WELCOME to COALWOOD
Front Cover of DVD
WELCOME to COALWOOD was my first feature-length documentary film. I finished it in 2009, four years after I first visited this small coal mining town in West Virginia with a group of teachers from Minneapolis.
Coalwood, West Virginia is the home town of Homer Hickam, who wrote the book "Rocket Boys" that was made into the movie called "October Sky" in 1999.
My film tells the history of Coalwood (including appearances by the original Rocket Boys) and shows what life is like there today. Residents and people with a connection to Coalwood tell its bittersweet story. It’s been well-received by the people of West Virginia an by those interested in small town and mining area history. It’s been shown many times on West Virginia PBS.
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Back Cover of DVD
Some of my short documentaries (watch for free)
The Letter
Eighteen year-old Casey Gauntt spent the summer of 1968 working for his dad’s construction company in Coalwood, WV. In 2008, he got a phone call from from a woman who told him she “had something that he’d left in Coalwood 40 years ago”. That call changed his life forever. (10 min)
More about The Letter
In October of 2009 I met Casey Gauntt at a small town festival in West Virginia. He told me his heart-wrenching -- and ultimately hopeful -- story of how he, his father, and his son will forever be connected by the little town of Coalwood, WV. Casey's incredible story of unlikely encounters and reconnected relationships became a short film called "The Letter". Casey and his family were very pleased with the film.
"Steve presented our family with this incredible gift: his film The Letter. I really can’t believe he did it. This isn’t the easiest of subject matters—understatement—and this wasn’t simply a brief brush—in and out— with our family and our pain. Steve took the leap from the high-dive and became completely submerged with us in our new reality for over eighteen months." — Casey Gauntt, Solana Beach, CA
After watching this video, please visit the Gauntt family's website dedicated to one of the key subjects of the story. It's called "Write Me Something Beautiful" and it's a beautiful and inspiring website. www.writemesomethingbeautiful.com
Reluctant Dissent: The James P. Shannon Story
Dr. James P. Shannon was a high-profile young Bishop in 1968; a national media spokesman for the Catholic Church in the U.S. He was on the fast track to a high-level job at the Vatican, until Pope Paul VI issued his "Humanae Vitae" encyclical, outlawing all types of birth control for Catholics. Shannon felt he could not, in good conscious, counsel parishioners about this subject if he disagreed with the official position of the Church. (10 min.)
Gratefulness: Madeline Titus
Here's a short film I made about Madeline Titus, my daughter's piano teacher. It was shown at the Minnesota Historical Society's "Greatest Generation Film Festival" in 2008. Madeline passed away before the film was was finished at age 94. Her family was grateful to have this video made during the last year of her long and memorable life. (10 min.)
Grace Corrigan keeps daughter Christa McAuliffe's mission alive
Grace Corrigan lived through an unimaginable tragedy. On January 28, 1986, she and her husband watched as the spacecraft that was to carry her daughter Christa McAuliffe into space, exploded shortly after launch, killing all aboard. It was broadcast live and the world saw the explosion and witnessed her in disbelief and shock.
I met Grace in 2007 through an unusual set of circumstances with a Minneapolis teachers group. I was lucky to spend many hours in her company over the next few years. Grace passed away in 2018. She was an amazing woman and I’ll never forget my time with her. I made this video for MinnPost on the 25th anniversary of the Challenger disaster. (7 min)
An Actor's Life: Bob Davis
Here's a biographical documentary I did about Bob Davis, a longtime actor at the esteemed Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. It originally ran as a 3-part series in MinnPost, an online news site in the Minneapolis. (20 min.)
KALPULLI: Susana DeLeon's Learning Community
This video is about Susana DeLeon, a Minneapolis attorney who leads the Ketzal Coatlicue Aztec Dance group. Susana is a community leader and activist who believes she can help build a strong community through the artistic, athletic, and spiritual Danza Azteca. (7 min.)