Facebook Image 21 — Actresses Sofia Shakarian (left) and Taylor Cole feed one of the Fortner Farm cows during the filming of “Double Scoop.” (Stephanie Nolen Fortner)

Farm animals from an Alabama petting zoo will be featured in a Hallmark romance movie sure to give you an appetite… for ice cream.

The upcoming film, “Double Scoop,” features Nora (Taylor Cole), a marketing professional who discovers the best ice cream and hopes to land the farm as her client. That’s when she finds herself competing with a previous colleague and old flame, James (Ryan McPartlin).

Considering it’s a Hallmark movie, we can probably guess what happens next…

“Double Scoop” premieres Saturday, Aug. 23 on the Hallmark Channel at 7 p.m.

When Stephanie Nolen Fortner—who co-founded Fortner Farm with her husband—got the call from Hallmark, she thought it was a scam.

“It’s something you never dream about happening, you know. People are like, ‘How did you contact them?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, no. They just randomly called me one day.’
Stephanie Nolen Fortner

The location scouts came to visit the farm in Holly Pond and took photos, but they were looking for something a little different than Fortner Farm. Luckily, that didn’t totally rule them out of the opportunity to be involved with the movie.

Facebook Image 23 — Filming for “Double Scoop” took place at a farm in Harpersville, but the Fortner Farm animals took a bit of a road trip to participate. (Stephanie Nolen Fortner)

The crew decided to film at a different farm in Harpersville, but they asked Fortner if they could bring their farm animals to be featured in the movie.

Me and my husband took off to Harpersville, about an hour and 45 minutes away from home, and filmed all day long, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and we were right there with the actors.
Stephanie Nolen Fortner

Fortner’s husband, Benny, had one special request.

All he wanted to do was say, “Action!” … So before we left, I asked the little girl doing the clapperboard, and she erased it and put his name. It was fun. We had a great day.
Stephanie Nolen Fortner

Facebook Image 22 — Benny Fortner got to play the role of crew member while using the clapperboard. (Stephanie Nolen Fortner)

When the animals at Fortner Farm aren’t starring in feature films, they are at the petting zoo, which is open to the public on weekends and can be visited during weekdays with an appointment.

The two of them founded the farm after Stephanie was diagnosed with stage 4 ovarian cancer and had been told she had a 20% chance to live five more years. That prognosis was seven years ago.

We never knew that cancer would bring us through this journey crazy. God opened so many doors for a horrible situation. Because I’m still on a chemo pill, and I went to MD Anderson and they said, ‘It’s not if it comes back, it’s when.’ I vomit every day. It sucks, but it doesn’t suck because of all the opportunities. God obviously still has me here for a reason.
Stephanie Nolen Fortner

For an opportunity to visit the Fortners and their movie-star farm animals, you can catch them at the next Second Friday in Downtown Cullman, which will be this Friday, July 11.

Are you excited to watch “Double Scoop” in August? Let us know @bhamnow on Instagram and Facebook!