✦ Shope Creek Wilderness
To Jackson
Jackson,
After talking with Stephen and spending more time sitting with everything that happened at Shope Creek Wilderness, I think we have clarity.
The docuseries isn't really about a retreat.
It isn't really about Kenny.
It isn't really about me.
It's about the emergence of a place.
What you accidentally captured is the beginning of something much larger than any of us realized.
What was found
Stephen
spent decades protecting the land.
Forest Floor
built a community.
Kenny
found The Deer Trail.
Patricc
found the house.
Jamie
found Mary's story.
You
found the archive.
And now we're trying to figure out what happens next.
My commitment is to move to Asheville and spend the next chapter helping activate Shope Creek Wilderness.
The goal is not to create a retreat center.
The goal is to create a place where artists, filmmakers, musicians, founders, families, and future generations gather and leave something behind.
What comes next
The first steward residencies emerge.
Camp Mary launches.
The docuseries gets finished.
And we continue documenting what happens.
Your role
Your role is bigger than filmmaker.
You're becoming the archivist.
The keeper of the visual record.
The person helping preserve what is being born there.
Immediate priorities
Stay Curious
Docuseries edit
Holy Water piece
Camp Mary piece
Then we prepare for the next gathering.
The next Camp Mary.
The next interviews.
The next chapter.
And we keep filming because I honestly don't think anyone knows what Shope Creek Wilderness becomes yet.
We're discovering it together.
That's the assignment.
Craig
Shope Creek Wilderness · Asheville, NC