Cary at 150

From dusty crossroads to technology super-hub, "Cary at 150" tells the story of the past, present and future of one of America's most interesting communities, Cary, North Carolina.

  • Hal Goodtree
    Director
  • Hal Goodtree
    Writer
    Shaw Rising, Because No One Else Would
  • Hal Goodtree
    Producer
    Shaw Rising, Because No One Else Would
  • Hal Goodtree
    Editor
  • Harold Weinbrecht
    Key Cast
  • James Goodnight
    Key Cast
  • Peggy Van Scoyoc
    Key Cast
  • Kristina Carmichael
    Key Cast
  • Ernest Dollar
    Key Cast
  • Darrell Stover
    Key Cast
  • Michael Landguth
    Key Cast
  • Ted Abernathy
    Key Cast
  • Scott Levitan
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Documentary, History, North Carolina, Cities, Southern, Smartphone
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes 48 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 14, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    75,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    iPhone
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Hal Goodtree

Two-time Emmy® winner Hal Goodtree has worked with stars on both sides of the screen including James Earl Jones, Cindy Crawford and Albert Maysles.

Mr. Goodtree started his career as a producer at Benton & Bowles in New York, and went on to work for clients including The New York Times, the NFL and General Motors.

As a documentary Writer/Producer, Mr. Goodtree's work has been honored at dozens of film festivals. "Shaw Rising: the Story of the Oldest HBCU in the South" won a 2021 Emmy® in the Mid-South Region of NATAS.

When he's not making a film or playing in the band, Mr. Goodtree teaches Smartphone Filmmaking at Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University. He lives in Cary, NC with his spouse, Lindsey Chester. They have two grown children.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I have a connection to Cary, NC. I've lived here for more than 20 years, a transplant from Montclair, NJ. I'm also the publisher of the de-facto news source in town, CaryCitizen.News. So, I'm both a newcomer and an insider. An interesting place to be.

From my time working as a producer with Albert Maysles (early 1990s), I took away an appreciation for observational documentary. There's no narrator in "Cary at 150" to connect the dots. I have no rhetorical point of view. I just asked people the same set of questions about events, culture and the evolution of community, and cut together what they said.

For a Southern film, "Cary at 150" is pretty frank about taboo subjects like slavery and desegregation. That's a reflection of the community, and their investment in history, amplifying all the voices who have a story to tell. My deepest thanks to the Page-Walker Arts & History Center, and all the historians, academics, museum directors and authors who helped me piece together the history of town.

I decided to shoot "Cary at 150" on my iPhone XS, with a minimal crew, to demonstrate that the barrier to entry in filmmaking is no longer about money.

"Film will only became an art when its materials are as inexpensive as pencil and paper." - Jean Cocteau