Thomas Alan Taylor as Theodore Weld in Sons & Daughters of Thunder.
We are pleased to share that we completed the production phase of Sons & Daughters of Thunder and are now officially in post-production (editing) on the film.
The Thunder project was on hold in 2016 while we turned our attention to a commissioned museum film project, which premiered May 2017 at the new Good Earth at Blood Run State Park Visitors Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
It is good to turn our attention back to this exciting project! We are very excited about the footage captured for Thunder by award-winning filmmaker Kevin Railsback, our Director of Photography, and we are eager to bring the film ‘to life’ in the editing room.
Jess Denney as a young Harriet Beecher in Sons & Daughters of Thunder.
Our first order of business is creating a new trailer for Sons & Daughters of Thunder, and we will share that here when it is completed.
The most challenging part of independent filmmaking is raising the money to complete your project. Thanks to every one of our contributors, we were able to get through production—filming approximately 15 key actors and dozens of extras in period costume over eight months in beautiful locations in Illinois and at the historic Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Tentatively we are working toward finishing Thunder and premiering it in 2018, with additional special showings and a DVD release to follow. We want to get the docudrama right. That is most important to us.
Remember to LIKE the Sons & Daughters of Thunder Facebook fan page to get all of the updated news! Follow this link and click LIKE: THUNDER!
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Based on the critically-acclaimed play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, Sons & Daughters of Thunder tells the true story of the 1834 Cincinnati, Ohio Lane Theological Seminary anti-slavery debates. The controversial meetings, led by abolitionist and firebrand Theodore Weld (played by acclaimed stage actor Thomas Alan Taylor), were the first to publicly discuss the end of slavery in America. The meetings angered Cincinnati residents and Lane Seminary officials, who promptly slapped a gag order on the entire student body. This action was followed by a freedom of speech protest and mass exodus of Lane students to Oberlin College. A young Harriet Beecher’s (played by acclaimed stage actress Jess Denney) exposure to the debates and Weld's continuing work to free the slaves sparked a flame that led her to write her magnum opus Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is co-produced by Kent Hawley, and by Fourth Wall Films, owned by Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle, a film and video production company specializing in historical documentaries for public television broadcast and DVD home video.
We greatly acknowledge that the fiscal sponsors for the film project are The Shell Rock Historical Society, and The Moline Foundation. If you are interested in contributing to the film project and receiving screen credit, please click here: SUPPORT THUNDER!
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is slated for release in late 2018.