Appalshop is a left-of-center media production group located in Whitesburg, Kentucky that produces original films, documentaries, radio, theater, and other media projects centered on Appalachia. The group was formed in 1969 as a film workshop and has expanded to offer several media programs, notably the Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) and the Community Media Institute. The group’s films have appeared at film festivals including Sundance and South by Southwest (SXSW). The group states that its films cover topics such as a declining coal economy and “a legacy of environmental damage” in the region. The group has received funding from a variety of left-of-center foundations and government organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ford Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation. ^{1 2 3}

Background

Appalshop was formed in 1969 as a community film workshop to teach young people in Appalachia, particularly eastern Kentucky, how to operate 16mm film equipment as a vocational training initiative and to “[o]ffer a counternarrative to the one that made Eastern Kentucky the poster child for American poverty.” In 1979, the group purchased a former bottling plant in Whitesburg, Kentucky to house the center, and in the 1980s, began several programs that the center continues to operate including Appalshop’s radio station WMMT 88.7 FM, an annual music festival called Seedtime on the Cumberland, the American Festival Project, and the Appalachian Media Institute for young filmmakers. ³

The group reports that several National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Challenge Grants in the late 1980s allowed Appalshop to “staff more independence to access seed funding for new project development; Roadside Theater alone toured to 43 states and Europe.” ³

Despite being focused on media, the group has also embraced solar energy and in 2019 installed a solar power system at the center, which it calls the “largest net-metered renewable energy system in the region and helped our partners install their own.” ³ The solar project includes “192 panels incorporated into the roof of the freestanding solar pavilion on Appalshop’s grounds, and another 42 solar panels on the roof of its Boone building across the street,” and claims to generate more than 12 houses worth of electricity. The project cost $460,000, which was funded through a loan, and the group stated that it expected annual energy cost savings of $8,400. ⁴

Appalachian Media Institute

Appalshop founded the Appalachian Media Institute in 1988. The program has assisted in the production of several films and documentaries that have appeared in several film festivals including Sundance Film Festival, SXSW Film Festival, and the London and New York Film Festivals. The group’s films have covered a variety of topics from a youth perspective, on subjects including the opioid epidemic, LGBT experiences, and getting “the talk” from grandparents. ¹

Radio

Appalshop operates a radio station, WMMT 88.7 FM, which the group calls “real people radio” and “possum radio.” The station reaches into five states, but primarily covers southwest Virginia and eastern Kentucky. The station features 50 volunteer DJs that broadcast music, and hosts community news programs titled “Mountain News and World Report,” “Mountain Talk,” and “Making Connections News.” ²

Funding

Funders of Appalshop include the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, the Kentucky Arts Council, the NoVo Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Mellon Foundation, the Chorus Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the MacArthur Foundation, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, and the Shubert Foundation. ²

1. “What We Do: Film.” Appalshop. Accessed May 13, 2025. https://appalshop.org/what-we-do/film
2. “What We Do: Radio.” Appalshop. Accessed May 13, 2025. https://appalshop.org/what-we-do/radio
3. “Our Story.” Appalshop. Accessed May 13, 2025. https://appalshop.org/story
4. “Solar FAQ.” Appalshop. Accessed May 13, 2025. https://appalshop.org/solar