Historical videos commissioned by museums and nonprofits

Cosmos Mariner Productions is the
'go-to' team for museums and historical nonprofits who
need orientation films, documentaries, videos for
exhibits, and more. Our clients include:
Owens-Thomas House Museum and Slave Quarters, Isaiah
Davenport House, Historic Savannah Foundation, Coastal
Heritage Society, National Museum of the Mighty 8th Air
Force, Savannah-Ogeechee Canal Museum, Ships of the Sea
Maritime Museum, and others. Here are some
examples of our work:
From Ironclad to Artifact: The Journey of the CSS Georgia
In 2015, Cosmos Mariner Productions was
hired to produce the official US Army Corps
of Engineers documentary on the raising of
the wreck of the CSS Georgia, a Civil War
ironclad warship, from the Savannah River.
The ship was built with money raised by
Georgia's women, sunk by its crew to prevent
capture, and accidentally discovered in 1968.
This film chronicles the fifty-year effort to
raise, conserve, and exhibit the historic
ship's remains. The video was completed in
2017 and released in early 2018.
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Urban Slavery at the Owens-Thomas House and Slave Quarters
In 2018, we produced a new short video
for Telfair
Museums’ Owens-Thomas House &
Slave Quarters in Savannah highlighting
the groundbreaking things the museum is doing
to tell the little-known stories of the
enslaved people who toiled behind the scenes
in this sumptuous Southern mansion.
Our crew cataloged the meticulous preservation work carried out by experts inside the Owens-Thomas House's slave workspaces, interviewed scholars who have conducted original research into the identities of the enslaved individuals, and even painstakingly re-enacted the hours-long culinary tasks and backbreaking laundry work they performed here more than a century and a half ago. |
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Lafayette's Struggle to Give Freedom to All
For decades, tourists have learned
about the Marquis de
Lafayette's 1825 visit to Savannah
and his lodging at the well-known
Telfair Museums’ Owens-Thomas House
& Slave Quarters. But not everyone was
aware of Lafayette's tireless work to end
slavery around the world--until now.
The Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters in Savannah hired our team to produce a new short film about Lafayette's passion for freedom for all. This video, released in November 2018, is now screening daily within a new exhibit inside the new orientation gallery. |
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Saving Savannah: Historic Preservation
The Historic Savannah
Foundation commissioned Cosmos Mariner
Productions to create this video in 2012.
The video tells the story of historic
preservation in Savannah, from its beginnings
as a reaction to the destruction of historic
buildings in the 1950s and 60s, to the
recognition today of Savannah as a national
leader in saving historic structures.
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Isaiah Davenport: Portrait of a Master Builder![]()
We earned a coveted 2014 Silver Telly Award for this half-hour
film, which profiles the 19th-century
Savannah craftsman who built the
landmark Isaiah Davenport
House.
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Yellow Fever: A Dreadful Pestilence![]()
Our team received a 2014 Bronze Telly Award for this video about
the impact of Yellow Fever in 18th-century
Savannah. The mosquito-borne illness
was devastating to the coastal city, causing
hundreds of deaths in several massive
outbreaks. The Isaiah Davenport
House museum uses the video as an
orientation for visitors taking part in an
annual drama about Yellow Fever.
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Civil War Battlefield Archaeology
In a project funded by a grant form the National Park Service's
American Battlefield Protection Program,
archaeologist Dan Elliott and his team from
the LAMAR
Institute investigate a little-known
Civil War battlefield on the outskirts of
Savannah.
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Cockspur Island Lighthouse
In 2013, the nonprofit Friends of the
Cockspur Island Lighthouse commissioned
Cosmos Mariner Productions to create this
promotional video, highlighting their efforts
to save the threatened light. The tiny
Cockspur
Lighthouse, originally designed by
renowned early 19th century architect John
Norris, has marked the entrance to the south
channel of the Savannah River since the
1830s. Even though it was directly in
the line of fire, the light survived a fierce
artillery battle between Union forces and
Confederate-held Fort Pulaski in 1862.
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Tybee Island Post Theater
Built in the 1930s as part of the now-defunct
Fort Screven army post, Tybee Island's Post
Theater is now a cherished local landmark.
The Friends of the Tybee Theater are
working diligently to restore this historic
structure and transform it into a performing
arts and cultural center for the entire
community. The Friends
organization commissioned Cosmos Mariner
Productions to produce this short video for
their website, chronicling the history,
restoration work, and future plans for the
building.
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Massie School: A Cradle of Public Education
Dating to the days just prior to the
Civil War, Massie Heritage Center
has a rich history as the oldest public
school in Savannah, GA. Today it serves as a
museum of Savannah's history and an education
center for thousands of school children each
year.
This short film is used to introduce visitors to Massie and all it has to offer. The film is the recipient of a 2016 Roger K. Warlick Local History Achievement Award from the Georgia Historical Society. |
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