Last year, one of the most phenomenal Hallmark Christmas movies premiered on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries entitled A Godwink Christmas. While I was new to the entire “Godwink” movement, I immediately recognized that this was something special, and it was a mode of thinking I could support wholeheartedly. I reached out to the “Godwink Guy” himself, SQuire Rushnell, and I was thoroughly impressed with what he and his wife had created. This year, Hallmark viewers will have the opportunity to watch the second in what is becoming one of the most popular Christmas movie series on the network, and I was happy to catch up with SQuire yet again!
RH: So nice to be chatting with you again this year, SQuire.
SR: Same here, Ruth. Thanks for asking me back.
BTS with wife Louise
A Godwink Christmas
I’m so excited to see another Godwinks movie coming out! I know you had mentioned the possibility of more in the series when we spoke last year.
Absolutely.
And last year’s movie is still one of my top favorite Christmas movies.
Oh, thank you.
Whenever they replay it, I still find myself watching it.
Kimberley Sustad, Paul Campbell Credit: ©2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss
We are blessed that do replay it quite a bit. And you know, last year, the additional views of people throughout the holiday season drove the total viewing up to 12.5 million viewers between the premiere in mid-November and the end of December.
Wow!
And I think that there is a lot of anticipation with the second movie, A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love. I really think this one is going to just blow the socks off of so many people because the true-life Godwinks in this story are just truly extraordinary.
That’s just awesome! I spoke with Cindy Busby about the movie. She and I are good friends. Now, I was already anticipating this movie even before it was announced, but when I found out she was one of the lead actors in it, I got even more excited!
Cindy Busby Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
We were rooting for Cindy. We were actually advocating for her even with the first movie. She was a possible candidate for that first movie, which ultimately did not work out. But we are thrilled with her performance in this movie and so glad that she was able to join us this time.
Benjamin Hollingsworth Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss
And then there’s Benjamin Hollingsworth. At the beginning, we were not quite sure if he might be a little too boyish-looking. But it turns out that boyish quality is something that he plays very well. He and Cindy have a wonderful chemistry together, and I think everyone is really going to feel for them as they are going through love, opening up, and blossoming like a wonderful flower. And then there’s a health crisis that puts everyone on kind of a derailing situation. But then how Godwinks bring them back together. And that final kiss which Hallmark gives us. That one kiss is wonderfully sincere.
I know Cindy mentioned the supporting cast. She raved about them.
Kathie Lee Gifford Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss
Yes, this movie is very deep. There’s no question about it. Of course, Kathie Lee {Gifford} has another wonderful performance. In fact, Jamie Pachino, the writer, really had Kathie Lee in mind as she was writing the character of Alice’s mother, Olga. So Kathie Lee’s personality and character was written right into the script. Kathie Lee is thrilled with it. She got to see a not-quite-completed cut a couple of weeks ago, and she was absolutely thrilled. She has been doing a lot of promotion and publicity for the movie, as you might have noticed.
Now, I haven’t really delved into the story or read many summaries of the story because I like to stay away from all that as much as possible. I’ll see a trailer or a preview here and there and I’ll look at a cast list, but that’s all. The preview Hallmark has been running is just enough for me to whet my appetite.
That’s great, Ruth. I really hope everyone will enjoy this movie.
I know the date changed, so it is premiering this Sunday, November 17th on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. I hope everyone is aware of that change.
Benjamin Hollingsworth, Kathie Lee Gifford Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
We’ve been trying to get the word out. I know that we are thrilled it’s on Sunday night because that night is traditionally in all broadcasting cable one of the biggest viewing nights. So we know that we will have a bigger pool of potential viewers.
Absolutely. And it’s kind of like “Cindy Busby” day because over on one of the other networks, she has another new Christmas movie playing, so that’s kind of cool for her. Thankfully her other movie is on two hours before the premiere of A Godwink Christmas, so there shouldn’t be any conflict.
That’s good to know, Ruth. Now, what would you like to know about this movie?
