Cream of the Crop
Cream of the Crop is now streaming on Amazon Prime, PureFlix, AppleTV, Google Play, Christian Cinema, Hoopla, and Vudu!
DVDs are available now in our store and at dbmfilm.com
I wrote the screenplay, Cream of the Crop, with a subject in mind that is dear to my heart - the preservation of family farmland for future generations. The relationship that develops between the principal characters personifies the struggle that faces so many farm families today – the desire to keep the farm that they love against all odds. The screenplay is dramatic, action-packed, humorous, and uplifting. Through a partnership with Douglas Maddox of DBM Films and his amazing team, I plan to produce and develop it as an independent film. My experience as an author, college professor, wrangler, farm owner and SAG/AFTRA actor with principal roles in The Sixth Sense, 12 Monkeys, and Hope’s Legacy will help me achieve my goal.
In short, the production of this screenplay is the realization of a lifelong dream for me!
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Starring Ben Davies, Brittney Goodwin and an all-star supporting cast, the film is written by JoAnn S. Dawson and directed by Douglas B. Maddox. The story revolves around a young woman determined to save her family farm from foreclosure.
Filmed in Maryland, the script features drama, romance, action, and themes about family, second chances, and farm awareness.
In the news​​
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Cecil Life Magazine published an article on June 2: JoAnn Dawson and all her jobs. Author Ken Mammarella writes, "In Hollywood, a multihyphenate is a broadly talented person, like a writer-actor-director.
In Cecil County, a great example of a multihyphenate is JoAnn S. Dawson, an author-actress-entrepreneur-speaker-screenwriter. That’s how she describes herself on www.joanndawson.com."
The Cecil Whig published an article on March 15 in Biz Beats. You can read an excerpt below.
"Happening this week around Cecil County …
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Jo Ann Dawson is scouting sites in Cecil County to use when a film crew is here, this summer to shoot a new movie.
Bringing "Cream of the Crop" to the big screen has the North East woman busy as well, finding supporters and sponsors. Dawson launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $50,000 to start the funding process for a film she expects to cost $160,000.
As the owner of Fairwinds Farm and Stables — an equestrian center and event venue — and the author of five young reader books about horses you’d expect Cream of the Crop to be about horses.
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'It has horses in it but it’s about farmland preservation,' she said of the script she wrote in 1998. In fact the story centered around a woman who teaches agriculture at the local tech high school and the city-based real estate man is partially auto-biographical, she said. 'There’s lots of funny scenes, romance, drama and a very good ending.'
Since the original script was written more than 20 years old Dawson had to update it to include the use of laptops, cellphones and texting, all of which was not commonplace in 1998. Doug Maddox, owner of DBM Communications, is directing the film. He filmed Hope’s Legacy at Fairwinds Farm two years ago. He also instructed Dawson to make the characters a little older.
'Hallmark only accepts scripts with characters 28 or older,' Dawson said. As luck would have it, Hallmark rejected the project but Maddox is presenting to other networks. 'He’s going to shoot it either way.'
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With filming set to start at the end of June, Dawson needs to find a barn that is about to be demolished and a large field of cover crop that its owner won’t mind it being driven over by ATVs. She also needs to see if she can borrow the Cecil County Council meeting room for another location."
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