About the Film

In Kahane Corn Cooperman’s lyrical CREEDE U.S.A., a remote Colorado mountain mining town becomes an unexpected model for public discourse. For generations, Creede’s residents have held tightly to their heritage and values. But when the town brought in a theater company to revitalize the economy, the citizens were introduced to new ideas and perspectives—creating an ongoing tension between tradition and change.

Nearly 60 years and countless performances later, Creede is a stunning microcosm of America's national divisions. Issues like guns in classrooms and gender pronouns spark tense debates, yet the town remains bound by a shared sense of place and community. Through intimate portraits, charged town meetings, and a rich historical lens, CREEDE U.S.A. explores how this evolving community continues to find common ground - both inside and outside of the mining shafts, ranches and the Creede Repertory Theatre. Hopeful and urgent, the film offers a timely and poignant reflection on the challenges and possibilities of coexistence and change in an increasingly polarized world.

Runtime: 96 mins

Language: English

Director/Producer: Kahane Corn Cooperman

Producer: Innbo Shim

Our Team

Kahane Corn Cooperman

Director/Producer

Kahane Corn Cooperman is an Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker and an 11-time Emmy and 3-time Peabody award-winning producer, director, and showrunner. She is known for her focus on emotional, intimate, powerful storytelling and has made films on subjects as wide-ranging as mental health, civility’s role in democracy, life with autism, ice sculpting, Dazed and Confused and most recently, miners, ranchers and theater people living together in tiny Creede, CO. Select credits include the Academy Award-nominated JOE’S VIOLIN, MAKING DAZED, THE ANTIDOTE, THE ME YOU CAN’T SEE, and THE NEW YORKER PRESENTS. Kahane’s work has premiered at festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, HotDocs, DocNYC, and IDFA and can be seen on PBS, HBO, AppleTV+, and Amazon. Her most recent film, the feature doc CREEDE U.S.A. world premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival. Kahane started out answering phones at the renowned Maysles Films and was a longtime co-executive producer of THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART along the way.

Innbo Shim

Producer

Innbo Shim is an award-winning film and television producer whose work encompasses themes of social justice and human complexity. Her recent feature documentaries include PATRICE: THE MOVIE (Emmy winner/Independent Spirit-nominated) and CREEDE U.S.A. (2025 SXSW World Premiere). Her films have screened at Sundance, TIFF, SXSW, Camden, DOC NYC, Tribeca, Busan, Rotterdam, Zurich, Venice, and Camerimage. Additionally, she has produced non-fiction projects for Netflix, ABC News Studios, Hulu, CNN Films, Discovery, A&E Films, National Geographic, and PBS. Other select credits include AMEND: The Fight for America, a 6-part series for Netflix with Will Smith; WHEN LAMBS BECOME LIONS (Oscilloscope Films); WE WILL RISE: MICHELLE OBAMA’S MISSION TO EDUCATE GIRLS AROUND THE WORLD (CNN FILMS); THE NOTORIOUS MR. BOUT (Sundance World Premiere); and RACHEL GETTING MARRIED AND JIMMY CARTER MAN FROM PLAINS, dir. by Jonathan Demme.

“This life-affirming documentary... is positioned to bridge the political divide.”

— Hammer to Nail

Director’s Statement

Kahane Corn Cooperman

Director/Producer

The first time I heard of Creede, CO was through a NY Times article about the Creede Repertory Theatre. As a former theater nerd, the details about this acclaimed theater company’s long unexpected history in a tiny old mining town captured my attention. But this was August of 2021 and what particularly piqued my curiosity was the idea that Creede Rep’s home was in a conservative small town - one where the values of this progressive company and the values of many residents and theater-goers seemed unaligned. Personally, I was just beginning to question the value of living in my comfortable bubble of like-minded people and tiring of my own echo chamber and snap judgments about people I did not know. How did this 300-person town called Creede work? I could barely imagine it.

I flew 5 hours, drove another 5, and found myself in one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen, 9,000’ above sea level, completely out of my own bubble, often out of my comfort zone, and utterly enthralled. Creede is a microcosm of our nation’s current chasm where old miners, ranchers, longtimers, and conservatives hold tightly to tradition and heritage while the theater folks have been bringing the arts, outsiders, and progressive ideas to the town for the past 60 years. 

