Mining Appalachia: Preserving the Story of King Coal

For 200 years, the people of central Appalachia in the US have lived off the industry of coal. Now, though, times are changing, and the coal industry is dying. One day, it will become no more than a memory.

Director Elaine McMillion Sheldon describes King Coal as “part documentary, part fable”, and the film aims to not only tell the story of Appalachia and its coal, but also to preserve Appalachians’ memory of it. 

And that is not all. Through Lanie and Gabby, two young Appalachian girls, Elaine looks to the future, to the new world that is now coming into being. In doing so, she is able to say truthfully that far from now ending, Appalachia’s story is just beginning.

In the course of their conversation, Elaine discusses her own intimate connection to Appalachia, the surprising origin of one mark of deep respect given to miners, and how she broke her filmmaking rules in order to make the documentary.

 “... if this was just a story about facts and figures, it would make no sense. But this film is really about the psyche and soul... I think that King Coal dominates a time when work, and pride in work, of belonging was a huge part of our identity.” – Elaine McMillion Sheldon

Time Stamps

02:13 – Matthew Sherwood introduces this episode’s guest, Elaine McMillion Sheldon, and her film, King Coal
04:23 – Elaine explains what King Coal is about
05:40 – Elaine discusses the unique features of the film
06:51 – Exploring coal’s historic influence over Appalachia
10:24 – The UK origin of the phrase ‘King Coal’
10:53 – The genesis of King Coal
12:41 – Lanie and Gabby: the two girls at the centre of the film
13:54 – King Coal’s themes and personal nature
16:11 – How Elaine was helped by contributing writer Shane Boris, as well as her other collaborators
18:15 – Elaine’s hopes for the film

Resources:

King Coal
MovieMaker Magazine
Innersound Audio
Alamo Pictures

Connect with Elaine McMillion Sheldon

Website
IMDb
Twitter

More from Factual America:

Transforming the Planet: Discussing the Human Footprint
Making a Difference: The Death and Life of Eli Timoner
Working: What We Do All Day featuring Barack Obama
13 Best Documentaries About The Wild West
Best Documentaries About Football: Uncovering the Passion and History

Transcript for Factual America Episode 140: Mining Appalachia: Preserving the Story of King Coal

Matthew Sherwood 00:00 (02:13)
This is Factual America. I'm your host, Matthew Sherwood. Each week, I watch a hit documentary and then talk with the filmmakers and their subjects. A lyrical tapestry of a place and people, King Coal mediates on the complex history and future of the coal industry. The communities it has shaped, and the myths it has created. Emmy winning and Oscar nominated filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon reshapes the boundaries of documentary filmmaking in a beautiful and deeply moving immersion into Central Appalachia, where coal is not just a resource, but a way of life. In the process, Elaine imagines the ways that a community can re-envision itself. Join us as we talk with Elaine about having to break all of her own filmmaking rules to make King Coal, which she notes is part documentary, and part fable. Stay tuned.

Matthew Sherwood 00:56
Elaine, welcome to Factual America. How are things with you?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 00:59
I'm great. How are you?

Matthew Sherwood 01:02
Yeah, I'm doing well. Congratulations again. You know, how does it feel to finally get King Coal to the big screen?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 01:10
Exciting. We premiered in January at Sundance, have gone to festivals, and have gotten a lot of really interesting feedback from audiences all over the country. And it's exciting to see people get the universality of the story, even though it's about a specific place.

Matthew Sherwood 01:28 (04:23)
Well, I should just remind our listeners and viewers that we are talking about King Coal. It, as you said, premiered at Sundance. You're nominated for a NEXT Innovator Award, you've been screening across the country, I believe you've got some theatrical releases coming in August. So, thanks again. And thanks again for making this beautiful, personal, yet universal, film. So, the advice I had was to see it on as big a screen as I could with the best sound possible. And thank goodness for that, because usually I'm exiled to the office on my little laptop, but I did manage to commandeer the family TV, so I do appreciate that. So, for many of our listeners and viewers, they probably haven't had a chance to see King Coal, yet. So, for them, what is King Coal all about? Maybe you can give us a synopsis?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 02:14
Sure. I've been describing it as a part documentary, part fable, in the sense that we are exploring coal culture. So, the culture and ritual that form identity and belonging in Central Appalachia around the coal industry. So, you see things like coal pageants and coal education in the classroom, and coal five K's. And that's certainly a part of the film is showing this sort of kingdom, the kingdom of King Coal, and the things that people do. But the film is also about the future, and it's about dreams and imagination, and the role of resilience and mourning, in finding out what's next. And so, there's two young girls at the centre, and we follow them as they go through sort of life in the coal fields and start pondering the future. And it's narrated by me, I talk about my own personal memories as a coal miner's daughter, but also, questions I had for the future.

