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Dear Anna Olson
TYPE: Fiction
GENRE: Drama
STATUS: Production
LOGLINE
Dear Anna Olson is a parable of how small, positive actions can have a profound impact on a person’s life.
SYNOPSIS
Anna Olson is resident of a nursing home. Lonely, she sends out notes tied to balloons. One of these is found and passed from person to person, inspiring each of them to share their own stories. When the note returns to Anna her world is positively changed by their kind words and stories.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
The idea for Dear Anna Olson literally dropped from the sky as Dean Lennert noticed something caught up in the branches of a tree near his home. It was a balloon and to it was tied a note that simply read, " Hello, my name is Anna Olson. I am a resident of the Thrushbrook Nursing Home. Please write to me". He did write to her, and was also captivated by the imaginings of this woman's life and her little note's impressive journey. As a career animator and filmmaker, Dean felt that this would be a perfect story to tell through the medium of animation. Dear Anna Olson is a traditional hand-drawn animated work created using colored pencils, watercolors and inks on paper and frosted acetate. This combination of materials provides a softer, storybook feel to an art form that is often characterized by solid hard-edged blocks of color. When completed it will be a 20-minute narrative photographed on 35mm color film with sound. The soundtrack will consist of a newly commissioned contemporary musical score and original sound effects. There will be no dialogue or narration, which allows the story to cross language barriers, giving the film greater universal appeal.
KEY CREW
Dean Kalman Lennert - Director/Animator
Dean Kalman Lennert is a Director/Animator with over three decades of professional experience creating work for film and television using a wide range of styles and techniques. Career highlights include DOUG, BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD, SNL’s TV FUNHOUSE, the 1998 Academy Award winning animated short film BUNNY and the 2002 Oscar nominated ICE AGE.
Jennifer Kirby - Producer
Jennifer Kirby is a financial advisor with over 25 years of experience working in finance and the arts. A chance discussion in 1991 led to her involvement with Dear Anna Olson. This film is close to her heart because of its message that compassionate actions have significant impact at any stage of life.
Cory Gabel - Composer
Cory Gabel is an American composer, producer and performer based in Simsbury, Connecticut. His professional music career began in Los Angeles, where he was the lead vocalist and song writer for the alternative rock band Limestone Rome from 1994-2000. Cory was at the forefront of that era’s emerging DIY digital recording and producing, and released the band’s debut record Charge the Head on his own record label. Solo, instrumental piano records followed in the early 2000’s, and by 2008 he was composing and producing award-winning original scores for modern dance, film and theater. His classical and modern rock influences continue to converge in his original scores and projects, varying from minimalist instrumentals to aggressive alt-rock and EDM compositions.
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