2008 News Updates
November 17, 2008
Film features Great Falls' legendary Sip N Dip bar
Montana is no stranger to Hollywood, but a new independent film gets even more local as it was shot at Great Falls' own legendary Sip N Dip lounge. The mermaid pool and the bar are featured in "The Best Bar in America," a film co-directed and co-written by Missoula brothers Eric and Damon Ristau. The film crew shot footage Saturday and Sunday inside the Sip N Dip, and in the famous pool.
"We just found out some of the top bars in the state, and the Sip N Dip is definitely one of them," said co-director Damon Ristau. "We're really happy to be here, it's turned into my favorite we've been to. I mean, look - there's mermaids, it's a tiki bar in Montana. Montana mermaids - where do you find that?"
The film, which describes the cross-country journey of a man in search of the Best Bar in America, is scheduled for a 2009 release. The Sip N Dip bar was ranked by GQ magazine as the "Best Bar In The World Worth Flying To" in 2003. For more information about the movie, visit the Best Bar In American website, www.bestbarinamerica.com.
To view Montana's News Station's full coverage on this story click here.
October 29, 2008
The World Premiere of "The Vessel"
Yellow Wood Films newest project "The Vessel" will makes its film debut on November 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm at the Mansfield Theater. This horror film was shot entirely in Great Falls, Montana with 100% local talent. One major location was the old Cascade County Jail. The Vessel is about a crack team of paranormal investigators who enter a turn of the century abandoned jail looking for answers to a two decade old mystery of a wrongly executed man. They are joined by family members connected to the case and a troubled man with the ability to channel spirits named Jason Brooks (Stu Brumbaugh). They soon learn that the mystery they're pursuing isn't nearly as horrifying as the secrets of the jail itself. They find themselves on lock down and try to solve this mystery as they fight for survival and face the terrible evil within.
"The Vessel" was written by Stu Brumbaugh and Joel Corda and directed by Terry Tychon. Tickets will be available for purchase October 31st. For ticket purchase visit The Mansfield Theater ticketing office in the Great Falls Civic Center or online at www.ticketing.greatfallsmt.net. We hope to see you there. Be prepared for a thrill with this one!
For more information visit the official movie website at www.thevesselmovie.com.
September 21, 2008
PBS production re-enacts fateful night of 1967
‘Night of the Grizzlies’ - It was a blast from the past for Clayton Schenck when the cast and crew arrived at Granite Park Chalet with film props and a wardrobe from the 1960s.
Schenck was 18 years old when he first visited the alpine chalet on Glacier National Park’s Highline Trail during the summer of 1967. He was there about 10 days before the infamous “Night of the Grizzlies” — when two women were fatally mauled by two different bears on Aug. 14. One of the mauling's was near the Granite Park back country campground. A Montana PBS crew was at the chalet Sept. 4 and 5 to film a documentary on the subject, with some re-enactment filming.
“It was real interesting because they brought in lots of props for doing it and they brought in several actors,” said Schenck, who now is 59 and working as the Montana legislative fiscal analyst in Helena. Schenck also works for Belton Chalets Inc. every fall as the closing manager at Granite Park.
“I grew up in Shelby,” Schenck said. “And the first time I came up to Granite Park was in 1967 and it was about 10 days before ‘Night of the Grizzlies.’”
Schenck recalls being stunned when he heard television news anchor Walter Cronkite reporting on the fatal mauling's in Glacier.
“It made quite a splash,” Schenck said. “It was because there were two [incidents] in one night and there hadn’t been one before.”
The PBS production, tentatively titled “Beasts in the Garden,” required a pack string of five mules and a complete occupation of Granite Park Chalet for day-and-night filming. To read full story by Jim Mann of the Daily Inter Lake click here.
September 1, 2008
Montana Premiere of Pretty Ugly People
Independent feature film "Pretty Ugly People will be showing at the Montana Independent Film Festival in Missoula at the Wilma Theater on the evening of September 19th. This film is a great adult comedy that has already earned the Jury Prize from several film festivals and is destined to steamroll through the independent film circuit this year. "Pretty Ugly People" will also be showing at the Hatch Film Festival in October.
Make sure to get out and support this Montana-made independent film. For more information on the film visit www.prettyuglypeople.com.
August 6, 2008
Film Makes Old Jail Even Scarier
If you’re heading down to Machinery Row for drinks, take it easy on bartender Katrina Nicoll. She’s had a couple long nights of fending off a killer in an abandoned jail. Nicoll, 25, is one of several area residents involved in “The Vessel,” the sophomore feature film effort of Great Falls residents Stu Brumbaugh, Rory Schulte and Randy Barrett. Filming began Monday night in the old Cascade County jail on 4th Street N. in Great Falls.
