$2.6 Million in Big Sky Film Grant Funding Awarded to 67 Filmed-in-Montana Productions
HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced today that 67 film creations will share more than $2.6 million in grant funding to film on-location productions across the state. The grant funding is awarded through the Commerce’s Big Sky Film Grant (BSFG) program.
“Commerce’s Film Office promotes Montana as a business destination for film production companies to expand production in our state, increase job opportunities, promote small business growth and to promote tourism,” said Paul Green, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce. “These 67 film projects are expected to spend an estimated $35 million in Montana and will bring in productions that will help boost the economies of many rural Montana communities, including Plentywood, Cohagen, Lame Deer, Poplar, Dillon, Clyde Park, Choteau, Pryor, Roberts, Virginia City and Pray.”
A total of 150 projects requested more than $9 million in grant dollars this year, with $2.6 million available through the competitive grants for fiscal year 2024. The grants are awarded to eligible production projects in four categories: Feature Film and TV; Feature Film and TV - Resident Only; Short-Form Content; and Short-Form Content - Resident Only.
The following projects will receive Big Sky Film Grant funding:
Feature Film and Television Grants:
The Montana Film Office is part of the Department of Commerce and is funded by an allocation of the lodging facility use tax, commonly known as the “bed tax.” In 2023, Senate Bill 540 of the 68th Montana Legislature revised laws related to state-funded tourism promotion to require a specific allocation of lodging facility use tax for Montana-based film grants.
For more information about the Big Sky Film Grant, visit montanafilm.com.
“Commerce’s Film Office promotes Montana as a business destination for film production companies to expand production in our state, increase job opportunities, promote small business growth and to promote tourism,” said Paul Green, Director of the Montana Department of Commerce. “These 67 film projects are expected to spend an estimated $35 million in Montana and will bring in productions that will help boost the economies of many rural Montana communities, including Plentywood, Cohagen, Lame Deer, Poplar, Dillon, Clyde Park, Choteau, Pryor, Roberts, Virginia City and Pray.”
A total of 150 projects requested more than $9 million in grant dollars this year, with $2.6 million available through the competitive grants for fiscal year 2024. The grants are awarded to eligible production projects in four categories: Feature Film and TV; Feature Film and TV - Resident Only; Short-Form Content; and Short-Form Content - Resident Only.
The following projects will receive Big Sky Film Grant funding:
Feature Film and Television Grants:
- 7030 Entertainment, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “Cold Storage.”
- Attack Team Entertainment Inc. will receive $50,000 for the production of “Where the Wild Horses Live.”
- Eat Different, LLC will revive $100,000 for the production of “Inhuman.”
- FMLY Films, Inc. will receive $50,000 for the production of “Lunatic.”
- Hold The Map Productions, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “Breaking the Silence.”
- Justin Olson, ETC FILM, LLC will receive $150,000 for the production of “Earth to Charlie.”
- Last Chance Pictures, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “Good Kids.”
- Michael Polish, There There, LLC will receive $100,000 for the production of “There, There.”
- MMM MT, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “Swimming Hole.”
- Nathan Norby, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “The Price of Paradise.”
- Paradise Valley Pictures will receive $100,000 for the production of “The Gift of the Game.”
- Ready, Set, Christmas will receive $100,000 for the production of “Ready, Set, Christmas.”
- Scraps, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “Scraps.”
- Siren FX Corp will receive $50,000 for the production of “Native Skateboarding.”
- The Stalemate, LLC will receive $100,000 for the production of “The Stalemate.”
- Trinity Productions, LLC will receive $175,000 for the production of “Unholy Trinity."
- Angel Peak Studios will receive $90,000 for the production of “Death on the Dearborn.”
- Friends of Montana PBS will receive $35,000 for the production of “Jonnie.”
- Greta's White Rabbit, LLC will receive $100,000 for the production of “The Needle Man.”
- Ian Frank, Montana Mettle Film, LLC will receive $30,000 for the production of “Montana Mettle and Monuments.”
- Ikaakimaat, LLC will receive $75,000 for the production of “Battles of Our Fathers.”
- Jill's Inspiration Kitchen, LLC will receive $30,000 for the production of “Jill's Inspiration Kitchen.”
- Mark Tomov, Small Axe Productions, LLP will receive $75,000 for the production of “The Fortune Teller.”
- Michael Timothy Workman will receive $20,000 for the production of “The Richest Hill on Earth.”
- Pharaohplex, Inc. will receive $55,000 for the production of “No Service.”
