By Lewis Loflin
In 2016, the Virginia Tourism Corporation granted $10,000 to market *Big Stone Gap: The Movie*, a box office disappointment backed by $1 million in public funds meant to revive Big Stone Gap’s struggling economy. Visiting the town post-filming, I asked locals about economic gains; they saw none, though they enjoyed the fleeting celebrity buzz. My brother, a resident, confirms the town remains nearly empty, with no spillover from Bristol’s Hard Rock Casino, two counties away. This grant mirrors the $157,000 misallocated in Abingdon, detailed in Tourism Grants. In 2025, Southwest Virginia’s misplaced priorities demand scrutiny, echoing BVU Corruption.
Similar issues in Scott County and Energy Center highlight systemic flaws.
*Big Stone Gap: The Movie*, released in 2015, grossed $4.7 million against a $3.5 million budget and $1 million in Virginia incentives, including tax credits and grants, per Box Office Mojo and Deadline (2015). Premiering at the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville (November 2014), it faded quickly, unnoticed by many. Filmed in Big Stone Gap—a town of 5,600 with 22% poverty (2016 Census)—it promised tourism and jobs but delivered neither, locals told me. The $1 million created temporary roles (e.g., extras), not lasting growth, akin to Washington County’s boutique grants.
Like the $17 million Artesen Center in Abingdon, it overpromised and collapsed.
See Adriana Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap Movie: No Economic Benefit by 2025.
Despite the film’s flop, the Virginia Tourism Corporation’s Marketing Leverage Program awarded $10,000 in 2016 for TV campaigns, travel writer visits, and cross-promotion with Southwest Virginia attractions (Bristol Herald Courier, March 2016). Aimed at boosting Big Stone Gap’s tourism, the grant targeted a coal-hit town, as seen in CSX Job Losses. No data shows increased visitors post-2015, and the grant’s modest size likely added little, mirroring Plant Nursery Grants’ minimal impact.
Delegate Terry Kilgore (R-Gate City), who appeared in the film, pushed the $10,000 grant, calling it a “success” for regional cooperation and economic development (Bristol Herald Courier, March 2016). As Virginia Tobacco Commission chair, Kilgore oversaw $1 billion in grants, criticized in a 2013 audit for questionable non-profit funding (Richmond Times-Dispatch, Aug. 6, 2013). His success claim lacks evidence, raising questions about favoring non-profits over needs like healthcare in Big Stone Gap’s high-poverty area.
Adriana Trigiani, the novel’s author and film’s director, lived briefly in Big Stone Gap before moving to New York, offering no sustained local investment, per resident views. While her film brought stars like Ashley Judd, sparking temporary excitement, it left no economic mark, as my brother confirms with the town’s ongoing decline. The $1 million should have funded jobs, not publicity, a pattern in Trigiani’s Impact. Locals valued the moment, but saw no prosperity.
The $10,000 grant reflects a trend of tourism grants—fiber optics, green energy—channeled through non-profits with weak accountability, as critiqued in TICR. Big Stone Gap’s funds, like Abingdon’s $157,000, ignored urgent needs amid 789 regional job losses, per Job Losses. Non-profits behind the film’s campaign offered no IRS transparency, echoing Abingdon’s opacity. Bristol’s Hard Rock Casino, two counties away, hasn’t reached Big Stone Gap’s economy.
In 2025, Big Stone Gap’s poverty hovers near 20%, with coal jobs gone and businesses shuttered, as my brother observes. Unlike Bristol, benefiting from Hard Rock Casino’s $182 million revenue in 2024 (Virginia Lottery, 2025), Big Stone Gap sees no ripple effects, two counties removed. The Tobacco Commission, nearly depleted, faces closure scrutiny, yet tourism grants continue elsewhere, like Abingdon’s (Abingdon-VA.gov). The $10,000 grant’s failure underscores Meth Epidemic’s call for practical investments.
The $10,000 grant, atop $1 million for a failed movie, shows Southwest Virginia’s need for grounded priorities. In 2025, Big Stone Gap deserves jobs and services, not empty tourism promises, to rebuild its hollowed-out community.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me draft and refine this article. The final edits and perspective are my own.