Yet, instead of retreating into self-made safe havens like I’ve been doing, people in this tiny town must engage with each other, despite their differences, for the sake and survival of their community. It seemed like the right time to explore this place where, while far from a utopia, residents test their tiny democracy in ways large and small. And each and every person, no matter their points of view, challenged my assumptions, surprising me at every turn. I am so grateful to the residents of Creede who opened their doors to me and my crew and for the opportunity to share their story as an example of the necessity of engagement across differences for survival. This seemingly simple act shouldn't be novel, but these days it is. It’s certainly not easy. But it turns out there’s hope to be found in this beautiful, dusty, remote, tiny dot of a town - and Creede’s story of community feels more urgent than ever.

Host A Screening

The Context

55%

The perceived proportion of Democrats and Republicans holding extreme views.

Source: https://perceptiongap.us/

30%

The actual proportion of Democrats and Republicans holding extreme views.

For 60 years, ever since bringing in a theater company to revitalize its economy, Creede, a remote Colorado mining town, has navigated an ongoing tension between tradition and change. Generations of residents who held tightly to their heritage must share their community with artists bringing new perspectives and ideas.

Creede is a taut, revelatory microcosm of America’s national divisions. The same issues tearing apart communities nationwide play out here: guns in classrooms, gender identity, cultural change - but with a crucial difference: people can’t retreat to separate corners. They have to find ways to live together. According to research by More In Common, most Americans actually have more common ground than we realize – only 33% of Americans make up the most partisan, politically active individuals,  whilst 67% fall somewhere in the middle – what More In Common has termed the “Exhausted Majority”.

Real, lasting change often happens slowly. CREEDE U.S.A. doesn’t offer easy answers or neat conclusions, but invites us into spaces where different worldviews coexist, where conservative traditions bump up against progressive ideas in real time, and there is an existential need to establish new common ground and understand your neighbors.

“Residents are brought to full-blooded and complicated life in a documentary that challenges your expectations at every turn.”

— John Moore, Denver Gazette

Meet the Film Participants

  • Lexy Mead

    Creede middle schooler; first non-binary kid to come out in Creede

  • Dan Mead

    Lexy’s dad; married to Kristeen Lopez

  • Kristeen Lopez

    Lexy’s mom; married to Dan Mead

  • Brittni Shambaugh Addison

    Education Director and Company Member, Creede Repertory Theatre; Elected Member, Creede Board of Education; Married to Lavour Addison

  • Lavour Addison

    Actor, Company Member, Creede Repertory Theatre; married to Brittni Shambaugh Addison

  • Mandy Patinkin

    Company Member of Creede Repertory Theatre (1971, 1974); Creede Community Member

  • Greg Pearson

    Elected member, Creede School District Board of Education; Manager, Freemon’s Ranch; Father of Waverly, Lexy’s best friend; Married to Starr Pearson

  • Rev. Dr. Sarah B. Linn

    Pastor, Creede Community Church

  • Sheriff Terry Wetherill

    Elected Sheriff, Mineral County, CO

  • Ken Wyley

    Retired miner; Owner, Mines and Memories; Has run the Days of ‘92 Mining Competition for past 39 years

  • Casey Adelman

    Elected member, President, Creede School District Board of Education; Married to Joni Adelman

  • Joni Adelman

    Mineral County Public Health Nurse; Married to Casey Adelman

  • Billy Fairchild

    Lifetime Creede Resident; Former Undersheriff for 30 years

  • Ramona Weber

    Owner, Wild Beaver Mountain Man Emporium; County Commissioner, Mineral County, CO

  • Waverly Pearson

    Lexy’s Best Friend; Daughter of Greg & Starr Pearson

  • Starr Pearson

    Manager, Freemon’s Ranch; Mother of Waverly, Lexy’s best friend; Married to Greg Pearson

  • John DiAntonio

    (Former) Producing Artistic Director, Creede Repertory Theatre

  • Christy Brandt

    Company Member, Creede Repertory Theatre since 1974

  • Paul Dunkel

    Retired miner; (Former) President of Jaycees when idea of theater company was first presented in 1966