A Real Life Fairytale: Actor/Producers Jim and Jenn (Gotzon) Chandler Tell Their Story
/Ask a young girl what love looks like and most likely the answer will reflect something like a beautiful girl who can talk to animals, sing phenomenally, and who has overcome a large hardship...flawlessly — we call them princesses.Along with the girl you will also have a boy who is strong, handsome, and can fix just about any situation with a kiss — we call this a fairytale. But this image is not real because love is not a fairytale. It is so much more than that.Love is a word filled with so much meaning that it contains every emotion within it that seems to hit you all at once. It is something everyone strives for and something people will do anything to get. But we keep setting ourselves up for failure trying to obtain this idea of love, for love cannot be achieved without Jesus.For we must establish a relationship with Him to know what true love feels like. This is why looking for love just simply will not work. You see love is something that can’t be found because it is something that can only be given. And sometimes we have to fall completely apart in order to see that God is the only one who can give it to us.
In a world filled with lies and temptations about love, you could imagine my surprise when I found out that a movie is being made going completely against every fairytale ever made. You see the difference between this movie’s love story and others is, it’s real. The movie is based on a real life love story where the main characters learn that worldly love isn’t what you want; what you want is an everlasting love. A love that makes you laugh louder, cry harder, and will overwhelm you in every way possible.The Farmer and The Belle not only shows us how to obtain the same romance and love found in made up fairytales, but also shows us how it is not possible without putting The Lord first. It’s honestly a breath of fresh air. The Farmer and The Belle, to be released in fall of 2018, it is jammed pack with comedy, romance, inspiration, and REAL FOOTAGE, this film is like none seen before.Yes, you heard me right, the movie holds real footage from the couples’ actual wedding — meaning you will see the real kiss from the wedding day!Finally, there is a love story we can all look up to, a real life fairytale.I had the chance to talk to Jim and Jenn (Gotzon) Chandler, whose love story is what inspired this film, all about their walk with Jesus and what it is like to film your wedding for a movie.Q: How did y’all two meet?We met on a movie set where we were cast as love interest.Q: So, why do you guys want to share your story?Jim: I want to share our story because I want to entertain people while, at the same time, show our viewers how to form a healthy relationship.Jenn: I want to help others realize what real love is and how to find it. I want people to know not to settle for just anyone.
Q: How would you describe yourself before you found God? And how would you describe yourself now, after you found him?Jim: Before God, I was lost trying to do things my own way, only concerned with myself. I always knew God was still there because I grew up in a Christian household, but I abandoned him.Returning to him was shifting the focus off of myself, pouring into others and into my work, allowing God to be the thing that moved me forward in my career and in my relationships. If I am in control, then I experience misery, destruction, isolation and defeat. With him I can conquer all.Jenn: I grew up in a Christian household going to Catholic Church. I accepted Jesus at the age of 17 at a summer retreat in Stubenville, OH at St. Franciscan Center. This changed my life look and allowed me a childlike faith where I pursued my dream as an actor. My walk with Jesus became real and is my friend, provider, savior.Q: How long has this spiritual journey been for you? And what do you do now?The spiritual journey with God doesn't ever end, doesn't have a time stamp. We are committed to each other and our calling as actors to be lights in the entertainment industry to impact and inspire audiences.Q: Okay, one last question before you go. What is it like to have your wedding filmed? Did it add any extra stress? Did you have to film anything twice?Jim: We didn't have any added stress because we didn't want the focus of the filming to take away from the focus of our wedding. We were in agreement that whatever we shot and captured is what we got, no reshoots.Jenn: It was lots more stress (for me). There was one hour before the ‘I do’s that I turned into Bridezilla… because we were behind schedule for the magazine photo shoot I added during the wedding photography, in addition to the wedding and movie we were filming. We commissioned makeup artists (Celebrity makeup artist Brother Zhen from China, Cosmetic line owner Vicki Odeneal and her daughter Leah who we worked on “Saving Faith”) and designers. Everyone was excited to be part of the movie, magazine and wedding. Jeanette from The Bride’s Tailor custom made fairytale bell dress for the ceremony and Dalia MacPhee provided the reception dress. (yes, I wore 2 gowns). LaRae Mychel custom made the yellow bridesmaid dresses and my maid-of-honor (my sissy Shelly) wore a coordinating Dalia MacPhee in green, along with my sister-in-law Amiee. My sister in-law Shannon custom made the sunflower girls dresses and my mother-in-law Jennie did all the alterations. Leah Marie Photography and Stationery captured all the family festive fun, including Jim and my baptism the day before after our rehearsal. God is good! We were married by our friend and pastor David Burris from Freedom Counseling.
We had 7 cameras set up for the wedding: JD brought GoPros that were hidden in hail bales, small consumer video cameras on tripods, a drone operated by Rich Goodwyn, my sneaky bridesmaid, Lisa Miosi Martin (filmmaker for Billy Graham Ministries) used her iPhone hidden in her dress jacket pocket (sneaky) and our Director of Photography (DP) Kacper Skowron had a steady cam rig that circled us for our actual wedding kiss. Sheila Munger producer of “The Princess Cut” managed the film production on site. It was a team effort by everyone. Our wedding coordinator was Jim’s mom Jennie. We were married on her century owned historical farm property Camp New Dawn with sunflowers and romantic haywagon pull, it was a day to remember!!! And all the funny moments will roll during our end credits.The newlyweds are offering a promotional code for the DVD release of their Family, Christmas Comedy Movie, "The Farmer and The Belle" by signing up on their website www.ChristmasComedyMovie.comGet the latest from “The Farmer and The Belle” by following them on Facebook: www.Facebook.com/TheFarmerandTheBelle.ChristmasComedyMovie.