East Corinth doesn’t tend to attract many out-of-state visitors. But of the roughly 100 crew members in town during the 2023 production of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, all but two had traveled from afar.
One of those local filmmakers was Brian Carroll, founder of Film in Vermont, an online database that aims to connect filmmakers around the state. Working as a location site representative and videographer on the Beetlejuice sequel led Carroll to realize that while many films are set in Vermont, very few locals actually have a role in their creation. Vermont is also one of only four states without a government-sanctioned film office.
Carroll, 41, wants to change that: He’s spearheading a new project called the Vermont Film Production Economic Impact Pilot Program in hopes of revamping the resources once provided by the Vermont Film Commission, which the state ended in 2011.
The pilot program, sponsored by the Koopman Fund through the Vermont Community Foundation, will award a total of $50,000 to local film productions in packages of either $5,000 or $10,000, depending on each project’s scope. Filmmakers can apply through July 21, and five to seven projects will be selected by Carroll and a committee of four other judges.
Awardees will be chosen based on their plans for benefiting local economies and their commitment to including Vermont-specific themes and locations. Carroll said the criteria is designed to encourage projects involving rural communities.
“Not every filmmaker or creative lives in Chittenden County or in Montpelier,” he said. “There’s hundreds of us in all the nooks and crannies and hills and valleys of the state.”
Through the program, Carroll intends to collect data that demonstrate how filmmaking can be an economic driver, especially in small towns. During the three-day shoot for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Carroll said, lots of “real, measurable capital” flowed to East Corinth businesses, including its general store, hardware store and even ski slope. In the months leading up to and after the shoot, the general store made an estimated $120,000 more than it normally would have, according to Carroll.
He also highlighted a benefit beyond the economic bump: bringing communities together.
When a film crew comes to town, “it’s a big deal,” Carroll said. “People are really excited about it, and they’re so willing to help.”
Film projects can unite towns through job opportunities — for example, local carpenters might be hired to build sets — or organized screenings for people to see the final product.
“It doesn’t matter what side of the aisle you’re sitting on politically. Everyone loves a movie,” Carroll said.
While $5,000 and $10,000 awards are small by film industry standards, they “can make the absolute difference in something getting made or not getting made,” according to Chad Ervin, president of Vermont Production Collective, the pilot program’s fiscal agent.
Carroll acknowledged that the awards can hardly financially support a full-length feature film, but he hopes the awardees will still be able to unleash their creativity and “make something beautiful.”
“Low-budget, short-form filmmaking has a place in the landscape of things,” Carroll said, “and not everything needs to be a $250 million Marvel movie.”
Ervin said his production collective strives to foster collaboration among filmmakers across the state, and he hopes to continue that mission with the pilot program. He emphasized that funding is often the biggest challenge to getting a movie made. Lowering that barrier can pay big dividends, especially for smaller films.
As he put it: “You don’t have to have Spielberg coming here to make an actual impact.” ➆
This article appears in June 24 • 2026.
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