A mountain town on the precipice of explosive growth. An arduous past. A challenging present. A hopeful future. One woman’s journey to save her town utilizing community and the great outdoors.

Our half-hour film follows Stephanie Swepson Twitty who returned to her North Carolina hometown in the Southern Appalachians with the sole purpose of helping underserved communities build wealth. Despite town leadership’s indifference to change, and turning a blind eye to the needs of the Black community, she’s now working to utilize the newly approved wilderness trail system to bring jobs and the great outdoors to her community – who are often left out of both. Beneath the surface of the natural beauty surrounding Old Fort lies the undercurrent of reality. The small mountain town has been struggling since manufacturing jobs left decades ago. The 42 miles of trails in the Pisgah National Forest present new opportunities for growth, such as tourism dollars that support local businesses but it can also bring developers and cost of living increases. We’ll follow Stephanie as she fights to prevent her hometown from becoming another gentrified resort town that pushes out its residents.

Director & Producer | Mike Ferrell