On Saturday evening the awards ceremony took place for the Nice International Film Festival in France and we are proud to announce that “Well of Dreams: The Journey of Anne Okelo” won for “Best Director of a Feature Documentary.” (Read More ...)
We are excited to announce that Well of Dreams has been nominated for Best Director for a Feature Documentary Film and Best Story overall at the Nice International Film Festival in France 2017. http://filmfestinternational.com/best-director-of-a-feature-documentary-nice-iff-2017/ http://filmfestinternational.com/best-story-nice-iff-2017/ (Read More ...)
Imagine Magazine is a publication of Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth and this month they did an issue on storytelling that features Dan Frantz talking about his experience working on the film Well of Dreams. In the article Dan talks about his transition from focusing on action and “cool” shots to becoming emotionally connected to the people the film was about. Upon returning to the US Dan was charged with cutting a sizzle reel for the film which became a 7 minute trailer that was sent to HBO, OWN and other networks to attempt to spark interest in the film. He went on to talk... (Read More ...)
On August 29, 2012 The National Press Club in Washington, DC screened the film Well of Dreams. The film was very well received. Following the film there was a moderated panel discussion with the film crew and Warren Callaway, Anne Okelo’s mentor. It was an exciting opportunity for the team. In attendance were several officers of the National Press Club along with reporters from a number of national news organizations. http://press.org/events/well-dreams-film-screening (Read More ...)
We couldn’t be prouder of Dan Frantz. Last week he learned that he was one of only 20 high school students in the country named as a US Presidential Scholar in the Arts. It is so exciting and such an amazing accomplishment. Dan was the only cinematic arts student to win. Dan will receive his award at a ceremony at the White House in June and if President Obama is in town, he will give Dan his award personally. In addition Dan has been asked to submit some of his work to be viewed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for several months this summer and part of the submission is likely... (Read More ...)
Dan Frantz is a Young Arts 2012 award winner. Last night his work, including the trailer for his film Delta Station and the sizzle reel for Well of Dreams, was screened at the New World Center in Miami and simultaneously streamed live globally. You can see Dan’s work on this video at 1:44:00. You will also want to catch the live introduction of the 7 finalists including Dan at 2:07:45. Congratulations to Dan from the rest of the Well of Dreams film crew! http://www.YoungArts.org. (Read More ...)
Huru International sent out an email today announcing that they have reached 20,000 girls! They celebrated the milestone by sending out a video taken by the Well of Dreams film crew. It is a short video that shows Anne Okelo distributing Huru Kits to the girls in her village. Prior to traveling to Kenya the friends and family of the Well of Dreams movie were able to raise over $10,000 to purchase 526 Huru Kits which were all distributed by Anne Okelo to help keep girls in school. (Read More ...)
It’s really exciting to witness various people learning of Anne Okelo’s story and becoming inspired. Noel Izon is a veteran filmmaker with 40 years of experience and about a week ago I was referred to him by a friend. Noel has traveled the world working on documentaries for PBS and National Geographic. He has also worked on projects with several US Presidential administrations as well as The Vatican. When Noel heard Anne’s story, he found it inspiring and immediately joined the team. We are so excited to have this veteran filmmaker onboard. He brings so much to the table.... (Read More ...)
What an exciting weekend it’s been. My dear friend Rebecca Sensenig recorded her song “Beautiful Water” at LifeLine Studios for our film. Early in the life of the Well of Dreams movie I asked Becky if she would write a song for the film. Becky is a gifted artist and I have admired her work for years. A few years ago she put out a CD of original songs and having been a big fan of that work I knew that was exactly the kind of artist we needed for Well of Dreams. She immediately accepted and began working on the song. The title of the song is “Beautiful Water” and... (Read More ...)
On August 8, 2011 our film crew met with DIVE Visual about collaborating on Well of Dreams. We were so wowed by their reel and some of the great work they have done. Here are a few of their recent film credits:: Fair Game with Sean Penn and Naomi Watts The Last Airbender The Lovely Bones Dreamworks How to Train Your Dragon So, needless to say, we are excited to work with Dive to do our final audio mixing and color correction using their DaVinci System. (Read More ...)
