BRIAN Carroll
36 | Crosscut Creatives / Dos Gatos Filmworks / Red Line Roots | Owner / Operator
Residence: Corinth
Career highlight(s): When I was leaving my office job in Cambridge, MA to move to Vermont we had one final, large all hands meeting to discuss the portfolio and 10 year plan strategy for the company. I didn’t know going into it, but during the company wide meeting I was presented with an Innovation Award in front of the entire Cambridge campus. I’ve always been told that I am a team player and a calming force within a team at work and I like to think this was, perhaps, a small token of thanks for my demeanor, general nature and work ethic. Even though I am no longer in an office setting, it serves as a reminder that I will continue to carry with me in any work that I do. To be open to hearing all opinions and views on a subject because as individuals, we only know what we know and another set of eyes could open up a whole new point of view for us.
Community Involvement: I serve on the boards at the Northeast Slopes ski hill and Corinth Community Coalition here in Corinth. I am also a volunteer administrator for the Bradford Vital Communities Listserv, an auxiliary member of the Bradford Housing Coalition, Bradford Business Association, and a member of the workstreams for Bradford Recreation and Bradford Creative Commerce groups that stemmed from work with the Vermont Council on Rural Development. I am also a creative partner with The Space on Main in Bradford helping to curate and foster community through events and the arts.
Separately, as a filmmaker, I have recently begun curating a short form docu-series called “Hand Made” which seeks to highlight artisans and makers in and around New England, more specifically in Vermont. For the past 5 years I have also curated a live, off stage music video series called “The Old Spruce Sessions” to highlight musicians, ranging from the nationally touring to not yet widely known. I’ve filmed over 100 sessions through that avenue with a variety of artists, in often times unorthodox settings such as barn haylofts, clearings in the middle of the woods or a canoe in the middle of a pond.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont? I was motivated to live and work in Vermont by the beauty and simplicity in the landscape in a small, rural town is what drew my wife and I in to make Corinth our home. That and the close knit community is what keeps me here.
Favorite part of your job: Creating something interesting or beautiful or inspiring from nothing. Be it documentaries highlighting local artisans; offstage, unconventional live musician sessions or an eye-catching illustration for a hot sauce label. At the heart of it is the creation and craft of storytelling, or helping others to tell their stories that drives me the most...and beautiful and rad visuals, of course.
Most inspiring mentor and why: I don’t know that I have ever had a personal or career related mentor. Most of the people I take inspiration from are either my close musician friends or film directors that I don’t know but have provided good advice through interviews or other means. I guess I’ll say David F. Sandberg and Robert Eggers, less as mentors and more as examples of film maker’s who’s work and ethic I want to mirror my own after.
What is the best career advice you have received? “Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” - Letterkenny ... still working on that one.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: My wife and I wrote and illustrated 2 children’s books for each of our nephews under the series “Lucas and the Zombie” about making friends with unlikely beings and how none of us are all that different if we just get to know a person...or a zombie.
What three words best describe you: Kind, creative and loyal.
Favorite Vermont escape: It may be a little lame, but there are a few quiet spots in the woods out on the low end of our property. In the winter I love to snowshoe out into the denser parts of the property with my dog and just ‘be’ in the ghostly stillness of the forest.
Favorite downtime activity: Hanging on the couch or our screened in porch with my wife and dog watching horror movies.
Favorite Super Hero and why: Spawn was one of the first comic books I ever owned and looking back I am shocked my parents let me have it given its a little “gritty” in nature. There is something about a downtrodden, anti-hero story that has always captured my attention.
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support: I’m not sure what it would look like, but I’d like to dovetail my love for animals with my love of music. A dog and cat friendly concert venue? A non-profit recording studio where all proceeds go to the ASPCA?
What is the one song on your playlist that are you embarrassed to tell your best friend? I wouldn’t say that any music I listen to embarrasses me, the purpose of music or art being to make you happy, and as Sheryl Crow says “if it makes you happy, it can’t be that bad”. But I suppose that for people who know me as a folk/bluegrass musician today, it may come as a surprise that a lot of Wu-Tang, Tupac and DMX was playing through my Discman during my formative years.
Where do you see yourself professionally in the next 5-10 years? I’ve never been a fan of 5 year plans, but in summary: being able to continue to create and tell stories through filmmaking, music and design...and be able to have that be my sole source of income.
How has your community service changed since the pandemic? If anything, I think the amount of community service I have done or been involved in has increased due to the pandemic. My involvement in the Corinth Community Coalition is a prime example, as it was a group established specifically to address the problems that families and children impacted by the pandemic were enduring due to food scarcity and access to basic needs.
How has your job changed since this pandemic? My day job has been work from home since I moved to rural Vermont in 2016. My creative work and film work, however, has changed drastically. Meeting in person, filming sessions with touring musicians or setting up in person interviews for the documentary series came to a screeching halt and I picked up some more illustration and brand work in its stead.