremely well.

One of the outlet's most popular actresses returns to it Saturday, Sept. 3, in the new film "Marry Me in Yosemite." Within the traditional Hallmark setup of a budding romance - in this case, between photojournalist Zoe (Busby) and Jack (Tyler Harlow), the tour guide she enlists to help her get shots she needs for a new coffee-table book about the California park - the expectedly scenic story also incorporates lessons about Native American history and care for the environment.

"We actually shot in Yosemite," the ever-pleasant Busby stresses. "I was watching some of it and thought, 'Everyone is going to think this is green-screen! It doesn't even look real.' It's just so magnificent and stunning. You would need a very big budget to re-create that, and why do that when you can have the real thing?"

For as much of a tourist draw as the site is, many scenes of "Marry Me in Yosemite" make it seem Busby and Harlow are the only two people there.

"We got lucky," Busby reflects, "because we started right before the summer tourism would have started. At midday, there would be a lot more people, so we had pretty early mornings (of work). I don't know how we did it, but we did it."

"Marry Me in Yosemite" also did it with a limited crew, and not only for pandemic considerations. "Because we were shooting in the park, we could not have more than eight people, including actors," Busby reports. "That was an amazing experience, because we just got to bond on a different level than we typically would on a bigger set. It was a lot more work for everyone, but it was like going back to the truth and the love and the passion for filmmaking. It made this so much more special."

The multiple cable movies typically done each year by Busby (who still hopes for a third in the "Mr. Darcy" franchise) usually include at least one of the Christmas stories that some cable channels run 24/7 at holiday time, but she doesn't have a new one lined up for this year ... yet. She realizes that could come late in the game, as it has for her before.

"It does seem kind of late, but it really isn't," she maintains. "I shot one in October last year, so who knows? I've come to a point in my life where I just kind of roll with the punches. Now I just allow things to happen if they're meant to be. And if they don't, then there'll be something else."