Matthew Sherwood 03:09 (05:40)
And, I mean, I think you'd be the first to acknowledge that Appalachia, and West Virginia specifically, have been the subject of many docs. But what is - going way back - but what do you think you're capturing that others may have not?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 03:27
Well, I grew up here, and I still live here. So, I have some skin in the game, in terms of is this place gonna have - what's this place's role in the future. And I think, generally, when people think of this region, they think of the story being over. And to me, the story is just beginning. And so, with any ending, there's a new beginning, and that's really the call to action of this film is we've lived through an incredible 200 years where we've been dominated - our lives have been dominated - by a single industry. And now we're being told to move on and get over it and without being recognised for the sacrifice that's been given. And so, the question is - it's an urgent question, it's a relevant question - today is, what communities are left behind in this transition that we all know is happening and needs to happen. And so, I hope that the dignity of the people, and I hope that the beauty of the place comes through, because those two things are important things for me as an Appalachian.

Matthew Sherwood 04:31 (06:51)
Okay. And before - I hear what you're saying about looking ahead in the future, but maybe as this native West Virginian, as this daughter of a coal miner from a coal mining family, what is this - what - I mean, I guess it's natural, but what is this grip that King Coal has on West Virginia, in Appalachia, because I think your film just shows that so well, in a place where it's, I think, in some of the PR materials is described as a way of life but yet, at the same time, only employs 12,000 people nowadays, that's less than 1% of the population, roughly, but it's ingrained in time and place...

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 05:09
Yeah.

Matthew Sherwood 05:10
... and mindset. So, what is this grip that King Coal has?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 05:13
Yeah, it's interesting, because if this was just a story about facts and figures, it would make no sense. But this film is really about the psyche and soul, and, you know, I think that King Coal dominates a time when work, and pride in work, of belonging was a huge part of our identity. And, you know, I don't know that most people living in the country know that the coal that's being mined mostly in Appalachia today is for steel, for making steel, not power. And so, there's a sense of importance for the people that do this work that they feel that they're contributing to. Certainly the numbers are low, right, I think Walmart's our biggest private employer in West Virginia, which is pretty wild. But there's nothing to not say the value of something that brings people together. And the reason coal mining brought people together is it's a very dangerous job, and your entire community is involved in that process, whether you're pro or anti, whether it's polluting your water, or you're mining the coal, and you're the same person, by the way. And so, I think that, you know, it's a lot more complicated, unfortunately, than just the number, the employment number. It is a sense of belonging and identity. And that's partly because Appalachia is pretty remote. And there have been political moves and power at play to keep coal to be the only option, right, and I think that right now, we're in a transition stage, and it's really exciting to see people being able to break through what has been dominant in the past to actually find something that's serving people more fully.

Matthew Sherwood 06:57
I mean, one thing that - there's many incredible scenes you have, but there's one that struck me because - we're based in the UK, but I was in the US recently visiting family and we went to a baseball game and they had asked everyone who's, like, a veteran to stand up and, you know, say hello, and their family stand with them. You've got that scene in the high school football game where they ask every real miner to stand up. And it's this, I think, something you've also captured about how close miners and also their families have always been to death. It's almost like fighting a war.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 07:29
Yeah. And that's not something that was created by the communities. That was actual war propaganda in World War Two, when - in World War Two, you were not drafted if you were a miner. You were exempt from the draft. And there were propaganda posters that had a soldier holding a gun and a miner holding a shovel and a pickaxe on the posters for the World War Two Fuel Administration. And so, this was something that was, you know, built up through even the federal government. Yeah, it's a very fascinating history and miners are seen as heroes in that way. Not to all, I will say, but to some.

Matthew Sherwood 08:07
Yeah.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 08:07 (10:24)
And also, King Coal, actually, the phrase 'King Coal' comes from the UK. So, we owe...

Matthew Sherwood 08:13
Is that right?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 08:14
Yeah. We owe that ballad and fable-ism to King Coal, which actually, you know, UK paved the way for us understanding the role of coal.

