GREAT FALLS — Young actors, directors, and filmmakers in Montana may not have to travel far to get their start in the industry — if Stu Brumbaugh has anything to say about it.
(WATCH: Great Falls native returns to build Montana film industry)
Brumbaugh, a Great Falls native, spent 30 years working as a supervisor on film and television sets in Hollywood — logging credits on productions including John Wick, Rust, and Veep. Now he is back home, and he has a clear vision for what comes next.
"I wanted to come back home and tell Montana stories. You know, I don't want Yellowstone, Montana. I want to be very clear about that. But I think there's a lot of untold stories here in the state, a lot of really great things that are part of our history, part of our communities," Brumbaugh said.
Through his company, Ladder 5 Films, Brumbaugh is working to build a sustainable, authentic film industry in Montana — one that keeps Montana stories in Montana hands and creates real career opportunities for the next generation of filmmakers.
He knows firsthand what it takes to make it in a competitive industry far from home.
"I think being from Montana and moving to Los Angeles, obviously you're, you know, a very small fish thrown into a very big pond. The great thing about being from Montana is I think that Montanans generally have a really good work ethic," he said.
Brumbaugh is currently in pre-production on a multi-tribal screenplay honoring the Blackfoot Native American Tribe — a film titled Running Eagle. The project grew out of two years of research, including time spent on the Blackfeet Nation sitting with elders to gather histories that have lived primarily in oral tradition.
Looking ahead, Brumbaugh hopes to take his mission one step further — launching a film academy in Great Falls to give aspiring Montana filmmakers a path that doesn't require leaving the state.
"What I'd like to do in the future is start up a little bit of a film academy here to kind of create this environment where young people can stay here and create a viable career for themselves, where they don't feel like they have to go 1200 miles away to go do that," he said.
For Brumbaugh, the goal is simple — prove that the next great film scene doesn't have to be in Los Angeles. It can be right here in Montana.