“It went really good,” Brumbaugh said. “We got all the shots we need the first day.”
The crew will continue filming 12 hours a day, six days a week for the next three weeks in various locations around the city. The horror movie is about a group of paranormal investigators who go to an abandoned jail that is rumored to be haunted by the ghost of an inmate who was killed there 20 years earlier.
To read full story by Zachary Franz of the Great Falls Tribune click here.
July 1, 2008
Missoula Filmmakers Belly Up to “The Best Bar in America”
Last month, brothers Damon and Eric Ristau opened the Missoula headquarters for their video production company Firewater Film Company. Since starting the company in 2003, the Ristau brothers have made mostly commercials and documentaries, but this summer they have other plans.
In July, they'll begin shooting their first full-length feature film titled "The Best Bar in America.” The brothers describe the Montana-based adventure-comedy about three men who travel the state’s bars, taverns and saloons as a “belligerent ‘Sideways’ where instead of sipping wine in California they are sipping whiskey in Montana.”
To read full story by Kaylee Porter of New West - Missoula click here.
June 22, 2008
Billings couple tie knot on camera in 'Big Redneck Wedding'
LAUREL - Eric and Emily Majerus were pronounced rednecks in an outdoor ceremony Saturday at Riverside Park. Actually, they were pronounced married. A redneck theme was carried through the nuptials to a reception that featured paddlefish caviar served at tables decorated with metal roses made of snuff can lids. The couple exchanged vows in front of family, friends and television crews from “My Big Redneck Wedding,” a program aired on Country Music Television. The Majeruses’ wedding is scheduled to air in October.
To read full story by Becky Shay of the Billings Gazette click here.
June 22, 2008
Cameras Rolling - My Favorite Movie
Sheila Lopach answered her door one evening a few months ago to find two young men standing on her Reeder’s Village porch.
“There were two well-dressed gentlemen, and I assumed they were selling something,” she recalled.
Lopach and her husband, Dennis, invited the men in and learned they were Martin Rogers and Isaac Marble, the director and production manager, respectively, of “My Favorite Movie,” which began filming in the Queen City on June 9.
After checking the script to make sure it wasn’t some sort of “Borat”-style spoof, the couple agreed to open their home to the budding filmmakers.
To read full article by Larry Kline of the Helena IR about "My Favorite Movie" click here.
June 10, 2008
Saab Commercial
FAIRFIELD — Coasting down the highway with a view of Montana's Rocky Mountain Front is beautiful enough to make many drivers sob — make that Saab. This week, the luxury car company will wrap filming in several scenic Montana locales for a commercial selling their latest model. Manager of the Department of Commerce's film office Sten Iversen said the crew began five days of filming on Friday. The crew filmed around Fairfield, including Freezout Lake, last weekend. Montana Highway Patrol officers closed sections of Highway 89 for 10 to 15 minute stretches to allow the crew to drive on both lanes of traffic — one for the Saab itself and the other for a car armed with a camera. Between the semi trailer used to haul the Saab models, the catering crew and all of the production equipment, "it was quite the operation," area highway patrol spokesman Tom Taylor said. The crew spent much of Monday filming at St. Mary and will pick up additional footage in southcentral Montana this week. The Montana Film Office advertises in several trade magazines hoping to lure companies with Montana's scenery. With 300 freelance production people in the state, many film crews rely on local talent. Iverson said the production company filming the Saab commercial has done similar work in Montana 10 times previously. Iversen expects the commercial to air nationally in a month or two. - Great Falls Tribune staff writer Kim Skornogoski
May 29, 2008
Bitterroot Filmmaker Shoots to Thrill
There’s a brief scene in the middle of
Bitterroot filmmaker John D. Nilles’
newest film in which a pickup truck
driven by two vengeful cowboys barrels
down a field and upends an occupied
wooden outhouse. Human waste—in
this case, chocolate pudding—and
splinters of wood spray everywhere,
most of it landing on the truck itself. The
whole action sequence takes up less
than two minutes in this wickedly
entertaining, 30-minute grunge Western,
but for the ambitious Nilles it represents
so much more.
To read full story by Skylar Browning of the Missoula Independent click here.
