January 16, 2020 VALDOSTA, GA – The documentary film “Them That Work” by Valdosta State University Associate Professor Jason Brown continues to reach wider and wider audiences. The film, about filmmaking, coal mining, and unions, was included on the DVD for the Criterion Collection’s international release of “Matewan” by filmmaker John Sayles. It is now announced that the film will be broadcast by West Virginia Public Broadcasting February 16, 2020 at 7:30 pm. Brown began working on the film a decade ago after meeting Sayles and his producing partner Maggie Renzi. The two encouraged the film as a document of the people and places impacted by their film and the change over time. Featuring interviews with Oscar nominees John Sayles, Morgan Spurlock, David Strathairn, Newton Thomas Sigel, and Oscar winners Haskell Wexler and Chris Cooper, the documentary includes never-before-seen-footage of the making of “Matewan” and looks at how filmmaking affected the state of West Virginia. Along with the Hollywood A-listers, the film includes interviews with the current mayor of the town of Matewan, the former head of the WV Film Office, extras from the movie and other native filmmakers. “The making of this one movie has had a lasting impact across people’s lives,” Brown said. “My film documents as much of that impact as possible.” Receiving a prime time broadcast slot is further recognition for the film and to those it depicts. After its initial airing on WVPB, the film will be available on the state’s other over the air outlet – the West Virginia Channel. Being a part of the Criterion Collection is high praise as well. Since 1984, the Criterion Collection has published important classic and contemporary films from around the world in editions of the highest technical quality with the bonus material that provides important insight and context for the work. Along with being a professor of mass media at Valdosta State University, Brown is the festival director of the upcoming South Georgia Film Festival. For more information on “Them That Work” or the South Georgia Film Festival, contact Prof. Jason Brown at 229-219-1298 or jasonebrown@valdosta.edu.