Neal Hutcheson

Neal Hutcheson (born 1969) is an American filmmaker, photographer, and author. He has received three regional Emmy Awards for documentaries on regional culture, language, and identity.^[1][2][3] He has produced 17 television documentaries on topics such as Appalachian culture, heritage fisheries on the North Carolina Outer Banks, Cherokee language preservation efforts, African American vernacular speech, and climate change.^[4][5] Hutcheson’s most visible work has featured Popcorn Sutton, a moonshiner from Western North Carolina.^[6][7][8][9] The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton, a book of photos, interviews and essays by Hutcheson, was released in 2021 and received a National Indie Excellence Award and the Outstanding Book—Independent Spirit Award from The Independent Publisher Book Awards, the largest unaffiliated book contest in the world, and was the grand prize winner of the 30th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards.^[10][11][12] Hutcheson works as a producer for the Language & Life Project at North Carolina State University and is a contributing producer to independent production companies Empty Bottle Pictures and Sucker Punch Pictures.^[13][14]

Selected filmography

• The Prison Sutras (documentary short, 1997)^[15]
• Jornada del Muerto (documentary short, 1998)
• Indian by Birth—The Lumbee Dialect (documentary short, 1999)^[16]
• Mountain Talk (2004)^[17]
• Voices of North Carolina (2005)
• The Queen Family—Appalachian Tradition and Back Porch Music (documentary short, 2006)
• The Prince of Dark Corners (2007)^[18]
• The Carolina Brogue (documentary short, 2008)
• The Outlaw Lewis Redmond (2008)
• The Last One—Moonshine in Appalachia (2009)^[19]
• Core.Sounders—Living from the Sea (2014)^{[20][21][22][23]}
• Popcorn Sutton—A Hell of a Life (2014)^[24][25]
• First Language—The Race to Save Cherokee (Neal Hutcheson, Danica Cullinan, 2015)^[26]
• Talking Black in America (Neal Hutcheson, Danica Cullinan, 2019)^[27]
• Signing Black in America (Danica Cullinan, Neal Hutcheson, 2020)^[28][29]
• Land and Water Revisited / Revisitando Tierra y Agua (Kirk French, Elijah Hermitt, Neal Hutcheson, 2021)^[30]
• Talking Black in America—Roots (2022)^[31]

Author

• “Smoky Mountain English: If These Hills Could Talk.”^[32]
• “Gary Carden: Folklorist, Playwright, and Storyteller.” (North Carolina Folklore Journal, 2006)^[33]
• “Inclemented that Way.” (Jonathan Williams: The Lord of Orchards, 2017)^[34][35]
• “Negotiating Language Presentation: Linguists, Communities, and Producers.”^[36]
• The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton (2021)^[37]

Honors

• Artist’s Fellowship, North Carolina Arts Council, 2005^[38]
• The North Carolina Film Award, 2008 Carolina Film and Video Festival
• Emmy, Cultural Documentary, 2009, Southeast region^[39]
• Brown-Hudson Folklore Award, North Carolina Folklore Society, 2011^[40]
• Emmy Nomination, Cultural Documentary, 2015 Midsouth region
• Best Public Service Film, 2015 American Indian Film Festival^[41]
• Best Regional Documentary, 2015 Native American Film Festival of the Southeast
• Best Documentary, 2015 Red Rock Film Festival
• Emmy, Cultural Documentary, 2016, Midsouth region^[42]
• Emmy, Cultural Documentary, 2020, Midsouth region^[43]
• Emmy Nomination, Cultural Documentary, 2021, National Capital Chesapeake Bay region^[44]
• 2022 Outstanding Book — Independent Spirit Award, Independent Publisher Book Awards^[45]
• 2022 National Indie Excellence Award, 16th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards^[46]
• Grand Prize Winner, 30th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards, 2022.^[12]
• Emmy Nomination, Historical Documentary, 2023, Southeast region^[47]

