Darlington Connects: Fran McCarey (’75)

Through this special Darlington Connects blog series, we are proud to showcase the stories, connections, and lasting impact of a community that continues to embody Darlington’s mission and values long after graduation. Today, we hear from Fran McCarey ('75), a filmmaker whose recent documentary, "Lost Snow of the Alps," is making its mark on the film festival circuit. 

For Fran McCarey (’75), filmmaking has been more than a career. It has been a lifelong passion shaped by meaningful relationships, new experiences, and a desire to tell stories that matter.

Fran’s interest in filmmaking can be traced back to her time at Darlington, where former faculty member George Awsumb encouraged her creativity and left a lasting impression on her. After graduating, Fran eventually began working for Turner in Atlanta, where she met her husband, Kevin. Their talents complemented one another from the beginning: Fran specialized in producing and editing, while Kevin focused on writing and directing.

The couple moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers in filmmaking and went on to work extensively in documentary production, including projects for National Geographic. In 1999, they expanded into narrative filmmaking with "Coyotes," a feature film written and directed by Kevin and produced by Fran.

Their journey later took them to Washington, D.C., where Fran stepped away from filmmaking to attend nursing school. She devoted the next chapter of her professional life to caring for others as a nurse, but the creative partnership she shared with Kevin was never far beneath the surface.

Years later, a trip to France rekindled their passion for storytelling. While visiting the Alps, Fran and Kevin encountered markers showing where the region’s glaciers had once reached. Seeing the extent of the retreat firsthand transformed an abstract environmental concern into something immediate and deeply personal.

“You see the effects of glaciers melting through disasters like the recent one in Nepal, but to actually see the progression of the glaciers melting over time is a very powerful image,” Fran said.

That experience inspired "Lost Snows of the Alps," a 32-minute documentary examining the effects of disappearing snow and glacial ice on the cultures, ecosystems and communities of France, Switzerland, and Italy. The film has earned recognition on the festival circuit, including Best Documentary Short at Indie Short Fest and selection for the 2026 Jersey Shore Film Festival.

Today, Kevin teaches environmental filmmaking at the Savannah College of Art and Design, while Fran has returned to the creative work that first inspired her decades ago. Through "Lost Snows of the Alps," the couple invites viewers to witness the visible effects of a changing climate and consider what can still be preserved for future generations.

For Fran, the project represents more than a return to filmmaking. It is the continuation of a story that began at Darlington and a powerful reminder that the passions shaping us early in life can continue calling us forward.