Amazon Prime Video is thrilled to announce its partnership with director Dagan W. Beckett to bring Legacy America: A Portrait of the American Railway to audiences worldwide.
Legacy America takes a photo of our nation through the lens of photographer Holt Webb. Holt's journey highlights passenger rail travel's past, present, and future endeavors across the American frontier, asking, "Is there a place left in our nation for passenger rail travel?"
Emmy award winning Chattanooga native director Dagan W. Beckett shared his passion for the project, stating: “What I really love about the messaging of this film is the hope for a better tomorrow. We go on a journey with our friends, Holt and Rhett, and see the world through their eyes. In doing that, we celebrate the past and then look to the future and how we, as Americans, can be a conduit for a better tomorrow.:
Film lead, Holt Webb is an accomplished book author and master landscape and architectural photographer. Holt has spent much of his career traveling the country, through his Vanishing America expedition, documenting its rich history through his passion for mid-century architecture and photography.
“Since I was a child, I wanted to travel the United States uncovering the stories of the forgotten people and places that made this country what it is today,” said Webb. "Legacy America is that dream come true."
Dagan and his team prominently feature Chattanooga’s own Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and the privately owned, BRIGHTLINE highspeed trains out of Miami, Florida.
“TVRRM is honored to have been a part of this important story. Our commitment to preserving the engineering marvels of the early 1900s is only surpassed by our passion for sharing these stories with our guests and loyal supporters,” said Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum's Penelope Soule Gault.
“These are exciting times for our nation. We have this concept, we call it 'train in a box',” said Brightline owner Wes Edens. "We want to talk to people about how they can have a highspeed train in their hometown. Our passenger train from Las Vegas to Los Angeles is just the first of this new passenger rail industry in our nation."
Director Dagan W. Beckett won an Emmy in 2022 for his film Songbirds in the topical documentary category by the Mid-South region of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). Songbirds can be found streaming on Amazon Prime Video, TUBI, Peacock, and Apple TV.
Recently, Dagan and his production team were nominated for a second time by The Mid-South region of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) for work on his film Beautiful Faces (2024), which is distributed on TUBI and Amazon Prime Video.
Dagan and his team are currently in production for their latest film, Sadowsky, a music documentary due out in 2026.
Legacy America is available to stream now exclusively on Amazon Prime Video along with the official film soundtrack available to stream on both Apple Music and Spotify.
More information on the film can be found at legacyamericafilm.com and beckettartsproject.com
