Land Grant Films

  • ‘The Library That Dolly Built’ Premieres Online

    Dollywood and Abramorama in association with The Dollywood Foundation partnered to present a free one-night-only live streaming world premiere event for The Library That Dolly Built, the Land Grant Films documentary about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Originally scheduled as a nationwide live event on more than 300 screens this spring, the world premiere for The…

  • Cherokee Stickball Documentary Scheduled for TV, Festival Premiere

    Documentary Synopsis Nestled in the Great Smoky Mountains of Western North Carolina is a tight-knit community of the remaining members of the Cherokee tribe, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. One of the tribes’ cultural traditions still practiced is the game of stickball. In the year 2000, nearly 100 women: mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins, and…

  • Magic of ‘The Library That Dolly Built’

    Working at the Library of Congress in February 2018, the students on the Land Grant Films team began to understand that their project—a documentary about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, tied to the milestone of Parton’s giving away her 100 millionth book—was a much bigger deal than they had realized. “We were there getting our press…

  • Geidner: ‘Goodnight with Dolly’ Off to Great Start

    With Dolly Parton’s new 10-week bedtime-story series Goodnight with Dolly under way, the honorary UT alumna is doing her part to comfort kids all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s according to Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media Nick Geidner, who produced and directed the documentary film The Library That Dolly Built.…

  • Dolly Parton to Read Bedtime Stories, UT Film Premiere Rescheduled

    As the COVID-19 lockdown has millions staying at home, country music legend Dolly Parton will help kids get ready to sleep by reading them a children’s book online at bedtime. The series, Goodnight with Dolly, will air once a week beginning April 2. The project is a response to the delayed premiere of The Library…

  • Dolly Parton Film by Land Grant Films to Debut Nationally April 2

    The Library That Dolly Built, a University of Tennessee, Knoxville, student-driven film and documentary about Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, will premiere April 2 in New York City and be screened in theaters across the nation. Associate Professor of Journalism and Electronic Media Nick Geidner is the director and producer of the film, which was crewed…

  • Alumni Garners Regional Emmy Nomination for UT Swimming Documentary

    Watch Triple A, Bar None Isaac Fowler (JEM ‘18), Tim Morris (JEM ‘18), and Patricia Forrester (Sport Management ‘17) have been nominated for a Midsouth Regional Emmy in the historical documentary category for Triple A, Bar None, a VFL Films production about legendary University of Tennessee swimming and diving coach Ray Bussard. Bussard coached the…

  • Former NOVA Executive Producer Spends Week Mentoring Students at UT

    Sixteen students in a documentary production class at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, have spent much of the fall semester at Oak Ridge National Laboratory doing interviews and filming to make a 30-minute documentary about the Spallation Neutron Source. Now the students—14 undergraduates and two graduate students—received an extraordinary opportunity: working alongside longtime NOVA executive…

  • Author, Actress Danica McKellar to Narrate Imagination Library Documentary

    Author and actress Danica McKellar will narrate The Library That Dolly Built, the first feature-length documentary about Dolly Parton’s book gifting program, The Imagination Library, produced by Land Grant Films in the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media. Land Grant Films provides UT students experience in documentary storytelling while providing local nonprofit organizations…