About the documentary:
In the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, a young coal miner named Lucas Chaffin toils one mile underground. Despite the harsh working conditions, Lucas takes fierce pride in the fact that he's carrying on a family tradition. As a fourth-generation miner, working inside the earth is more than just a job to Lucas. He believes it's his duty; a responsibility symbolized by the old coal hammer that he uses. It is the same hammer that was used for 26 years by the man he loves more than anything: his father, Luther Chaffin.
Luther—nicknamed “Bonecrusher” — was once a strong, handsome man. But now, at 61, he's withered and sick; coal dust has ravaged his lungs. As life slips away, his greatest concern isn't for himself; it's for Lucas's safety.
Bonecrusher is an intimate account of the love between a father and son and the powerful bond they share, a bond that is put to the test. It is also a stark journey to the coal fields of Dante, Virginia where a tight-knit community of miners face life with a toughness and camaraderie as enduring as the earth itself.
"...dust-covered love story unearthed in Appalachia... Watching father and son negotiate mortality and money, Fountain's documentary tugs at the heart as much as the conscience: In Bonecrusher, there really is no such thing as "clean coal."
Hilary Crowe, Washington City Paper
"In these days of telecommuting and job uncertainty, there's something profoundly inspiring about the Chaffins, and Fountain has perceptively captured this rural sense of family and tradition... Bonecrusher is the intimate, reverent, and absorbing story of the relationship between Lucas and his coalminer father."
Eddie Cockrell, Variety
"The story is compelling in its mundanity – and just as compelling are the claustrophobic scenes of Lucas and his fellow miners working in the dark, miles and miles below the earth... A must see!"
Erin Sullivan, Baltimore City Paper
"A top notch documentary... breathtaking cinematography... Bonecrusher mixed the dark and terrifying world deep in the Appalachian mines with the beautiful landscape that covers them."
Jay Berg's Cinema Diary
Trailer & more images:
Trailer
Images
The task:
Kristin represented "Bonecrusher" to PBS stations nationally in Spring 2011.
The results:
Using Father's Day as a strategic broadcast hook to elevate a regional Appalachian story to a national audience, Kristin's efforts secured nearly 700 airdates covering more than 70% of the US, making a broadcast of "Bonecrusher" available to more than eighty million homes across America.
The reactions:
"Fantastic work Kristin. I really appreciate it."
Michael Fountain, filmmaker
WriteBrain Films
About the filmmakers:
Michael Fountain is the owner of WriteBrain Films. He has been directing and producing television shows for over 17 years. He is the executive producer and director of the award-winning documentary Bonecrusher. The film has played at the DC FilmFest, the Maryland Film Festival, Big Sky Documentary Film Festival and the Rehoboth Film Festival. It was a Finalist for Best Documentary in the Appalachian Film Festival.
Fountain has directed several series and documentaries for Discovery Channel, including, the award-winning series, The 100 Greatest Discoveries with Bill Nye, Dr. Know, Emeril Green and Man-Eating Sharks: The Truth!. He has produced for Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney's K Street for HBO, NBC's The West Wing and for Michael Moore's The Awful Truth on Bravo.
Other television and film credits include: Touchstone Pictures' Armageddon , Crazy Like a Fox, CBS's The Kennedy Center Honors, CBS's NCIS, Court TV's Gone Bad, Discovery Channel's Rameses: Wrath of God or Man?, When Disaster Strikes and Young Scientist Challenge, The Military Channel's My War Diaries, Disney Channel's The Jersey, Dutch Television's Isaac Babel and Salvatore Guilioni, Guggenheim Productions' D-Day Remembered, The National Gallery of Art's Empire of the Eye, National Geographic Television's Angkor Wat, and Phoenix Pictures' Dick.
The website:
Bonecrusher Film.com