May 28, 2008
Storylink All-Star Profile: TJ Lynch
Like his beloved Rocky Mountains, TJ Lynch is a walking, breathing testimonial to persistence, grit, and good old fashioned stick-to-itiveness. Determined to crack the screenwriting code, Lynch assiduously studied and honed his craft, climbing the contest ladder until he achieved the ultimate validation: being chosen as a Nicholl Fellow in 1999. Lynch has taken his career one step further with the release of his first produced movie, A Plumm Summer (www.aplummsummer.com), the script he wrote during his Fellowship year. Lynch was gracious enough to take time out from his busy schedule to tell us the secret of his "overnight success"...
To read full article by PJ Mcllvaine on TJ Lynch click here.
May 20, 2008
Mike Steinberg Joins Big Sky as Festival Director
Missoula, Montana - The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is pleased to announce that Webster University Professor and Film Series Director, Mike Steinberg, will assume the job of Big Sky Documentary Film Festival Director. Steinberg has a long history with Missoula and Big Sky. In the mid-1990's he was the co-owner of River City Media with offices in the Wilma Theater. Several of his own independent films enjoyed their World Premieres at the festival. He has also served as a juror and associate programmer for the festival.
"We are extremely fortunate to be bringing Mike on as Director," says Big Sky Programming Director and Founder, Doug Hawes-Davis. "He clearly has the knowledge and skills to move our event forward as a destination for filmmakers, distributors, and film fans alike."
Steinberg adds, "It's been a thrill to work with the Big Sky staff in the past, and I am really excited about returning to Missoula to help steer the festival into the next chapter of its evolution."
Steinberg brings over a dozen years experience as a filmmaker, instructor, and programmer. He will continue to direct and program the Webster Film Series, the alternative film venue in St Louis he has directed for the last five years. He will also develop several collaborations with the University, including a Big Sky mentor/fellowship program in conjunction with Webster's Documentary Production Certificate Program. Steinberg will begin the job with the festival in its sixth year. The 2009 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival will again be held in the recently-restored Wilma Theater in downtown Missoula, Montana and will expand to 10 days of screenings, panels, and special events.
For more information visit www.bigskyfilmfest.org.
April 29, 2008
IWFF Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient - Hardy Jones
Award winning marine filmmaker and conservationist, Hardy Jones, will be giving a Welcome Address and Keynote about The State of Our Seas on Tuesday, May 13th at 9:30pm at the Roxy Theater – International Wildlife Media Center. He will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award for Media on Friday, May 16th at 6:00 pm during the IWFF Awards Gala at the UC Ballroom, University Center, University of Montana. To read more about the lifetime achievements of Hardy Jones click here.
April 29, 2008
"A Plumm Summer" - Film shot in Livingston area finally makes it to the silver screen
Brenda Strong grew up on Nancy Drew books. The “Desperate Housewives” star said she loved the heart of the books, which she described as “family driven mysteries.”
For the same reason, she said, she was drawn to “A Plumm Summer,” a film set in Montana that tells the tale of two young brothers who go head-to-head with the FBI to crack the kidnapping case of a TV puppet named Froggy Doo.
“Primarily, it was its heart” Strong said of the film’s attraction, “the sensibility that you could make a family film that was not computer animated, was not CG-driven, that had a moral driven plot.”
Based on one of the state’s strangest mysteries, “A Plumm Summer” is hitting the silver screen with an April 25 opening in five cities across Montana, including theaters in Bozeman and Livingston.
To read full story by Daniel Person click here.
April 22, 2008
Schweitzer to make film debut Friday
HELENA - Gov. Brian Schweitzer will make his silver screen debut Friday when the independent film "A Plumm Summer" is released in several Montana cities.
The film, directed by Caroline Zelder and written by Billings native TJ Lynch, is about the innocence of an idyllic Montana town that is disrupted when celebrity puppet 'Froggy Doo' is kidnapped and held for ransom. Schweitzer plays the role of Sheriff Strunk.
To read full story by The Associated Press click here.
April 2, 2008
"A Plumm Summer" is Coming to a Montana Theatre Near You!
Montana Made Movie "A Plumm Summer" Opens April 25th
Montana made movie, "A Plumm Summer", is coming to Bozeman, Billings, Kalispell, Missoula and Livingston on April 25th. The movie will premiere in LA April 20th. Fairplay Pictures says that Montana looks fantastic in the film! "A Plumm Summer" stars William Baldwin, Lisa Guerrero, Owen Pearce, Chris J. Kelly, Henry Winkler, Brenda Strong, Peter Scolari, Rick Overton, Morgan Flynn, and Jeff Daniels.
