LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville could start seeing parts of the city on the big screen with the true story about a couple, their struggles and the love that kept them going.

What You Need To Know

  • The true story of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn in Louisville is being turned into a movie

  • The film, Lucie & Thornton, is set in the early 1800s and emphasizes the Blackburn’s journey from enslaved people in Louisville to entrepreneurs in Toronto

  • Producer and screenwriter Helen Brinich-Barns said it's a story of how two people can overcome anything with love

  • Land of Tomorrow studios is in preproduction and is hoping to start filming in August

It’s a Louisville love story that has yet to be told. Producer and screenwriter Helen Brinich-Barns says she heard the story of Lucie and Thornton Blackburn, and decided to turn it into a play. Now, she wants to take that love story to the big screen.

“I look at them as modern-day heroes, right? What we equate these superheroes to, that’s what Lucie and Thornton did. They fought against every odd imaginable,” said Brinich-Barns.

The film, Lucie & Thornton, is set in the early 1800s and emphasizes the Blackburn’s journey from enslaved people in Louisville to entrepreneurs in Toronto.

“I just wanted to highlight how two people, no matter what their circumstances are, you can overcome anything with love,” said Brinich-Barns.

A fundraising Gala was held at Roots 101 African-American Museum, with Land of Tomorrow Studios trying to reimagine Lucie and Thornton Blackburn epic saga through the lens of love and the Underground Railroad.

Dr. Steven Patton says the Lucie and Thornton story and the history behind it can translate into our everyday lives.

“It’s especially important today. You know, so many times history tends to get buried and left behind. But how can we learn from it if it’s not told, right? So we’re have we’re here today with people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, race, gender. And we can have that conversation in a safe place,” said Patton.

The mayor’s office of equity communications specialist Jody Hamilton says their office exists to support marginalized communities in Louisville, and that being a part of a project with female Black filmmakers showcasing Louisville’s history is an amazing opportunity.

“There’s a lot of history that has gone on in Louisville and in Kentucky that people have no idea about. So I think it’s really important to highlight and to show the progress that we’ve made as a city, as an organization, as, you know, as the public. I think it’s important to highlight that,” said Hamilton.

Brinich-Barns hopes that, through this film, the story of the Blackburns will live on for years to come.

“But I feel like now it’s not just going to be historians and community activists know about that, but really like my community and that to me is like, we’ve done our job,” said Brinich-Barns.

Land of Tomorrow Studios is in preproduction and is hoping to start filming in August.

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