Nick Geidner
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 friends, took the field to play and exercise the matriarchal spirit that the Cherokee were known for. ᎡᏘᏴ ᏥᎾᎾᏛᏁᎮ ᎠᏰᎵᏐ ᎾᏛᏁᎰ / She Carries On tells the story of these women, how and why they played, and what the game means to them and their
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.
“My one-and-a-half-year-old, Sam, who makes some cameos in the film, loved the first episode, especially at the end when Dolly sang ‘I Believe in You,’” Geidner said. “He loved the woo-woo-woos in the song, but I also think he loved it because it is … Read more “Geidner: ‘Goodnight with Dolly’ Off to Great Start”
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 That Dolly Built, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, student-driven documentary about Parton’s Imagination Library. The film was to be screened in New York City and in theaters across the nation on April 2. The premiere has been moved to the week of September … Read more “Dolly Parton to Read Bedtime Stories, UT Film Premiere Rescheduled”
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 by 15 student members of Land Grant Films, an Emmy-nominated documentary production program housed in UT’s School of Journalism and Electronic Media. JEM video production specialist Clinton Elmore served as the film’s editor.
Parton will be in attendance at the premiere event in New … Read more “Dolly Parton Film by Land Grant Films to Debut Nationally April 2”
Faculty Earn Campus ORE Awards
Three professors from the College of Communication and Information were recognized for their scholarship at the inaugural UT Office of Research and Engagement (ORE) Research Awards Luncheon on Monday, March 25.
CCI Interim Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Chancellor’s Professor and BOV Professor Suzie Allard (SIS) received a Research Spotlight Award in recognition of being CCI’s top sponsored research scholar.
Associate Professor Nick Geidner (JEM) received ORE’s Excellence in Community Engagement Award for his Land Grant Films’ projects through the School of Journalism and Electronic Media. The award recognizes Geidner for having the top UTK faculty-led, mutually beneficial project that … Read more “Faculty Earn Campus ORE Awards”
Land Grant Films, Students Receive Emmy Nomination
Welcome Home Brother, a film created by two recent UT graduates as part of Land Grant Films’ Defender of Dreams documentary series, received a nomination in the topical documentary category of the Midsouth Regional Emmys.
“The news of our recent Emmy nomination is very exciting. I am so thankful for those who appeared in our film and everyone at Land Grant who helped us along the way,” said Tim Morris, who along with Isaac Fowler directed Welcome Home Brother. “When we made this documentary, we never expected it to go as far as it has gone. We … Read more “Land Grant Films, Students Receive Emmy Nomination”
Students’ Documentary to Be Featured in Nashville Film Festival
The Nashville Film Festival has announced Welcome Home Brother, directed by School of Journalism and Electronic Media seniors Isaac Fowler and Tim Morris, as an official selection in its short documentary category.
The festival is an Academy Award–qualifying competition and received more than 6,000 entries for 2018.
Fowler and Morris’s eight-minute film documents the experiences of three Vietnam veterans as they find their voice in East Tennessee through the help of the Bill Robinson Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Association.
Welcome Home Brother is part of the Land Grant Films’ Defender of the Dream documentary. The project was produced in … Read more “Students’ Documentary to Be Featured in Nashville Film Festival”
Students Making Film to Mark Parton’s 100 Millionth Book Giveaway
UT’s Land Grant Films has announced its most ambitious documentary yet: telling the story of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.
Journalism and Electronic Media Associate Professor Nick Geidner, who leads Land Grant Films, came up with the idea for the project—dubbed 100 Million Stories—after learning the program was on target to give away its 100 millionth book early next year.
Parton started Imagination Library in 1996 in honor of her father, who was unable to read or write. It began as a free book program for children from birth to age five in Sevier County, and has since expanded across … Read more “Students Making Film to Mark Parton’s 100 Millionth Book Giveaway”
Journalism Students Produce Documentaries about Local Vietnam Vets
Three short documentaries about local Vietnam veterans made by UT journalism students were featured at Knoxville’s First Friday on September 1. They will air on East Tennessee PBS stations in conjunction with the broadcast of Ken Burns’s new epic documentary, The Vietnam War.
The short films—made by journalism and electronic media seniors Tim Morris, Isaac Fowler, Isaac Ward, and Jessie Tipton—have been compiled into Defenders of the Dream, which premiered at 5 p.m. on September 1 at a First Friday event hosted by the East Tennessee Historical Society. The film premiere was followed by a panel discussion led … Read more “Journalism Students Produce Documentaries about Local Vietnam Vets”