Well, I know one of the concerns Cindy had about the movie has to do with…she said in the last week of filming, they finally got to talk to the real-life couple whose story is featured in this movie.
Benjamin Hollingsworth, Cindy Busby Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
Yes, that is true.
She is most concerned with what the real Alice and Jack are going to think of this movie. She says she knows they understand there will be changes. But she wants them to be happy with the movie version of their story.
Oh, they will be. There’s no question about that. We did engineer that Zoom get-together. In fact, Louise {DuArt} did a blog post on that. You might want to check it out. You can get some insight into what they were asked about and what they talked about. It was just the sweetest call. I’ll let Louise’s post stand for itself, but there was something really cute about how the real Alice was so excited to meet Cindy and Ben that she changed her outfit three times and did her makeup three or four times. So I think that was kind of indicative of how excited she was.
Benjamin Hollingsworth, Cindy Busby Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
And of course, Alice has always been Jack’s enormous supporter from the very beginning till right now. They have a boy in college–a freshman. And she’s gone through a health crisis as well. But their love just keeps growing and growing. So I think Cindy and Ben really felt that from them. It probably helped them in the execution of their characters. I’m sure they wish they could have done that even before they started shooting.
Yes, that is exactly what Cindy said. She was glad they got to do it, and she understood they couldn’t do it sooner. But foremost in Cindy’s mind is that she wants them to be happy with it. And it only makes perfect sense that Cindy would be thinking like that since that’s who she is.
Absolutely.
Paul Campbell, Kimberley Sustad, Ryan Alexander McDonald, Lucia Walters Credit: ©2018 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Bettina Strauss
Now, I know there were emotional parts to last year’s movie. They were wonderful, and I loved the ending especially. I remember how I was crying at the ending. So I’m assuming there will be some emotional moments in this movie?
Kathie Lee Gifford, Cindy Busby Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
I would say times ten. I’ve seen the dailies, the rough cut, the almost rough cut, the network cut, and the most recent cut. And I have cried every single time. All in the same places. So that is a wonderful indication of the power of the original story, the power of Godwinks, which are just so wonderful. It is an indication of how well Jamie Pachino wrote this script. It really is a fabulous script. And it is an endorsement of the performances by these actors. The lead actors and the secondary actors are all just fabulous.
Cindy Busby, Kathie Lee Gifford Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
There are some scenes of emotion between the secondary characters that have brought me to tears every single time. It is very touching. Louise and I just did a count–the authors/executive producers count–of official Godwinks that are in this movie. We did this because what we want to do is to encourage people to count the Godwinks in this movie. As a matter of fact, there is somebody who is having a “Godwinks” screening party and she bought a whole basket of bells. She’s going to hand out bells to all the attendees of this screening party and tell them that every time they see a Godwink, they need to ring the bell. We want to encourage people to hold these kinds of parties and be sure to count the Godwinks. Then the producers’ count will be published at some point after the premiere.
behind-the-scenes
A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love
I’m so glad you brought that up, SQuire. I wouldn’t have even thought of counting the Godwinks. So often, we aren’t trained to see those in our everyday lives. I know it’s something I have been pushing myself to do. I really try to be conscious of Godwinks in my own life. It’s so easy to write things off as coincidences or luck. But as people of faith, we know that nothing happens by chance.
That’s correct. In the Hebrew language, the word coincidence doesn’t even exist. That should tell us something right there. It’s like it’s not a necessary word. But Godwinks does fill a vacancy in the language. The definition of coincidence from the dictionary is an event or circumstance where two things occur, two things coincide for no apparent causal reason. There’s no causal effect. There’s no causal input.
Cindy Busby, Kathie Lee Gifford Credit: ©2019 Crown Media United States LLC/Photographer: Kailey Schwerman
Well, a Godwink doesn’t fit that description because a Godwink is when experiences and circumstances collide that are very unusual, but the causal effect is from divine origin. If you believe that’s God’s hand is coming into your life divinely aligning you with the right person at the right time and the right place for something to happen to give you encouragement or to help you be guided through life, then you need to believe in Godwinks. So when we do this little exercise–and that truly is the thing that excites me–you’re not only doing this to have fun in finding the Godwinks. But it’s like you said. it conditions us to be more conscious of our Godwinks and to allow them to happen in our lives. Once we condition ourselves to see them, we will see them even more in our own lives.