Matthew Sherwood 08:27
See, I thought it was the Upton Sinclair novel, but...

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 08:30
No, this pre-dates that, even, yeah.

Matthew Sherwood 08:34 (10:53)
So, speaking of - I mean, what made you want to tell this story now, and, you know, and how did this project get started?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 08:43
It got started because these cultures are dying, and I felt a sense of important urgency to document them as a living archive before they were gone. I grew up in coal country, I think it's probably one of the most misunderstood places in the region. It's largely depicted by people who dropped in for one day with a pre-written script about us, and so, I knew that I wanted to show these places and show these cultures before they were gone, because they are disappearing, and nobody's in denial of that. The communities know what they're facing. And I think right now, it's important because we're all at this transition period, and the conversation that's being had is often not - it's not one about people. It's one that is a little too black and white for my tastes. That doesn't take in the fact that humans from the beginning, we have resisted change, right, and this is a universal thing. And this is not just something that, you know, I think Appalachians are seen as being stuck in the past when this is a very human thing to resist change. And also, it's a beautiful place, and I think that we're seeing more and more potential in the beauty. And so, to have a history that is pretty destructive, to have a history that's been extractive about taking and taking and taking for the betterment of other people and other places, we wanted to reframe that as we're in the transition period to make [...] actually see this place as something different than just a place to take something from.

Matthew Sherwood 10:24 (12:41)
And talking about being people focused and looking to the future, how did you find the two anchors of the project? You have the two girls that are at the centre of this story - what are they, about seventh grade or something?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 10:38
Yes, sixth.

Matthew Sherwood 10:38
Yeah.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 10:39
... sixth, seventh grade. Well, I broke all my rules for documentary filmmaking when making this film. It's, you know, it's a hybrid film. I really - I didn't go into it wanting to break those rules. I really just wanted to tell the story, and then figuring out the ways we needed to tell this story. And dance was part of that, and so we cast the girls at dance - local dance studios - and we were looking for girls that had ties to coal in some way. And Lanie knew her coal history. She's the redhead. She has generations of miners. And Gabby learned her coal history through the making of the film. So, the scene when she goes to the coal camp with her grandma, is the first time she's learning that her own great-grandpa was a miner. And so, that was important, too, because I think people perceive Appalachia as being largely white, and the stories of black miners and black families aren't often seen. So, Gabby and her family play a really important role in a new story as well.

Matthew Sherwood 11:33 (13:54)
And then, as you said, you're breaking all your own rules. Did you start out trying - for lack of a better way of putting it - did you start out trying to make an artistic film? I mean, did you...

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 11:42
No!

Matthew Sherwood 11:42
... plan to push boundaries of documentary filmmaking when you started telling this story...

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 11:47
No.

Matthew Sherwood 11:47
... or was that just the best way to tell the story?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 11:49
No, I'm pretty - I'm actually, like, pretty adverse to adventure. Like, pretty safe person! But this film required me to break my rules, because I was trying to tell a story that couldn't - like, it can't be told through facts and figures. Like you said, it's 12,000 miners, what are we even talking about here? We're talking about something that is internal. It's not something that's seen. It's not something we can line up in front and make sense of. It's something that's deeply felt. Something that is grief. It's a film about grief. It's a film about mourning. And how do we get there? You know, I decided we'd get there through sound art. I decided we'd get there through dance. I decided we'd get there through narration. But these were not tools that I was, like, Okay, here's my checklist of the things I want to experiment as a filmmaker. It was like, how do I get to the psychology of this story? It's a very difficult story to transmit, just through talking heads and B-roll.

Matthew Sherwood 12:46
And it's a deeply personal story for you. I mean, you've got this incredible voiceover, and that's all you who wrote that - that's all your own words, is that...?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 12:56
I wrote, I wrote, and I wrote, and I wrote, from every perspective to avoid it being from Elaine's perspective. I was not supposed to be the narrator. I was not - this was not what was supposed to happen. I wrote from the perspective of someone from the past, someone from the future. And with the help of my team, contributing writers who were editing me for tone and style, and was I making sense, and was I being clear in points - was I pushing in directions that were challenging, and was I pulling back in times to be sensitive. So, the film walks a really fine line. It's not taking a political view, it's not prescribing a solution. And so, it does that through the personal narrative, and I didn't do it alone. But yes, those are my words, and those are my memories, and they're also a collection of just what it's been like to live here for the past 35 years of my life.

