The Filmmakers
Nathan Willis
Nathan Willis is an award-winning documentary filmmaker based in Arkansas and Louisiana. Growing up with severe asthma, he discovered a love of film and filmmaking while homebound during high school. Because of this he is passionate about stories that showcase the power of arts education helping individuals overcome personal struggles. Working with small crews and serving as director, cinematographer, and sound recordist on the majority of his films, he is able to create a deep sense of trust between himself and his documentary subjects. He has directed short-form documentaries for PBS, Vice, MSNBC, Business Insider, and the Academy Award-winning production company, Participant Media. His most recent documentary short film Cowgirl Up was featured on Reel South and was the winner of the Audience Award at the 2018 PBS Online Film Festival.
Nolan Dean
Nolan Dean is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary filmmaker based in the Arkansas Delta who has centered his practice on producing compelling narrative and documentaries in the Delta that promote cross-cultural empathy and human welfare.
A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Dean fell in love with the Delta the day he visited his future wife, Jackie, a former classmate from Texas who had moved to Helena, Arkansas to teach. Jackie was kind, honest, and beautiful. The Delta was authentic, community minded, and rich in story.
Together, the Deans chose to stay in the Delta, where they are raising two children. Jackie continues to teach humanities at a public high school, while Nolan runs Cherry Street Productions, a production studio that seeks to empower Mississippi River communities through quality storytelling, and inspire the world with the stories that are still coming from - and being lived out - in the Delta.
Dean is a selectee of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, the Little Rock Film Festival, and more. His film Nighthawks won the Mississippi Film Alliance’s Emerging Filmmaker grant in 2019. He has been submitted for appointment to the advisory board for the Arkansas Department of Heritage's Delta Cultural Center and is a former board member of Arkansas Delta Arts Partnership.