References

1. Admin. "Popcorn Sutton film wins regional Emmy". Smoky Mountain News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
2. "Midsouth Emmy Winners" (PDF). NATAS Nashville/Midsouth. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
3. "34th MIDSOUTH REGIONAL EMMY® AWARD WINNERS". NATAS Nashville Midsouth. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
4. "Neal Hutcheson". Quail Ridge Books. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
5. Bonnabeaux, Maddy (24 February 2016). "Walking the line of documentary filmmaking". Technician. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
6. "Exploding moonshine: The new golden age of outlaw liquor". CNN. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
7. "The Last One". Amazon Prime Video. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
8. "This Is The Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make". Amazon Prime Video. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
9. McDonald, Glenn. "Documentary filmmaker keeps focus local with new projects". The News & Observer. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
10. "16th Annual Winners | National Indie Excellence Awards | California". indie-excellence. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
11. "2022 Medalists- Outstanding". ippyawards.com. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
12. Jones, Amy (March 1, 2023). "To Write a Legend: Neal Hutcheson on Writing The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton". Writer's Digest: 52–54.
13. "People". The Language & Life Project. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
14. "The Crew". Land and Water Revisited. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
15. Goodwin, Andrew. "A survey of the second annual International Buddhist Film Festival". Tricycle. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
16. Estes, Roberta (5 December 2013). "Indian by Birth: The Lumbee Dialect". Native Heritage Project. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
17. Fellerath, David (10 September 2003). "Neal Hutcheson". Indy Week. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
18. Purcell, Nancy (13 July 2008). "Prince of Dark Corners". North Carolina Writers' Network-West. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
19. Calemine, James. "The Last One: Moonshine In Appalachia Neal Hutcheson's Documentary: Popcorn Sutton". Snake Nation Press. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
20. "Core Sound fishermen are celebrated in film to premiere at the Museum of History". Carolina Coast Online. 28 February 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
21. "Down East documentary to premiere". JD News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
22. Stasio, Frank; Blyde, Christina. "Film Documents The Core Sound Community's Struggles". WUNC. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
23. Drake, Miranda. "Film Documents The Core Sound Community's Struggles". NC State News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
24. Motsinger, Carol. "New movie focuses on WNC moonshiner Popcorn Sutton". Citizen Times. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
25. "Introducing Filmmaker Neal Hutcheson!". Indie Grits. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
26. Washburn, Mark. "Film captures dying language in NC". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
27. Barry, Jr., Michael T. (13 June 2017). ""Talking Black in America": A New Film on African American English". Black Perspectives. AAIHS. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
28. "Signing Black in America: The Story of Black American Sign Language". NCDHHS. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
29. Robinson, Jennifer (5 October 2020). "Signing Black In America". KPBS. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
30. Rushton, Geoff. "State Theatre to Livestream Documentary Premiere, Q&A with Producers". StateCollege.com. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
31. Talking Black in America — Roots | PBS, retrieved 2022-10-18
32. Mallinson, Christine; Childs, Becky; Anderson, Bridget; Hutcheson, Neal (2003). "Smoky Mountain English: If These Hills Could Talk". Language Magazine.
33. Hutcheson, Neal (2006). "Gary Carden: Folklorist, Playwright, and Storyteller". North Carolina Folklore Journal.
34. Skinner, Paul (17 September 2018). "Jonathan Williams: The Lord of Orchards". Reconstructionary Tales. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
35. Beam, Jeffery; Owens, Richard (2017). Jonathan Williams: The Lord of Orchards. Westport and New York: Prospecta Press. ISBN 978-1-63226-087-1.
36. Reaser, Jeffrey; Wilbanks, Eric; Wojcik, Karissa; Wolfram, Walt (2018). Language Variety in the New South: Contemporary Perspectives on Change and Variation. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 448.
37. Hutcheson, Neal (2021). The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton. Forewords by David Joy and Kirk French (1st ed.). Raleigh, North Carolina. ISBN 978-0-578-65414-0. OCLC 1256405840.
38. "Artist Fellowship Recipients" (PDF). NC Arts Council. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
39. Ford, D'Lyn. "Golden Moment" (PDF). The Bulletin. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
40. McGowan, Thomas; Wolfram, Walt. "2011 BHFA — Neal Hutcheson: Maker of Documentaries on North Carolina Folklife and Language". North Carolina Folklore Society. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
41. Winter, Brent. "Film Brings Cherokee Language to Life". NC State University News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
42. "Midsouth Emmy Winners" (PDF). NATAS Nashville/Midsouth. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
43. Moylan, Heather (24 February 2020). "NC State-Produced Documentary Wins Emmy Award". NC State News. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
44. "Sixty Third Emmy Awards" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter. 26 June 2021.
45. "2022 Medalists- Outstanding". ippyawards.com. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
46. "16th Annual Winners | National Indie Excellence Awards | California". indie-excellence. Retrieved 2022-07-04.
47. "2023 Official Results.pdf". Google Docs. Retrieved 2024-01-29.