Matthew Sherwood 13:51 (16:11)
It's absolutely amazing. You said you had help, I did notice - is Shane Boris has a writer credit and Logan Hill as well. I mean, how did they come on board?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 14:03
Well, Shane's my producer, along with Diane Becker and Peggy Drexler; and Shane, I brought on early because he has worked in this hybrid film space before. You know, he's worked on films like All These Sleepless Nights, and Shane was really instrumental in giving me permission to break my own rules, and that helped me a lot. But yes, Shane would read countless drafts of my ponderings, and let me know when I was off base and on bass. And Shane brought on Logan. Logan had worked on The Edge of Democracy with Shane, and some other films, and what Logan brought was an incredible amount of clarity. He read fif - the first thing he did, he read 15 pages of free notes that I had written and came back to me and said, I think this is what you're trying to say. And I was, like, that's exactly what I'm trying to say, how do we say that? Yeah. And then Heather Hannah, I have to give her credit. She gives the final speech at the end of the film. We didn't know what she was going to say. So, that final scene, yes, it's set up, but she delivered the speech that she wrote the end of the film. I had not even met her before that day. I had no clue what she was going to say. And so, we brought her on as a contributing writer because she was so in line with the thinking of the film.

Matthew Sherwood 15:13
And not - no spoiler alert - but there's a funeral at the end of the piece. It's not necessarily how anyone expected this to go, but as you say, you're breaking all your own rules.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 15:24
We are. But what better way to put a foot forward than to say goodbye?

Matthew Sherwood 15:30
Yeah.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 15:31
I mean, how do you welcome a new beginning without saying goodbye to the ending?

Matthew Sherwood 15:36
I think that's a very good point. And then when did you realise you had something special on your hands? I mean, you probably feel that - every filmmaker feels that about all their projects, but this is - there's something unique about this one, isn't there?

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 15:48 (18:15)
I mean, I hope people feel it's special. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know that I - I personally just feel really gratified by the process because it was healing for me, too, and my own family, and my family and I have been able to have conversations that have come from this film that I never thought we'd had before. I was very worried about alienating the coal community. That's not been the case. And I just feel really hopeful that this film can be civil in that sense of having a dialogue that I wasn't having previously. So, I just feel very nourished by the whole process. And honestly, once we showed it to a couple of miners in the beginning stages, and they were weeping afterwards, I decided that I didn't really care what anyone else thought about it. I thought it would be wonderful if people experienced it in a theatre as a cinematic experience, absolutely. But the fact that it could reach someone who had sacrificed so much, and had been demonised so much, and be felt seen. I just felt like my job was done at that point.

Matthew Sherwood 16:57
Well, I think, unfortunately, our job is done. We only had a limited amount of time together, but just thank you so much for coming on to the podcast. It's really much appreciated. Just to remind our listeners and viewers we've been talking with Elaine McMillion Sheldon, the director and producer of King Coal. Premiered at Sundance, it's been screening at festivals across the country in the US, limited theatrical release from August. And do check out her eponymous website, elainemcmillionsheldon.com, which I really enjoyed, including the link to the John Prine video, which maybe we can talk about another time.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 17:34
Yeah, for sure.

Matthew Sherwood 17:36
Thanks again for coming on. It's been a pleasure talking with you.

Elaine McMillion Sheldon 17:39
Thank you so much for having me.

Matthew Sherwood 17:43
We hope you enjoyed that episode of Factual America. If you did, please remember to like us and share us with your friends and family wherever you happen to listen or watch podcasts. I would also like to thank those who make this podcast possible. A big shout out to Sam and Joe at Innersound Audio in York, England. A big thanks to Amy Ord, our podcast manager at Alamo Pictures, who makes sure we continue getting great guests onto the show and everything runs smoothly. And finally, a big thanks to you our listeners. Many of you have been with us for four incredible seasons. Please keep sending us feedback and episode ideas, whether it is on YouTube, social media, or directly by email. This is Factual America, signing off.

Factual America Outro 18:23
You've been listening to Factual America. This podcast is produced by Alamo Pictures, specialising in documentaries, television, and shorts about the USA for international audiences. Head on down to the show notes for more information about today's episode, our guests, and the team behind the podcast. Subscribe to our mailing list or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter @alamopictures. Be the first to hear about new productions, festivals showing our films, and to connect with our team. Our homepage is alamopictures.co.uk