"Sons & Daughters of Thunder" film nominated for three Emmys
Sons & Daughters of Thunder, a film by Emmy® award-winning filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, received three regional Emmy Nominations in October of 2019: Best Arts/Entertainment, Original Score, Screenplay.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is based on the play written by Earlene Hawley and Curtis Heeter, and tells the unforgettable true story of the beginning of the end of slavery in America. The play was adapted for the screen by Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle.
The award-winning film features an original score by William Campbell, the composer behind the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Lifeboat”.
In 1834, if polite discussion about abolishing slavery was considered inappropriate among Americans in Northern states, then eighteen days of public student-sponsored debates on the divisive subject at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio were scandalous.
Organized by Theodore Weld (Thomas Alan Taylor), one of the architects of the abolitionist movement, the shocking oratory sparked intense controversy and awakened a young Harriet Beecher Stowe (Jessica Taylor) to the horrors of slavery.
When school trustees slapped a gag order on the "Lane Rebels," most of the students left the school in collective protest. Inspired by the debates and her first-hand observations of slavery across the Ohio River, Harriet’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was described by President Abraham Lincoln as the book that started the Civil War.
“It was exciting to film scenes for Sons & Daughters of Thunder at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House–the last remaining structure on what was once Lane Seminary grounds in Cincinnati--180 years after the nation’s first public debates regarding the abolition of slavery,” said director Kelly Rundle.
“I felt such a sense of responsibility to portray Harriet Beecher. A lot of people know her name, and her book,” said actress Jessica Taylor. “There was such weight to what we were doing and there was something special about being dressed in 19th century costumes and standing in the historic Harriet Beecher Stowe house. You literally felt like you had stepped back in time.”
“It was very challenging playing James Bradley,” said actor Jaylen Marks of Rockford, Illinois. “He was a former slave who purchased his freedom and the first and only black man to attend Lane Seminary in Cincinnati in 1834. There is a statue of him in Covington, Kentucky, seated on a bench overlooking the Ohio River to the free state of Ohio.”
The film was shot by award-winning Director of Photography Kevin Railsback. Kimberly Kurtenbach who portrays Catharine Beecher in the film, was also the Executive Producer and Casting Director on the project. Chris Ryder served as Sound Director and Visual Effects. Emily Busha was the film’s Costume Designer, circa 1834.
In addition to Thomas Alan Taylor, Jessica Taylor, Jaylen Marks and Kimberly Kurtenbach, the film features an acclaimed cast including Mark Winn, Janos Horvath, Anthony Stratton, Don Denton, Tristan Tapscott, Tom Walljasper, Justin Marxen, Pat Flaherty, Mike Schulz and Michael Kennedy. See the full list at IMBD.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder won the Harriet Beecher Stowe Power of Voice award at the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, and received three regional Emmy® nominations. For more information about Sons & Daughters of Thunder, visit www.FourthWallFilms.com.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder was partially funded by a grant from the Quad City Arts, provided by the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Hubbell-Waterman Foundation and John Deere; and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, and grant funding support from Producer Kent Hawley. The Moline Foundation and the Shell Rock Community Historical Society served as the fiscal sponsors for the project.
The Rundles are the producers of four Emmy® award-winning documentaries and the award-winning documentaries Becoming Harriet Beecher Stowe, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, and Letters Home to Hero Street, Lost Nation: The Ioway, and The Barn Raisers.
To stream or purchase Sons & Daughters of Thunder, click HERE!
