Several years ago, The New York Times published an article revealing the most difficult places to live in the United States. Not only were our counties among the top ten, but the article also used my grandfather’s house as its header image. My grandfather’s small, hand-built home office, which he used as a part-time car lot to sell auctioned cars, was the country’s glimpse into the hardships of small-town Appalachia. 

We are documentary filmmakers from a place that has been well-extracted, misrepresented, and stereotyped. We might be fighting an uphill battle to set the story right, as the whole world romanticizes our hills, hollers, and traditions. We believe that developing a collective of seasoned and new voices that reflect real experiences is our way of reintroducing ourselves and our culture to the rest of the world. 

We've found community miles away and abroad. Appalachians have like-minded folks all over the globe; it turns out we’re not the only ones whose stories have been told wrong. As storytellers, we want to uplift and celebrate the underrepresented voices and the do-gooders in all communities.