Middlebury farmer and sled dog racer Doug Butler, - MIDDLEBURY VT 
A story made for film - A student filmmaker returns to shoot dog sled racer's quest
In his second year as a student at Middlebury College, Tommy Hyde took a film class that required students to spend a month with a local who was doing something “interesting.” Hyde found Doug Butler, full-time dairy farmer and dog sled racer.
Upon meeting Butler, Hyde was sure he had discovered true, old-school Vermont.
“Soon I found myself on the back of a sled ripping around trails behind this long-haired, wide-eyed, crazy, kooky old Vermonter,” he said.
From there began the friendship that has resulted in “The Underdog,” a documentary, directed by Hyde, that will follow Butler as he works toward achieving his two life-long dreams — passing on a successful farm to his son, Casey, and winning the Fairbanks Open North American, the dog mushing world championships, this March.
Hyde, originally from Connecticut, graduated from Middlebury College in 2014.5 and spent time in Colorado and Brazil, pursuing a freelance film career. This past December, he returned to Middlebury, drawn back by Butler and his story left untold.
“I just couldn’t shake Doug’s story,” Hyde said. “It was just ....
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