The Media Factory Premieres 'Crowdsourced VT Home Alone'

August Olmstead as Kevin Credit: Courtesy

In the 1990 movie Home Alone, 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left behind when his family goes on vacation, then is forced to defend their suburban Chicago home from bungling burglars. When the late John Hughes wrote the slapstick family comedy, the filmmaker likely never envisioned Kevin being portrayed by a dog strolling the aisles of Healthy Living market.

But such is the nature of crowdsourced cinema, where creative license is the name of the game.

This week marks the world premiere of Crowdsourced VT Home Alone, the fifth installment of the statewide community film project, produced by the Media Factory in Burlington. Each year since 2020, the South End nonprofit media center has invited amateur filmmakers from around Vermont — families, friend groups, schools and summer camps — to reproduce one scene each from a classic movie. Previously crowdsourced films have included Cast Away, Jurassic Park, Star Wars and Toy Story.

When Crowdsourced VT Home Alone hits the big screen on Thursday, November 7, at Merrill’s Roxy Cinemas in Burlington, it will be the first time that the filmmakers have seen their re-created movie assembled in its entirety.

“I always get all teared up at the premiere when I see everyone in the audience,” said Gin Ferrara, who coproduced the film with fellow Media Factory staffer Ross Ransom on a shoestring budget of $5,000. “It’s just a very sweet community event [and] kind of awe-inspiring.”

Crowdsourced cinema was conceived 13 years ago by two media centers in Massachusetts: Northampton Open Media and the Brookline Interactive Group. This year, the Media Factory partnered with both groups, along with Community Media Access Collaborative in Fresno, Calif. Each produced their own locally crowdsourced version of Home Alone.

Thirty-five Vermont filmmaker teams produced 43 scenes, with only a few unassigned scenes contributed by the Media Factory’s out-of-state partners. The scenes, each a minute or two long, were randomly assigned to the filmmakers in April and completed by early September.

Still from Crowdsourced VT Home Alone Credit: Courtesy

Aside from following the original movie script, the filmmakers were largely free to envision and shoot their scenes any way they wished, making creative choices about casting, scenery, props and format. Some scenes were filmed as live action while others used animation or puppets.

“This year there’s a lot of acting. It’s all amateur, so it’s all over the map,” Ferrara said. “But there are some really great scenes with incredible performances.”

One challenge to producing this year’s crowdsourced movie was the sheer physicality of the original Home Alone, Ferrara noted. As Kevin fends off the Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), he uses trip wire, a falling iron, swinging paint cans and a makeshift flamethrower. The Media Factory had to ensure that no one got hurt while performing such stunts.

To mitigate the dangers, it hosted a virtual “practical effects and safe stunts workshop” with Kyle Lowe at the Community Media Access Collaborative. Nevertheless, this was the first year the Media Factory required participants to sign a liability waiver.

Naturally, one goal of community cinema is to introduce newcomers to film and video production. While the crowdsourced movies have yet to produce the next Steven Spielberg, “What I do see is a lot of returning people,” Ferrara said. “I think people get confident and they get excited, and this is their one film project of the year.”

Indeed, Stephanie Soules, with Lake Champlain Access Television, introduced her then-4-year-old son, T.J., to crowdsourced cinema with Cast Away. The boy has since appeared in Star Wars, Toy Story and Home Alone. This year, he got to play Kevin in the iconic aftershave scene when he clutches his cheeks in an Edvard Munch-like scream.

“As a little kid, I always dreamed of being in a movie,” T.J. said in a video interview produced by Champlain College students. “And I think this is the perfect way to be in one.”

Crowdsourced VT Home Alone premieres Thursday, November 7, 7 p.m., at Merrill’s Roxy Cinemas in Burlington. Sold out. Additional showings: Friday, November 15, 6:30 p.m., at Montpelier Performing Arts Hub. Donations. Thursday, November 21, 6:30 p.m., at Manchester Community Library. Free.

The original print version of this article was headlined “The Media Factory Premieres Crowdsourced VT Home Alone”