The movie has already won two awards for Best Family Film, two special honors and a great review in Variety magazine. To read the Variety review click here. “A Plumm Summer” is a heart-warming story about a missing puppet named Froggy Doo. This family film follows Elliot (13) and his little brother Rocky (5) as they try to unfold this Frog-napping. To read more about this story click here.
March 20, 2008
The World Premiere of the Motion Picture “Iron Ridge”
“Iron Ridge” opens March 28th at the Mansfield Theatre
“Iron Ridge” is the first feature film of its kind. It was filmed 100% in Montana using private financing from Montanans as well as 100% Montana actors, crew, and equipment. The film was also edited right here within the state. The reason “Iron Ridge” is so special is because this film is truly “Home Grown”. Although this film is considered “Ultra Low Budget” because of its shoestring budget, it has great production value simply because of the wide support of other Montanan’s. Part of which included free helicopter service, costumes, food, locations, film permits, city services here in Great Falls, the 2nd U.S. Cavalry out of Helena and even a Bozeman grizzly bear named Brutus.
“Iron Ridge” is the story of two friends from the city, Jake Munro and William Price, who go deep into the backcountry of Montana for a once in a lifetime hunting trip. Once arriving, they find themselves right in the middle of one of the worlds most rugged and hostile environments. When one of the young men finds himself lost in the mountain terrain of the Big Sky country unprepared and unequipped, he will have only his instinctive skills and the dedication of a determined semi-retired forest ranger to save his life. With a bad winter storm rolling in and the search being called off, it is just a matter of time before the lost hunter realizes that his chances of survival are hopeless, especially when he learns that a bloodthirsty grizzly is tracking him. Now, with life-threatening injuries he will attempt to do the unthinkable, even if it costs him his life. With the history of the area and the vast forest system of the Iron Ridge mountain range it will be a miracle if he makes it out alive.
“Iron Ridge” was written, directed, and even stars first time film director Stu Brumbaugh, a Great Falls native who returned to Great Falls, Montana after working in the film business in the greater Los Angeles area for 12 years. After attending high school at CMR he fled to Southern California in 1993 to pursue a career in the film business. To read more click here.
Mansfield Box Office Hours:
Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. MST
(406) 455-8514
http://ticketing.ci.great-falls.mt.us/
Contact
Keri Langille
Mansfield Box Office
ccevents@ci.great-falls.mt.us
Yellow Wood Films L.L.C. hopes to see you on March 28th for the world premiere!
For more information visit ironridgethemovie.com
March 2, 2008
‘Call of the Wild’
PHILIPSBURG — Actor Devon Graye’s career has taken him far and wide, but he’s never seen a town quite like Philipsburg — not in real life anyway. “I love the town; it really is like something in a movie,” said Graye, 20, standing in the Doe Bros. Soda Fountain Thursday. The movie “Call of the Wild” — a modern spin on Jack London’s novella — brought big Hollywood names to tiny Philipsburg, including actor Christopher Lloyd. As star-struck locals marveled over movie stars, the film’s cast and crew seemed just as taken by the quaint, quiet, mining-turned-tourist town. ...
To read full story By Erin Nicholes click here.
March 4, 2008
Screen Actors Guild Launches Digital Casting Revolution
iActor Puts Station 12 Cast Clearance & Exclusive SAG Talent Pool
Right at the Industry’s Fingertips
Los Angeles (March 4, 2008) – Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announced today the launch of iActor www.iactor.org , the only union-hosted online casting directory featuring onsite Station 12 cast clearance and showcasing exclusively SAG members. iActor provides casting directors, producers and production entities the ability to source and then directly verify an actor’s union eligibility for work in SAG-signatory productions, known as “Station 12” cast clearance. By bringing Station 12 cast clearance online, an industry first, iActor streamlines the casting process, resulting in valuable time and production savings.
iActor is free to SAG members and the entertainment industry. In addition to its proprietary online Station 12 cast clearance, iActor provides casting directors with the ability to find SAG actors using a customizable search function, create and tag folders according to personal work methodology, preview resumes, view headshots from multiple resumes in a slideshow, and both print and email individual resumes. iActor also provides a content-rich resource for casting directors searching regional talent pools for SAG actors. Currently, 23,790 union members representing a cross section of earnings and geographical locations have created resumes on iActor...
To read full news release click here.
