Scene from DREAM RUNNER by James Aponte, featuring Jeffrey Burden, II as “Julian”

The film DREAM RUNNER (2020) by University of Toledo alumnus James Aponte (Film/Video ’16) is now streaming on Amazon’s Prime Video. It is included with Prime to its subscribers. The film’s national debut on Amazon is a major step forward in Aponte’s effort to take his film to mainstream audiences.

In announcing the film’s release, Aponte said on Facebook, “It’s been two years of navigating distribution, but I am so happy to say that as of today my feature film ‘Dream Runner’ is now streaming on Amazon Prime!”

UToledo Theatre and Film Department chair, Dr. Edmund Lingan says he is thrilled that Aponte’s film is receiving national play, but not surprised. “As a UToledo student – and later as a professional filmmaker – James always proved to be that rare blend of artist and entrepreneur that leads toward professional success. Our department has been proud and happy to support his work from the beginning, and I am sure this is only the beginning of a series of successes in his career that I will enjoy watching.”

The film’s subject matter leans toward sci-fi, as the film’s opening text makes clear, “Humans no longer dream. Now man made, dreams are sold in supermarkets, drug stores, and fueling stations. Certain dreams are declared illegal by world governments and organizations. Patrons turn to Dream Runners to attain these illicit fantasies.”

Watch the film is available on Amazon Prime Video

Watch a trailer for DREAM RUNNER by James Aponte

A host of UToledo and Theatre and Film Department grads star in and helped create this film:

CAST
“Dana” – Olivia Pierce (Theatre ’16)
“Phil Donahue” – Jamal Knight (actor)
“Drake” – Ian Davis (2014)
“Robbie” – Nolan Thomaswick (Theatre ’16)
“Julian” – Jeffrey Burden II (Theatre ’16)
“Rene” – Christina Pinciotti (Theatre ’17)
“Victoria Kingsley” – Samantha Campbell (Theatre ’17)

PRODUCTION TEAM
Executive Producer/Director – James Aponte (Film/Video ’16)
Producer – Nick Kostelnak (Film/Video ’15)
Producer – John Eidemiller (Communication, faculty)
Music – Stephen Mariasy (Film/Video ’15)
Cinematography – Andre Lewis (Film/Video ’18)
Production Management/Assistant Director – Marcus Jordan (Film/Video ’17)
Guitar – Ryan Dalton (Music, Jazz Performance ’17)

In the summer of 2017, then University of Toledo film student, Eva Noria, landed an internship in New York with post-production company, Running Man. Impressed with her energy, work ethic and post-production skills, the company offered her a job as a post-production assistant upon graduation. Eva graduated from UT in spring of 2018 and has now been on the job for almost a year.

Running Man serves a clientele that includes shows for Netflix, HBO, Comedy Central, Showtime, TBS, CBS, IFC, and many others. As a post-production assistant, Eva is responsible for organizing, reviewing and updating continuity on works in production as well as collecting contracts for the loop group, the voice talent for off-screen parts. When her company wraps a season, they send the client screeners for the media, a cue sheet and a copy of the individual episodes.

Eva credits her success with Running Man to her time as a student with the University of Toledo Department of Theatre and Film. Originally, she had planned to major in exercise science and work as an athletic trainer because she had a scholarship available to her in that program area. However, she decided to switch to a major in Film with a minor in Communication when she realized her heart was in the arts.

Once in the program, Eva knew she made the right call even though she soon learned it wasn’t an easy degree. Her faculty challenged her more than she expected—to think more creatively and examine her work more critically. She remembers in particular, Tammy Kinsey, professor of film, pushing her to do better and give her best. “She wanted you to be engaged and to know that anything, no matter how small, counts. You have to be able to take criticism, and if you’re able to take it, then you’re going to do well.”

Professor Matt Yockey was also instrumental in her success. Eva says his classes were a challenge in volume. “He always gave us so much work, but it was really helpful. I learned so much from him.” Holly Hey, professor of film and head of the film program at UT, in addition to helping Eva perfect her editing skills, was also a great source of encouragement. “She noticed whenever I was feeling down, and she was there for me. All the professors are there for you, for anything. It was great to have that support especially since I was from out of state.”

Under their guidance, Eva flourished. A top student, she was invited to participate in the Klar Leadership Academy at UT. Students invited to the academy are drawn from all undergraduate majors at the University. “This is a pan-academic effort with the goal of increasing each Academy member’s career success, ability to lead and influence others to impact the world for good, and help each member capture a “personal vision” as to what they can do to improve the human condition!”

Eva was thrilled to participate in the Academy where she met business leaders, received career advice, took part in mock interviews and performed service work for the non-profit organization, Feed My Starving Children. She says the experience “got us out of our comfort zone. We learned our strengths and weaknesses and got to meet a lot of interesting people. It became like a mini-family.”

Another milestone experience was a study abroad trip to China. Eva and several other film students from UT accompanied music education students to study the arts culture in China and to document their experiences. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about that trip.”

Having learned a great deal from her time as a student, Eva has some sage advice for new students. “Get out of the dorm, get involved, meet people, join organizations. I got involved in getting any kind of experience I could. When you make connections and meet new people, they can help you and give you all kinds of opportunities.” Those experiences led her to the internship with Running Man and later a permanent position with the company.

