Ollie Webb Center's Short Film Screening & Panel Discussion
National Willa Cather Center
413 N. Webster Street
Red Cloud, NE 68970
United States
The Ollie Webb Center, Inc.'s Art of Imagination program, in collaboration with University of Nebraska Omaha professor and screenwriter Todd Richardson, has created two short films based on excerpts from two Willa Cather novels.
The first film, “Tom Outland's Story,“ is from Cather’s novel The Professor‘s House and is about discovering an ancient cliff city. The other is excerpted from My Ántonia. This film chronicles the difficulties living through Nebraska winters in the 19th century.
Made in partnership with WhyArts, the films are co-directed by Ollie Webb Center, Inc.'s education director David Ackermann and artistic director, Jim Hoggatt, with director of cinematography Matt Bross. Individuals enrolled in Ollie Webb Center Inc. courses act in the films and served as the film crew on the project.
Located in Omaha, the Ollie Webb Center, Inc.'s mission is to enrich the lives individuals with developmental disabilities and their families through collaboration, advocacy, relationships, and education.
The center's Art of Imagination program works to empower develop and encourage self expression in adults with disabilities through professional opportunities in the visual and performing arts. Classes offer artistic opportunities in traditional art forms such as painting, writing, drawing, photography, and more. Theater classes include improvisation play writing, scripted pieces and radio drama culminating in rehearsals and public performances.
This event is free to attend thanks to the generosity of Humanities Nebraska and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.
Jim Hoggatt, Producer
Jim Hoggatt has served as The Art of Imagination program's Artistic Director since 2010. Prior to coming to the Ollie Webb Center, he spent four and half years as an educator, actor, playwright, and Director of Youth Productions at The Rose Theater in Omaha. Jim has also worked for theaters in Kansas City and the San Francisco Bay area. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas and his master’s degree in Drama from San Francisco State University.
David Ackermann, Director
David Ackermann is the Continuing Education Director at Ollie Webb Center, Inc. In addition, he has conducted workshops in theatre and film at The Rose Theater and Circle Theatre, as well as producing promotional shorts for local non-profits. David has also been seen acting in The Art of Imagination’s (AoI) past play productions, and he directed and acted in the past couple of AoI short film projects. David is a graduate of University of Nebraska-Lincoln earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre with an emphasis in Film and New Media and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
Abz Cameron, Editor/Music
Abz Cameron joined the OWCI team in 2023. Abz, a native to Omaha, has worked over the past fifteen years with the University of Nebraska Omaha Theatre, The Shelterbelt Theatre, Omaha Community Playhouse, Great Plains Theatre Commons, the Bluebarn Theatre, and more. Notable roles include Rose in Dogfight (UNO Theatre), Tilly Evans in She Kills Monsters (UNO Theatre), and Katrina Van Tassel in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Bluebarn Theatre). In 2019, they performed in Edinburgh, Scotland, the world’s largest fringe festival with the ensemble of Little Wars, a devised movement piece.