- Sabrina Layne Lee will receive $30,000 for the production of “Living History.”
- Stillwater Historical Society, Museum of the Beartooths will receive $50,000 for the production of “Moccasins, Mining and Montana's 34th County.”
- Tom Attwater Media, LLC will receive $50,000 for the production of “Silver Linings: A Journey of Courage and Healing.”
- Wed The Dark, LLC will receive $20,000 for the production of “Wed the Dark.”
- Aaron Aylsworth will receive $10,000 for the production of “Codename Hog: Smokejumpers and The Secret War.”
- Annie Flowers will receive $20,000 for the production of “The Deed.”
- Ashley Maria Productions, LLC will receive $20,000 for the production of “Nearly Departed.”
- Biliana Grozdanova will receive $40,000 for the production of “Eastern Western.”
- Buckshot Collective will receive $20,000 for the production of “Garlic Mommas.”
- Cairns Film will receive $10,000 for the production of “Pronghorn Passage.”
- Colter Olmstead, Last of the Nobodies, LLC will receive $10,000 for the production of “Last of the Nobodies.”
- Douglas A. Cunningham will receive $20,000 for the production of “Daughter of the Plains.”
- Gemini Creative Agency, LLC will receive $15,000 for the production of “Orchards of a Futile Heaven.”
- In the Rough Productions, LLC will receive $20,000 for the production of “Laurel Moon.”
- Josh Aaseng will receive $15,000 for the production of “A Domestic Situation.”
- Julian Paul Stein will receive $20,000 for the production of “Teen Angel.”
- Karl Swingle will receive $20,000 for the production of “Man Who Goes in the Middle.”
- KR Creative Strategies will receive $20,000 for the production of “The Story of Us: The Women Who Shaped Montana.”
- Lotus Producers will receive $15,000 for the production of “Modify - An Adaptive Snomachining Film.”
- Michael Steinberg ABN Picture Book will receive $15,000 for the production of “I Like God's Style.”
- Noah Hence will receive $8,003 for the production of “St. Marie, MT.”
- Polar Productions, LLC will receive $40,000 for the production of “Wild Foods.”
- Rosemary’s World will receive $25,000 for the production of “What Does a Girl Gotta Do?”
- Sogbots, LLC will receive $30,000 for the production of “Simon's Ride.”
- Yousif Abounasr will receive $20,000 for the production of “Montana.”
- Big Cedar Media, LLC will receive $15,000 for the production of “Benchmark.”
- Big Hole Watershed Committee will receive $15,000 for the production of “Restoring Smith-Sage Springs.”
- Bryan James Schaeffer, SINTR will receive $15,000 for the production of “Snow Day: A Yellowstone Adventure.”
- G3, LLC will receive $20,000 for the production of “The Adventures of Nicholas Gnome.”
- Hazel Cramer will receive $25,000 for the production of “Not Deaf Enough.”
- HerUpland will receive $20,000 for the production of “Beyond the Hunt: Women of Montana's Uplands.”
- Laminar Flow Films, LLC will receive $15,000 for the production of “One Step at a Time.”
- MAPS Media Institute, Inc. will receive $25,000 for the production of “We Are the Light from the Shadows.”
- Montana State University Foundation will receive $20,000 for the production of “One in Five Hundred.”
- Muddy Shutter Mediahomas B. Penick will receive $15,000 for the production of “Unbound: The Jesse Alberi Story.”
- Olivia Gorham, LLC will receive $15,000 for the production of “Captain of the Sagebrush Sea.”
- ORNJ, LLC will receive $10,000 for the production of “We Didn't Have Concrete.”
- Peter Matthew Devlin will receive $15,000 for the production of “Good Guy: The Tom Brown Story.”
- Phillip Baribeau, Implement Productions, Inc. will receive $20,000 for the production of “Team Bison.”
- Story Road, LLC will receive $20,000 for the production of “They Call Me Crazy.”
- Thomas B. Penick will receive $15,000 for the production of “Hill to Die On.”
- Zachary D. Altman will receive $15,000 for the production of “Mother Range: Rearing Hope in America’s Livestock Industry.”
The Montana Film Office is part of the Department of Commerce and is funded by an allocation of the lodging facility use tax, commonly known as the “bed tax.” In 2023, Senate Bill 540 of the 68th Montana Legislature revised laws related to state-funded tourism promotion to require a specific allocation of lodging facility use tax for Montana-based film grants.
For more information about the Big Sky Film Grant, visit montanafilm.com.
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