Her job with Running Man has helped her expand upon her education. “This opportunity has opened my eyes to new possibilities and exposure that as a student we don’t know of. Overall, working for Running Man has been wonderful. At first, it was a bit slow but soon things started to pick up. I was able to ask questions and be curious about everyone’s role in making a show/film and how things are created and pieced to together. Growing up, one would believe there is some sort of magic in making a show/ film but there isn’t. It’s literally a huge group of people who come together and work with one another to make sure the content is the best version of what they started with from a script. And you notice that if someone in this formation slacks off it can cause problems down the line. In school, we have group projects, but here the stakes are higher and expensive.”

“I’ve also had the opportunity to make connections with different companies and people. It’s important to have these connections especially if someone wants to have their own company or start on their first projects. When I finished with ‘The Last O.G.’ season 2, I didn’t have anything lined up. A co-worker had connected me with an executive producer who needed a PA [production assistant] and an assistant for pre-production for an MTA/Visa commercial. I got a lot more of experience, not just in post-production but in both pre-production and production.”

Eva says her next step is to become a post-production coordinator then work toward becoming a producer for a variety of projects within the industry for different companies. She adds that her experiences as a student at UT have helped grow her as a person and helped create job opportunities. “I thank them for giving me a door so I could slip in and see where it takes me.”

Toledo, OH, July 18th, 2018 – The National Educational Telecommunications Association (“NETA”) has contracted with Professor Holly Hey, Head of the Film/Video program at the University of Toledo for exclusive public television distribution rights of Hey’s film “Crossing Water – Flint Michigan – 2017,” a documentary about the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI. Hey worked with the non-profit service organization Crossing Water to highlight the continuing needs and challenges facing the residents of Flint and the social service volunteers who help them. The film will broadcast regionally for the first time on WNED Buffalo, NY on Saturday August 11 at 5 p.m. Katherine Larsen senior director of Radio/TV programming for WNED says Hey’s film is a, “great program on an ongoing issue. Clean water is vital to our communities, especially in the Great Lakes region.”

Holly Hey, Professor of Film – The University of Toledo

Flint, Michigan made national news in 2014 when the city’s emergency manager switched the source of the city’s water, plaguing residents with a host of immediate and toxic problems, including: deadly bacteria, outbreaks and deaths from Legionnaires’ disease, and the wide-spread presence of lead in the city’s drinking water. In the film, Hey highlights the work of Crossing Water, a nonprofit organization that brings together social workers and other volunteers to bring water, services, and access to resources to the hardest hit residents of Flint. Hey weaves together multiple stories of Crossing Water volunteers, staff, and Flint residents, creating a portrait of what it is like to live within an ongoing systemic disaster. Crossing Water Executive Director Michael Hood called the film “a sobering story of the Flint water crisis.” Hey believes that all Americans should care about Flint because it’s a crisis that is indicative of the future for many US communities. According to CNN, over 5,300 municipalities around the country are in violation of lead rules. Hey says, “eventually systems will fail in any community, systems essential to human life like water and power. We can’t ignore that we are all vulnerable to such collapse, wherever we live in America.”

ABOUT THE MOVIE

UT student Jerod Calhoun talks about his experience at a church soup kitchen in Lydia Kane’s documentary

(Re-posted from the UT Division of Student Affairs, Office of Student Involvement blog)

It’s a proud day in Rocket Nation! One of our own has gone above and beyond to bring awareness of the service completed by our 2012 Leadership Through Service Living Learning Community during their alternative spring break experience. The LLC took 35 Rockets to New York City. Lydia Kane was one of the students who skipped beach time to spend the week serving others. Lydia made a video documentary, called “2012 UT Alternative Spring Break,” of the group’s experience and wanted the world to know about the great things our Rockets and LLC’s do. Lydia submitted her documentary to the Awareness Festival in Santa Monica, CA. She recently received the wonderful news that it has been accepted and will be shown to the world this month!

The Awareness Festival is an annual event for professional and student filmmakers to display their work to fellow film lovers. The festival includes feature films, shorts, documentaries, and music videos that bring awareness. The mission of the Awareness Film Festival is to bring awareness to today’s Ecological, Health/Well Being, Spirit and Political/Lands Without Borders topics. This festival is a fundraiser for the charity Heal One World and any net proceeds will go to fund programs for this charity.

Lydia reflected on the experience, “I have worked for the homeless and hungry throughout my life. My family and I would make meals for them once or twice a month growing up. While I knew that the problem of hunger and homelessness existed, it didn’t actually hit me until I traveled to New York City with the Leadership Through Service LLC. I was able to see hundreds of people that lined up for food and watched their eyes light up to have a warm meal and to have someone to have a conversation with.

I was also opened up to another major factor into this issue. I realized how much work and dedication is associated in running a soup kitchen, a shelter and even volunteering at these locations. It is very hard work and a majority of the people who run, work and volunteer in these places do it for free and have the greatest hearts. It was very gratifying to have the opportunity to document the hard work being done by the Leadership Through Service students. I was able to make a product that showed the hard work and sacrifice of taking time out of your life to help others in need.”

We are so proud of the amazing things our Rockets do. Great job Lydia!

July 25-28, 2013
Santa Monica, CA

Check out The Awareness Festival’s website HERE.

Watch Lydia’s 10 minute documentary HERE.