CAITLIN BOYLE, THE Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival’s new executive director, has been making the rounds sharing her budding vision for the annual showcase of films by early-career filmmakers.
Independent photo/John S. McCright

MIDDLEBURY — Caitlin Boyle has spent the past two decades working behind the scenes helping filmmakers from throughout the country get their creations seen on screens big and small.

She’s now ready for her own starring role, as the new executive director of the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival.

The Independent first introduced readers to Boyle this past July. Boyle’s input for that article was confined to an emailed statement, owing to her rigorous schedule and the newspaper’s deadline constraints. Festival founder and longtime Producer Lloyd Komesar has spent the past few weeks introducing Boyle to MNFF stakeholders. And while she’s only been on the job for a few weeks, Boyle already has ideas on how to broaden the festival’s reach and appeal.

Her journey into the filmmaking industry was circuitous and anything but planned.

Boyle grew up in a creative family, primarily in the sphere of literature. Her mom is a writer and book editor, while her dad was in the publishing industry.

“Storytelling and narrative is something I grew up with,” she said. “It was the air I breathed, to some degree.”

At one point she thought about following her parents’ footsteps into the writing realm. One of her first jobs out of college was as a reporter with the East Haven Courier, a community newspaper in southern Connecticut. Boyle went on to earn a master’s degree in journalism (Indiana University) and was a reporter with a couple of National Public Radio affiliates in New York City and Indiana.

“I was dabbling, finding out where I wanted to be,” she said.

It was while working as a production assistant at PBS affiliate WNET Channel 13 in NYC that her future career in film came into focus. She helped with research and other tasks associated with assembling film features. She made connections with filmmakers, who sought her help in bringing their work to a variety of grassroots venues, ranging from community centers to places of worship.

“This was at a time when streaming was just getting started,” Boyle recalled.

She got very good at her job and was in demand. So she formed her own company, Film Sprout, which pioneered the use of grassroots and campus networks to broaden the audience and social impact of independent film.

“I basically operationalized these big, grassroots screening tours for films,” Boyle said. “I ended up doing that for 10 years.”

Working in the film industry had, for Boyle, emerged from what she’d thought was “a crazy pipe dream” to a situation of, “Here I am; I’m actually doing this.”

Boyle loved her work and realized she could do it from anywhere. So, during the summer of 2020 — at the beginning of the COVID pandemic — she and her family ditched the asphalt jungle of NYC for the demure, pastoral setting of Mt. Holly, Vermont (pop. 1,300).

It was actually somewhat of a homecoming for Boyle, who’d lived in Burlington for a year post-college.

“I think I’d been subconsciously trying to get back to Vermont during the past 20 years. But economically and career-wise, it was a struggle to figure out how I could do that,” she said. “I was a person who needed to pay off student loans and make ends meet.”

Sure enough, Boyle found she could electronically interact with filmmaker clients right from her kitchen table in Mt. Holley. She’s thus far facilitated more than 450 documentaries into release. She was content with her solo enterprise when opportunity again knocked at her door earlier this year.

The MNFF was seeking its first-ever executive director, and Boyle was interested.

“It really made sense,” she said of the festival position. “Here I am, doing work in Vermont with people who are mostly in New York, L.A., D.C. and Philadelphia. To be part of an organization that has this home base here — where I’m living and hope to stay — was exciting.”

Boyle called Middlebury a “cultural epicenter,” with artistic ties to the college, Town Hall Theater and a variety of creative people.

“There’s so much creative energy and vibrancy here,” she said. “It’s clear, from the moment you pull into town.”

Boyle was one of two executive director finalists the MNFF board had pinpointed after its national search. She was offered the job in August and officially began her duties Sept. 15. Komesar and festival Artistic Director Jay Craven have done the heavy lifting for MNFF since its birth a decade ago. Craven will continue in his current capacity, while Komesar looks forward to enjoying future festivals from the audience.

LOOKING AHEAD

While Boyle will continue to do her filmmaker freelance work, she stressed “MNFF will be my priority. I see fluidity between the two (roles). There are so many people I know through my producing and consulting life who know about the MNFF world. I would love to have these two worlds combine.”

Boyle is a quick learner who’s ready to make her imprint on the MNFF. Her ideas at this stage include:

• Formalizing a mentorship program for aspiring filmmakers. This could see past MNFF alums (with four or five years of industry experience) provide guidance to the incoming class of festival participants, in a “pay it forward” gesture.

“I ran a similar program at DOC NYC,” she said. “Mentorship is so powerful. You can just see the magic happening.”

• Increasing the film industry presence at future festivals. They could be film distributors, sales agents, or other folks who might be able to give novice filmmakers an entrée into the industry.

“MNFF’s ethos is not to be a trade show or marketplace, but it can be a place where relationships begin. I’d like to figure out a way to deepen that component,” Boyle said.

• Diversifying MNFF’s generational demographic.

“How do we get young people in the room? Cinema culture right now is still sort of being dominated by the Boomer generation. That’s who goes to see films in theaters. How can we bring families in, younger people, people who are in college? This is a college town, so how can we invite in that Gen Z crowd?”

Boyle realizes the cachet of recruiting big names to the MNFF. This year’s festival drew, among others, four-time Academy Awards winner Oliver Stone. His presence created an extra buzz.

“It’s a good tactic to bring in new audiences and put Middlebury on the map as a place that’s attractive and appealing to people who are operating on a national or world stage,” she said. “It’s a little town, but it packs a big punch.”

Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].