I’m so glad you brought this up. I will definitely be looking for the Godwinks in the movie, and I will be encouraging others to do the same. So the next question is…we are hopeful this isn’t going to be the end of the series. We’re hoping for more in the future.
behind-the-scenes
A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love
We already have Godwink 3 in script at this point. We have four and five on the runway. Our hope is that Godwinks will be an asset for Hallmark for a long time to come.
That’s great to know! I know a lot of people appreciated the first film. It’s so great to turn on the TV and watch a film where they are talking about God. We don’t get that much in today’s film and TV world. It’s so great to see this becoming a series of movies on Hallmark. I’m glad you guys are doing it and that Hallmark is receptive to it.
Absolutely. Oh, and one other thing. Last year with Godwink Christmas Stories, we were able to make sure that the Paula and Gery story was included in that particular book. Because that story was included, things worked together very nicely. This year, we prevailed upon Simon & Schuster–since the paperback version of Godwink Christmas Stories is being released–it has been expanded to include A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love which is the Alice and Jack story. That’s really a nice treat. If you love the movie, you might want to buy somebody the book. If you got excited about Godwinks, you might want to buy the book in order to help people get encouraged about seeing Godwinks in many forms. You might even find the next Godwink movie in that book.
Thank you so much, SQuire, for adding that. I really appreciate you stopping by and chatting again. I am now even more excited for the movie, and I hope everyone tunes in on Sunday night.
Thank you, Ruth, it is always a pleasure to chat with you. I appreciate your support and the support of all the Hallmark fans. Hope everyone enjoys the movie!
SQuire & Louise
It is always pure joy to be able to spend some time chatting with SQuire. Because of our chat last year, I know I have become more mindful of Godwinks in my own life, and I believe I’ve almost totally removed the term “coincidence” from my own vocabulary. While genuine faith may appear to be waning in society and the world as a whole, I do believe that the popularity of this movie and book series is an indisputable sign that people are still seeking for answers to those questions within their own lives that cannot be explained away by humanism, science, or reason. There is a vacancy, as SQuire himself mentioned, within our own language and culture that longs for something to fill that void of the unexplainable. Some might use terms like “luck” and “chance,” but at the end of the day, these just don’t seem to fit the bill. I find it divinely ironic that even as I began to prepare this particular post today, God provided me with a special “Godwink” this evening that rocked my world in a good way, and I was thrilled to be able to define it as a “Godwink.” This movie is coming at the ideal time when hope may be at the lowest and people may be hanging on by a mere thread. When we begin to view our world and our lives as God does, there is an incredible shift that occurs within our psyche. And as long as we can purpose to make the necessary change to accept that God is stepping into our own lives and causing things to happen that can only be explained by divine intervention, we will reap the rewards of reveling in the fact that God is interested in every single aspect of every single person’s life in this vast cosmos of ours.
If you live in the U.S. and are able to do so, I invite you to tune in Sunday, November 17th for the premiere of A Godwink Christmas: Meant For Love on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries. {Canadian viewers will be able to watch this movie on Citytv on December 23rd.} Additionally, I invite my readers to visit all of SQuire’s links below and consider following him where applicable and possibly even purchasing one or more of his books. No matter what you may believe concerning faith, there is one thing that all of us humans cannot deny. There are things in this world that cannot ever be adequately explained no matter the big words one uses nor the letters that appear after one’s name. In short, fostering the possibility that divine intervention is a reasonable possibility is something that not only makes sense, but also helps to put our lives in perspective. While not everyone will ultimately choose to believe (it is everyone’s prerogative to choose for himself/herself), keeping an open mind in this situation will only open you up to reap even more blessings within your own life. I thank God for SQuire, Louise, and of course, Hallmark, for having the foresight to bring this series to fruition, and I anticipate every one of these movies in this series for decades to come!
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