VT
Organizational Background—Kingdom County Productions
Founded in May 1991 by arts activists Jay Craven and Bess O’Brien, Kingdom County Productions (KCP) works to “cultivate the artistic voice of the region” and “integrate the arts into community life” through multi-disciplinary performing arts presentation in eight towns – and film and theater production, education, and distribution. KCP is based in Vermont’s rural Northeast Kingdom, the most isolated and economically depressed part of the state where, over three decades, communities lost their economic foundations when railroad yards, granite sheds, and mills closed and leading companies moved or downsized.
The Northeast Kingdom’s three counties (Essex, Orleans, Caledonia) consistently show unemployment averaging 2% to 5% higher than national averages and per capital incomes ($14, 388 in Essex County, $16,518 in Orleans and $16,696 in Caledonia) are the lowest in Vermont. It is in this setting that KCP works to make the arts a dynamic force for cultural and community development.
KCP also conducts community-based film production, film education and playwriting and circus workshops for youth - on the island of Nantucket.
KCP artistic director Jay Craven has worked as a nationally recognized arts producer and filmmaker since 1975, when he established Catamount Arts as the region’s leading arts organization. Craven led Catamount through 1991, presenting hundreds of annual film screenings and performances by Mabou Mines, Merce Cunningham, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Spalding Gray, Ray Charles, Trisha Brown, Miles Davis, Johnny Cash and many others in local high school auditoriums. At Catamount, Craven also established the region’s first community arts center, initiated an extensive arts in the schools program, and established the nationally acclaimed youth circus, Circus Smirkus.
In 1991, Craven left Catamount Arts to establish KCP where he and Bess O’Brien initially produced, distributed, and exhibited independent film, television, and radio programs rooted in the region. After Craven’s 1991 departure, Catamount Arts continued its work in film exhibition and arts education but cut back it's commitment to performing arts. KCP began work in 2008 to revive a vigorous performing arts presence in these rural communities—and to partner with Burlington City Arts, Catamount Arts, Marlboro College, and others to produce and present dynamic performing artists. In 2015, KCP and Catamount Arts formed a sturdy partnership, to commit to the work required to advance and sustain performing arts presentations as a central part of community life here.
Among the artists presented: solo performer Lauren Weedman, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, The Guthrie Theater, Momix, Jessica Lang Dancers, Alvin Ailey II, Victoria Chaplin’s cirque nouveau spectacle, Aurelia’s Oratorio, Bread and Puppet Theater, Second City, Russian National Ballet, Stile Antico, Cassandra Wilson, The Boston Children’s Chorus, bluegrass players Peter Rowan and Sierra Hull, Quebec musicians Le Vent du Nord, Cowboys Fringants, and Les Charbonniers De l’enfer, Inuit singer-songwriter Elisapie Isaac, blues greats Buddy Guy and Bettye Lavette, Gare St. Lazare Theater, puppeteers Sandglass Theater and Les Sage Fous, and new French films, curated with the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
KCP partnerships include area arts organizations, whose members are given discounted tickets. Likewise, 18 area schools, senior centers, social service and disability groups where KCP provides free and discounted tickets. KCP also conducts audience development work to local non-profits, bookstores, and sponsor workplaces, where discounted tickets are offered to employees, resulting in new audience members.
KCP’s regional film and theater productions include 9 feature films, 10 documentaries, 2 theater pieces, an Emmy-winning regional TV comedy series, and a radio variety show. These productions include Bess O’Brien’s films The Hungry Heart and Coming Home and her teen musical, Shout it Out, based on writing by Vermont teens. Also Craven’s 2008 documentary, After the Fog, on the post-combat lives of war veterans - and his feature films, Where the Rivers Flow North, Disappearances, Northern Borders, Peter and John, and Wetware, made in partnership with Marlboro College - and now Sarah Lawrence College -- where 26 professionals collaborate with 38 students from 12 colleges. The pictures star Bruce Dern, Genevieve Bujold, Jessica Hecht, Jacqueline Bisset and others, including actors from the region.
Through its extensive program of performing arts and film production and presentations in alternate venues and theaters, KCP reaches new audiences and acts on its mission of animating community through the arts.
Institution/Business Type:
Cultural Series Organization
Legal Status:
Nonprofit - Independent
Year Founded:
1991
Institution/Business Type:
Cultural Series Organization
Legal Status:
Nonprofit - Independent
Year Founded:
1991
Primary Discipline:
Media - FilmAdditional Disciplines:
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$450 - $2,500Teaching Settings:
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$450 - $2,500Technical Requirements:
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$450 - $2,500State of Residence:
VermontMinimum Number of Performers:
1Maximum Number of Performers:
1