Contact:
Pam Greenwalt (323) 549-6872
pgreenwalt@sag.org
Melinda Farrell (310) 204-6100 x11
mfarrell@bigla.com
March 4, 2008
Killer cowboy terrorizes rock group in 'Diablo Highway'
HAVRE — The blood! Ohhh, the blood! Out of beer and gas, the indie-rock band the Magpies should have known nothing but trouble can happen when driving a '71 VW bus down a remote road in the sticks. Told with tongue firmly planted in cheek, "Diablo Highway" is the story of what happens to the Magpies one dark and bloody night. I'm not spoiling anything by telling you most of them die, bludgeoned with a tire iron by a maniacal cowboy...
To read full story click here.
February 27, 2008
One-Night Only Premier of "OUTLAW DREAMS"
Thursday, February 28th, 2008, the Billings Outlaws, Montana's own professional football team, are proud to announce, in cooperation with the Carmike Theatres, the one-night only premier of the feature-length movie “Outlaw Dreams”. In 2006, the Billings Outlaws professional indoor football team had a storybook season culminating with a league championship in the National Indoor Football League. A video crew videotaped the entire season, from training camp through the championship game under the direction of Writer/Director/Producer Howie Klausner. Featuring highlights from the 2006 Championship season, “Outlaw Dreams” will be shown exclusively, one night only at 8:00pm and 10:00pm at the Carmike Wynnsong 10 Theatres at Rimrock Mall...
To read full story click here.
February 25, 2008
Filming the ‘Wild': Movie Crew Stays Busy in Montana's Cold
LINCOLN - Christopher Lloyd sold his home in Darby years ago, but the Hollywood film star said he's happy to be back in Montana this month helping to bring to life a modern adaptation of Jack London's famed novel, “The Call of the Wild.”
“It's just a wonderful script, and the role I was asked to play - the grandpa - I really like,” Lloyd said while taking a short break during filming outside Lincoln on Sunday.
“He's kind of lonely, his wife recently died and he's excited to have his granddaughter come visit and have another voice in the house,” Lloyd said.As the story goes, the granddaughter, played by 10-year-old Ariel Gade, is not too happy to leave her big-city life and luxuries in Boston to spend time in the snowy mountains of Montana with her grandfather...
To read full story By Betsy Cohen of the Missoulian click here.
February 19, 2008
Film rolling in Lincoln
LINCOLN — Liz Cain sat in her immaculate log home Monday morning eating breakfast.
While the task may have been mundane, her company was anything but. Actor Christopher Lloyd — yes, Doc Brown from the “Back to the Future” movies and Reverend Jim from TV hit “Taxi” — stood in Cain’s kitchen, donning a blue and plaid bathrobe, preparing a batch of oatmeal.
Cain’s famous houseguest had about 40 film crew members fluttering around him while they shot a scene for a movie adaptation of Jack London’s “Call of the Wild.”
To read full story By Angela Brandt of Helena's Independent Record click here.
February 16, 2008
Lincoln in the spotlight
LINCOLN - The old hound dog blocking Rollie Fisher’s driveway sniffs the air and refuses to move. A little dog with a big bark comes down the road, followed by another dog, and yet another, until the woods come alive with barking beasts.
The snow sits two feet deep and there’s a yellow glow spilling from the windows of a rustic cabin up ahead. The warm light casts shadows on the snow before fading to black, out where the darkness takes over and the woods stand creaking in the night.
Here, 48 miles north of Helena on the west side of Flesher Pass, roughly 15 miles outside Lincoln, a film crew from Los Angeles, Calif., is finding its feet, preparing to shoot a new version of “The Call of the Wild,” an American classic scribed in 1903 by Jack London...
To read full story By Martin J. Kidston of Helena's Independent Record click here.
February 2, 2008
Film Recalls the Craft and Community of "Butte, America"
A few years ago my
mother gave me a photograph of my grandfather, taken in about 1953. He is sitting with several fellow miners in the rock-walled tunnel of a copper mine, their black metal lunch boxes at their feet and the ore-cart tracks curving into the darkness beyond. I keep this photograph above my desk to remind myself what hard work is really all about when I’m whining over a deadline or wondering how to cut down a word count, but I never understood what that hard work consisted of until Thursday’s screening of Butte, America, the kickoff film of this weekend’s fifth annual Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.
Producer and director Pam Roberts and associate producer and co-writer Edwin Dobb tell the story of Butte not only with epic historical sweep (as befits a place where mere humans have wrought such immense changes to the surface of the earth) but also at a very personal level, foregrounding and respecting the reminiscences of the men and women who lived through the booms and busts of Montana’s legendary mining town.
To read full story By Sutton Stokes of Missoula's New West click here.
