Summary
My name is Kelly Rundle. My wife, Tammy, and I are award-winning historical documentary filmmakers. Our films tell important and timeless Midwestern stories. We have completed eight critically-acclaimed documentary feature films, three of them Mid-Am Emmy® nominated: The Barn Raisers, Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City; Country School: One Room - One Nation; Lost Nation: The Ioway series; River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, Villisca: Living with a Mystery.
All of our films have screened at film festivals and in movie theaters, universities, and other venues throughout the U.S. Our titles are also released nationally on DVD and broadcast on PBS stations throughout the country.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder is our first docudrama film project. Based on the true story of Harriet Beecher Stowe's awakening during the first public discussions of the abolition of slavery in America, this compelling Cincinnati, Ohio story will be told in this dramatic new film starring actors from Los Angeles, Chicago, and the Quad Cities.
Production was completed in 2017. We are now in fundraising mode to complete the post-production phase of the project and this online campaign will fund a portion of that effort.
BASED ON THE PLAY
The screenplay for Sons & Daughters of Thunder was written by us and is based on the critically-acclaimed play by playwright Earlene Hawley with the assistance of Curtis Heeter.
Earlene Hawley also consulted on the development of the screenplay for Sons & Daughters of Thunder.
MORE ABOUT THE STORY & CHARACTERS
His words ignited controversy
and inspired a young writer.
Her incendiary book moved the nation
closer to Civil War.
In 1834, if polite discussions about abolishing slavery were 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, one of the architects of the abolitionist movement, the shocking oratory sparked intense controversy and awakened a young Harriet Beecher Stowe 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. Years later, Harriet's novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was described by President Abraham Lincoln as the book that started the Civil War.
Sons & Daughters of Thunder, tells the unforgettable true story of the beginning of the end of slavery in America.
SUPPORT THE TELLING OF THIS IMPORTANT AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS AND FREE SPEECH STORY
This online effort will help us raise a portion of the capstone funds needed to complete the post-production phase of the project. We have set a goal of $3,000 and hope that we will raise funds beyond that modest goal.
Your contribution will be used specifically for editing fees, music licensing, and minor special visual effects. We plan to complete post-production work early this fall, with the film premiering at the Putnam Museum's National Geographic Giant Screen in the Quad Cities in late December, and in Cincinatti, Ohio--where the true story took place--in February 2019 during Black History Month and the anniversary of the historic Lane Debates. Additional screening events will follow.
We have assembled a tempting array of perks in gratitude for your generous support. From Executive Producer status to theater tickets, DVDs, signed posters and postcards, there is a contribution level and perks that will catch your fancy.
Though we believe we will not fall short of our goal, fundraising is always the most challenging part of independent filmmaking. We have chosen a flexible-funding campaign, which means that we will be able to use whatever funds are raised for the post-production phase of the film project.
We are so very close to the end of this project, and have several fundraising efforts underway, including this crowd-funding campaign. Every dollar raised is extremely helpful to us and to seeing Sons & Daughters of Thunder through to the end.
This amazing and timely story has been forgotten by the nation. You can help us change that by bringing this dramatic new film to the silver screen!
OTHER WAYS YOU CAN HELP
Even if you can't contribute financially, ANYONE can help us get the word out. Thank you for helping make this important American history project happen!
