From Conversation to Community Action
At One Year Mark, Gone Guys Documentary Inspires New Investments Across Vermont and Beyond
The award-winning film has expanded nationally while demonstrating how storytelling, partnership, and community dialogue can help communities tackle complex challenges.
Over the past year, Gone Guys has grown far beyond a documentary film. What began as a conversation about the challenges facing boys and young men has become a statewide effort to listen, engage communities, and turn dialogue into action.
Since its release in July 2025, Gone Guys has been screened over 130 times, reaching audiences in every Vermont county and expanding to communities across the nation. Community-hosted screenings have taken place in schools, colleges, libraries, community centers, professional conferences, athletic programs, and at the Vermont State House. As interest continues to grow, the film has reached audiences in a dozen states including Washington, Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, and Missouri.
Produced by Well Told Films and presented by the Richard E. & Deborah L. Tarrant Foundation and the Vermont Community Foundation with support from the J. Warren & Lois McClure Foundation, Gone Guys draws on the influential work of Richard V. Reeves, author of Of Boys and Men. Set in rural Vermont, the film brings national data to life through the stories of young men, educators, mentors, and innovative programs working to strengthen connection and opportunity.
"A community foundation's job isn’t just to fund good work. It's to listen to what communities are wrestling with, bring people together around those challenges, and help turn conversations into meaningful action," said Dan Smith. "That's what Gone Guys has been about from the beginning. The film opened the door, but it's the conversations and partnerships that have led to new ideas, new investments, and communities taking action together."
From the beginning, Gone Guys was intended to be a starting point. By pairing screenings with facilitated conversations, it created opportunities for communities to engage with an issue that is often difficult to discuss while sharing perspectives, identifying local needs, and exploring solutions together. Rather than ending when the credits rolled, each screening invited participants to help shape what came next.
“We knew that solutions wouldn’t necessarily look the same in each place,” said Executive Producer Lauren Curry. “The film is an invitation into conversation among youth, family members, neighbors, local organizations, educators, and community leaders. It’s been truly extraordinary to see conversations turn into commitment, and commitment into action.”
Now those conversations are leading to new investments and community-led action.
Having heard what communities surfaced in these conversations, the Vermont Community Foundation has announced a round of Vermont school-based minigrants through its new Fund for Boys & Men to support clubs and activities that promote healthy masculinity, connection, mentorship, youth mental health, and other themes explored in the film. Applications are open through September 30 at goneguysfilm.com/minigrants.
Gone Guys and the Vermont Women’s Fund, both programs of the Vermont Community Foundation, are also partnering to create new mental health resources for middle and high school athletic teams. New film content and resources featuring athletes from the University of Vermont, Middlebury College, and Vermont Green FC will launch later this year to help coaches and student-athletes have conversations about mental health, belonging, and resilience.
This work builds on how powerfully the film’s themes have already resonated within sports communities. As one high school athletics director shared, “The film is a way to talk about suicide without just talking about suicide.” Another noted, “We need to have a mental health emergency plan. We already have one for a physical emergency—we know whose job it is to grab the AED.”
Across Vermont and beyond, communities are using the conversations sparked by the film to launch new local initiatives.
“The film has been a massive engine for continuing discourse on the public health and educational disparities between men and women,” said Evan Cuttitta of the University of Vermont Men & Masculinities Program.
Richard Berkfield, executive director at the Vermont Wilderness School, credits the film with inspiring new initiatives. “We launched a new boys summer camp, the first in over a decade. It’s almost fully enrolled. We are also discussing mentorship and how to work with boys during that key transition through 13-16. I watched the film, engaged our team to pilot a direct response, and am looking to build more using our well-established and refined 26-year-old model.”
Community screening organizers report that discussions following the film have led to new mentorship efforts, expanded youth programming, fellowship opportunities, and increased attention to the well-being of boys and young men.
Beyond Vermont, the impact continues to grow.
“I just testified in support of a bill here in Washington state that would create a commission for boys and men,” said Kimber Erickson, executive director of the Kellen CARES Foundation. “The needle is moving, and this film is so important and timely.”
One year after its release, Gone Guys continues to demonstrate how local stories can inspire national dialogue and meaningful community action. What began as a documentary has grown into an ongoing community conversation that continues to spark new partnerships, investments, and local solutions. It offers one example of how storytelling, listening, and collaboration can help communities take on difficult issues together.
Come see the film and use it to spark meaningful conversations with the young men and boys in your life.
