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Beau Menetre and Kirk Gollwitzer of the Polk County Film Initiative set out to create the Tryon International Film Festival in 2015 to promote Polk County, North Carolina, as a place for the film industry. The festival has been a vehicle for filmmakers to get in touch with studios to get their films distributed in theaters and continues to put Tryon on the radar of international independent filmmakers. Every year, the film festival has grown, from 48 films in 2015 to 72 in 2018, and it serves as an excellent example of a multi-day, multi-venue, festival that draws visitors and locals to the artistic town of Tryon. The Tryon Downtown Development Association thanks its North Carolina Main Street Champions, Beau Menetre and Kirk Gollwitzer.