Distinctly Montana Magazine

MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY'S SCHOOL OF FILM AND PHOTOGRA- PHY SCHOOL is a major player in the film scene. It offers programs for students seek- ing a BA with an emphasis in Motion Picture/Video/Theatre or Photography. This year a feature film made by for- mer students, Prairie Love, premiered at the prestigious 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Selection to Sundance launches a filmmaker's work into the world of contemporary independent filmmaking. MSU also operates the world's first MFA of Fine Arts in Science and Natural History Filmmaking. Many graduates go on to make films for the Discovery Channel and National Georgraphic. Ian Kellett of Livings- "Anyone can pick up a camera and theoretically make a film, but they are not necessarily filmmakers. This program, however, turns people with strong science backgrounds into powerful, visual storytellers—into filmmakers, and that is what sci- ence and natural history films need now more than ever. The program forever changed the way I, as a biologist, see the world. My production company, Conservation Media, is a direct product of this graduate program in every way." JEREMY R. ROBERTS, DIRECTOR MFA Science & Natural History Filmmaking Owner/Producer, Conservation Media www.conservationmedia.com ton, for instance, filmed tiger sharks in Australia and new primate species in Bolivia. Not surprisingly Native Ameri- can themes and Montana fit well together. Other forthcoming films from our groundbreakers include: Last Man Stands — it focuses on a fictional Crow youth and his family. Producer Petra Ah- mann, a 2004 graduate of Laurel High School, hopes to shoot in Laurel, Hardin, the Crow Reser- vation, and other local spots. Moonhair will star an all-Native American cast.Author Jack ("Happy") Feder was inspired to write a mythic adventure movie MIKE HENDERSON MAPS MEDIA INSTITUTE Started by Peter Rosten, a Hollywood executive for 30 years, the MAPS after-school mission in Hamilton is to inspire, educate, and train Ravalli County high school students in multiple media courses and disciplines. Recently their 30-minute film, After the Bell: Inside the MAPS Media Institute, aired on PBS. They also created a film for this year's Big Sky Documen- tary Film Festival, as well as another documentary on smoking that ran nationally. See www.mapsmediainstitute. org for more info about this worthy initiative. Peter Rosten, founder 38 DISTINCTLY MONTANA • AUTUMN 2011 set during the Dog Days, but told in a modern style. Feder said, "My goal was not to have a political message—but an adventure." Inspired by traditional Native American myths, the story is an original tale of a woman with shocking white hair that carries untold powers. Moon- hair must take a dangerous journey as she tries to retrieve her tribe's Singing Buffalo Stone from an evil neighboring tribe—the Dung Eaters. Without the stone, the tribe can't hunt and will perish. A trickster god creates problems for Moonhair. Feder based much of the myth on Blackfeet history and folklore and shot the story on the Rocky Moun- tain Front near Choteau, Augusta, and on the Blackfeet Reservation. Visit www.moonhairfilms.com to see the film's teaser. Westerns are another natural theme for Montana. Shot in Dillon this past year, Cooper is about a ranch hand from a proud family. In tough times, Rick, the brash eldest Valas son turns to cattle rustling. Before long he brings his younger brother JD and Cooper into the fold. When Rick is caught and is run into the mountains, it is the younger boys who are left to deal with the aftermath. Filmmaker Andrew Wiest's Treasure State features the story of two teenage boys, Levi Hogue and Trey Stanton, whose families are both dealing with financial blows. They set off separately on searches for valuable cargo from a plane that has crashed in the snow-covered wil- derness of Montana, all the while fending off the villains who caused the accident. The film fills Wiest's desires to make a family-friendly action picture featuring young people in peril, and a tribute to the Western landscape and lifestyle. To attract investment dollars that will ease the way to widespread distribution, young filmmakers capitalize on the horror/vampire fads for their flicks. For instance, a group of young Helena-based film- makers wants "to leave its audience speechless in their seats." They're shooting a pro-grade, epic sci-fi drama about vampires and the humans who encounter them. The core team includes Bryan Ferriter (direc- tor, lead writer, and lead vampire), plus a number of Carroll College students. Vampire will have scenes shot from a helicopter and inside an underground cavern and other big-production elements, which they say will make the movie more appealing to distributors when it comes time to bring the project to Hollywood.

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