Chickamauga, GA – A movie filmed primarily on location in Walker County, Georgia in 2019 hits the home video market today. The Farmer & the Belle: Saving Santaland had a four year journey from development to script to screen.
“I felt like a fish out of water when I came to visit Jim on his family farm,” said Jenn Gotzon, who plays Belle Winters in the film. “I never saw pigs, or dealt with slop, chickens, goats, cows… and then the idea and the story started to bridge because Jim was showing my how to understand where my value lies and that really began the through line of the story and we wanted to make it as a Christmas movie, because everyone loves Christmas!”
The story follows a famous model who learns the true meaning of beauty when she returns to her childhood home in search of a lost bracelet. Along with journey, she reconnects with an old pen pal and helps the town save a Christmas festival.
Jim E Chandler, who plays farmer Josh Carpenter, knew he wanted to film in Walker County early on due to family connections and the beauty of McLemore Cove. He also wanted to bring the creativity of the micro budget and comfort of feel of a larger production to this experience. “We wanted to strive to make everybody who was going to be on our set as comfortable and as honored as possible.”
In addition to Gotzon and Chandler, The Farmer & the Belle: Saving Santaland stars Corbin Bernsen (Major League), John Schneider (Dukes of Hazzard), Natasha Bure (Home Sweet Home, Fuller House, The Voice), Delilah (nationally-syndicated radio host), Robert Amaya (Courageous, October Baby) and introduces Adele Chandler.
The Farmer & the Belle: Saving Santaland is available on DVD at major retailers like Walmart and Amazon, as well as video on demand and streaming services.
There will also be a public screening at the Walker County Civic Center on Friday, November 20th. Seating is limited due to COVID-19. Tickets are only available in advance online through Eventbrite at the following links:
I’m texting this message from Niagara Falls Ontario Canada my mother and I watched the movie and we really liked it it was so heartfelt I immediately looked it up I would like to visit this farm sometime in the future it’s December 20 2021 right now cannot cross the border into the US but when I can I definitely will stop bye thank you for sharing this lovely story