A family story with huge significance

It was clear just 10 minutes into the project that this was going to be a bigger story than anyone was expecting.

When we crammed tripods, lights, audio equipment, lenses, batteries, cameras and a drone into our luggage that was bound for Roggen, Colorado, our understanding was that this would be a story about a couple who spend the last half-century working a family farm. Straightforward enough… maybe?

Bill and Linda Epple were high school sweethearts who followed in their family footsteps to become stewards of “Epple Ranch” - a one-time cattle operation turned wheat farm in the less mountainous part of Colorado state. Their journey has some humble beginnings and some peril along the way. A tragic house fire, epic weather swings and rollicking market forces are just a few of the challenges they survived over the decades.

Larger themes of “the family farm” are woven into their narrative, sweeping over 140 years into the scope of their tale. Issues of survival and succession are ever-present as this on-location epic chronicles the necessary expansion of the farm to what it is today.

And in many ways, the story of the Epple Ranch is the story of farming in America over the century.

The final documentary incorporates a great deal of Linda and Bill’s personalities, plus some very real moments of work life and reflection on family values. It’s a tight 45 minutes that is a beautiful postcard to future generations.

The teaser is shared here: