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“Such a powerful love story.”
“It’s not just a film; it’s an experience.”
“Profoundly touching.”
“A life-affirming, unforgettable journey.”
“A must-watch…everyone should see!”
“Like a real-life version of The Notebook!”
“This movie changed my life.”
Genre: Documentary, Romance
This movie is: Emotional, Romantic
Rating: For Mature Audiences Only
ON OUR OWN ISLAND is a timeless true love story that chronicles the seasons of a relationship from its romantic beginnings through life’s final moments.
The story of how Ellie and Steven met seems like a fairytale that only fiction can fathom. Over the years, Steven wrote hundreds of love letters to Ellie, chronicling their life together which he always described as taking place on their own island.
Indeed, that first fateful day when they met on a deserted beach in Malibu, California, lived in their hearts for decades; their love was true, endless, and singular. And just like the love so many others are lucky enough to share, they thought theirs would last forever.
But what happens when a love story comes to a close, and how is it possible to navigate that end, together?
ON OUR OWN ISLAND is a deeply intimate, honest, and uplifting nonfiction love story — a story for our times. Touching people around the globe, this remarkable documentary inspires and heals with its heartwarming tale about love, life, and the profound dance to the end.
Warning: While the film is a true love story, one of the lead characters has a peaceful, natural death on camera.
THE FILMMAKERS
ON OUR OWN ISLAND is helmed by two award-winning filmmakers, a mother-daughter directing duo, who were swept up in the serendipity of how this film came to be. By the time production began, Ellie already had decades of experience in the media and Sky had become an accomplished journalist as well. They had the skills, but gave each other the strength as they supported Steven, and each other, through this unforgettable experience.
ELLIE DYLAN
PRODUCER, CO-DIRECTOR
Ellie’s award-winning career in the media spans numerous sectors of the industry. After beginning as a college disc jockey, she quickly became the most-listened-to female radio host in American history on NBC. She then went on to become the host and producer of a number-one-rated, Emmy Award-winning weekly television series on ABC. She later developed and spearheaded a public/private partnership with the U.S. government, SKY U, where more than seven million of children in over 10,000 schools across America were introduced to important leadership principles through her initiative. Prior to all of this, Dylan wrote her senior thesis in college on death. Throughout her years in the media, she always believed that the skills she was learning were really just a “toolbox of knowledge” she would later use for a larger purpose — a belief confirmed, decades after, when Dylan was tasked with bringing this powerful story to life.
SKY DYLAN-ROBBINS
CO-DIRECTOR, CINEMATOGRAPHER
Sky is a New York-based journalist and the founder and executive director of The Video Consortium, a global network of today's leading nonfiction filmmakers. Previously, she was a journalist at NBC News, where she worked across broadcast, streaming, and digital verticals. Before NBC, she was The New Yorker's inaugural Senior Producer, where she created the magazine’s first short films and video series. Sky has been recognized by Forbes magazine as a "30 under 30" in the media. When filming for ON OUR OWN ISLAND began, Sky was producing a film about birth for The New Yorker magazine. The juxtaposition of finding out that her father had a terminal disease while filming the beauty of life’s beginning was a devastating irony. Supporting her father on his final journey — and documenting it, as he’d wished — has been the most fulfilling story of her life thus far.
“Vivid, lyrical, and loving!”
LISTEN TO THE ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK
MUSIC COMPOSED AND PERFORMED BY
DOMINIQUE CHARPENTIER
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