Producer's Thoughts

I was born in a small farming village in Norfolk, in the East of England. My first introduction to America came in the summer of 1978 as a student coaching at a soccer camp. After graduating from university, where I had directed a number of theater and radio productions, I spent a year as a schoolteacher and then in 1981, I moved to New York City to study acting. After a brief flirtation with the world of stand-up comedy, I began my studies with Larry Moss and continued them in the Advanced Program at the Juilliard School. Since graduation in 1986, I have worked extensively in film, theater and television and have been fortunate enough to work with some terrific directors: Stanley Kubrick, Clint Eastwood and William Friedkin amongst others. Watching them and learning from them inspired me to pursue my own directing aspirations.

Since forming FourBoys Films in 2001 with my wife Patricia Heaton, my desire to direct a film intensified. The opportunity presented itself in the summer of 2003, when an actress friend of ours mentioned to us that she was returning home to her small coal mining town in rural Pennsylvania for the 50th Anniversary celebration of a coal festival and pageant. It sounded fascinating and I was intrigued. My wife suggested that we should produce a documentary and then encouraged me to make it the subject of my first film.

Imagining a place full of quirky, narrow-minded inhabitants, I immediately saw how easily I might tap into my own ample reservoir of world-weary cynicism and paint a dark portrait of small town life.

Once there, however, I was moved by the sense of community in this tiny place, the people's pride in their coal mining heritage and how they loved their town, warts and all. I admired the way they all rallied around a common cause in the form of their annual celebrations and coal queen pageant and freely gave their time and money in support. Their spirit struck me as quintessentially American and so I chose to celebrate their lives, their traditions, and a special way of life that is fast disappearing.

"The Bituminous Coal Queens of Pennsylvania" represents my heartfelt homage to small town America. I hope you enjoy the film.

David Hunt
Producer