As final tweaking is made on the film, we returned to the Dillon Home Museum in Sterling, Illinois--the stand-in for Lane President Lyman Beecher's home in Cincinnati; and the Jenny Lind Chapel--the stand-in Lane Theological Seminary Chapel where the debates were held.
We spent several weekends over a seven month period filming with our Thunder cast and crew in these two historic locations. They became like a second home to some of us. We will always be grateful for the kindness and support the curators of these beautiful sites showed us, and the red-carpet welcome the communities in which they stand extended to each of us. We are looking forward to returning to Sterling and Andover for special screenings of the film. More on that to come!
The Dillon Home Museum ~ Sterling, Illinois
Dillon Home Museum curator Erin Thompson lights candles for our cut-away shots.
Director Kelly Rundle films close-ups of the lit candles for the party scene in Thunder.
Erin adjusts the time on the late 1700s Grandfather clock which Kelly will insert in a scene in the film.
Producer Tammy Rundle and curator Erin Thompson. Erin is organizing a special benefit screening of Thunder in April. Details will be posted in the weeks ahead.
The Jenny Lind Chapel ~ Andover, Illinois
Tammy records ambient sound in the Jenny Lind Chapel for Thunder.
Kelly captures close-up shots of several props in the chapel.
Filming the small cemetery on the Jenny Lind Chapel grounds. A number of cholera victims are buried in this sacred place.
Thunder director Kelly Rundle and Jenny Lind Chapel operating committee member Ron Peterson. Ron is organizing a special benefit screening of the film for later in March. More information coming soon!
We are pleased that Dillon Home curator Erin Thompson, former curator Linda Heckler and members of the Dillon family, as well as Jenny Lind Chapel's Ron Peterson and his wife Eilene will attend the premiere Saturday, March 16th.
The Saturday premiere screening has sold out.
A Sunday, March 17th, 3 p.m. encore screening of Sons & Daughters of Thunder has been added by the Putnam Museum. Advance tickets are strongly recommended at Putnam.org/calendar.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the critically-acclaimed play by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter. It 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.
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!
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