winter - Explore Big Sky

Montana
New film “Nebraska” good for
Montana’s economy and tourism
by Maria wyllie
big sky weekly editorial assistant
bILLINGS – Academy-award winning
director Alexander Payne (The Descendants,
Sideways) is pouring money into
Montana with the filming of "Nebraska,"
a lighthearted comedy telling
the story of a father and son (played by
bruce Dern and will forte) travelling
from billings to Lincoln, Neb. to collect
a $1 million sweepstakes prize.
filming for the opening scene of "Nebraska,"
which took place in billings in
late November, brought business to the
community’s hotels, restaurants, and
shops during the winter months, a time
when tourism is slow.
Production groups such as Payne’s
typically spend about $25,000 a day,
according to research from the Montana
film Office, which works to secure
film projects across the state.
“It’s really critical and great to have
that kind of economic impact on the
community,” said MfO film Commissioner
Deny Staggs. “we look at it like
a mobile manufacturing company that
comes in and builds its product, drops
off money, and packs up its stuff and
goes. It’s pure money with a strong,
direct, economic impact.”
The "Nebraska" crew spent roughly
$250,000 over the course of production,
said John brewer, president of the
billings CVb and Chamber of Commerce.
while the economic impact of a
production is felt most directly where
it’s filmed – in this case billings – the
money trickles down in the form of
taxes, helping the state run and do
business.
The MfO’s big Sky on the big Screen
Act, which was established in 2005,
has helped Montana compete in the
state launches mt.gov redesign
new site has responsive web design for multiple platforms
HELENA – The state on Nov. 29
launched a major redesign of its official
website, mt.gov. The new site uses
responsive web-design technology, allowing
it to adjust the content layout for
varying sizes of digital screens, including
mobile devices.
The new site also has an increased emphasis
on searching capabilities, which
will make it easier to navigate with a mobile
device like a Smartphone or tablet.
“This will enable the state website to
have greater functionality for more
people,” said Gov. brian Schweitzer in
a press release. “we’ve seen how the industry
is changing and knew we needed
to adapt to all new platforms available to
Montanans.”
industry by giving tax incentives to
production firms shooting in Montana.
The tax cuts incentivize the firms to
bring projects to Montana and consequently
to hire locals and spend more
money in the state.
when it comes to deciding where to
shoot a film, companies are typically
concerned with startup costs, Staggs
said. “The number one question
productions firms ask is what the tax
incentives are and what the crew base
is.”
without a tax incentive, he added,
there would be no film production in
Montana, unless a specific location was
needed.
According to Staggs, the value of film
production is threefold: It has a strong
economic impact; it allows people all
over the world to see how beautiful
Montana is; and it can create and spark
more tourism, which brings money
into the state.
However, it is difficult to measure how
many people visit Montana after seeing
films shot across the state, and most of
what the state'S Department of Tourism
knows is anecdotal.
“Montana is a state of such impactful
visuals that any numbers would underestimate
the amount of people traveling
to Montana to see these places for
themselves,” said Sarah Lawlor, public
information officer for the Montana
Department of Tourism.
Even so, having a film shot by an
award-winning director that is locationspecific
is an invaluable public relations
tool in the long run, brewer said, noting
that it will help keep billings and
Montana in the forefront of a very large
audience. “It’s nice to be represented as
we truly are.”
Industry experts have predicted that
mobile devices will overtake desktop
devices for Internet usage as soon as
2014. Site statistics for mt.gov show that
mobile device usage has increased from
3 percent in March 2011 to nearly 20
percent in October 2012.
The latest in web technology detects
the kind of device being used (such as a
Smartphone, tablet, traditional laptop
or desktop computer) and presents that
device with a suitable content layout.
The state is encouraging visitors to give
feedback on the new site using the “Contact
Us” link at the bottom of the mt.gov
page.
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Big Sky Weekly
welch withdraws application for recount
Juneau officially reelected as Supt. of
Public instruction
HELENA – Republican Sandy welch officially withdrew her application for a
recount of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction race on Dec. 12, unable
to pay the $115,000 to cover the cost of the recount.
welch trailed incumbent Denise Juneau by 2,231 votes after the official statewide
canvass. Montana statute allows candidates to request a recount when
their margin of victory is one-half of 1 percent or less, and Juneau won by approximately
0.48 percent.
welch’s attorneys argued voting machine errors and improper voting procedures
affected the tally, and a flathead County judge on Dec. 7 ordered the
statewide recount.
Secretary of State and Chief Elections Officer Linda McCulloch expressed
disappointment that there would not be a recount in her official statement
released Dec. 12.
“we are confident that a recount would not have changed the race results, but
we were ready to do one. A lot of public time and resources has been spent
preparing for the huge task of conducting a statewide recount of more than
468,000 ballots cast in the race."
McCulloch agreed with the court's finding that no harm to the state could
result from recounting the ballots in the race when welch was paying for it.
"Montana voters can be confident that their vote counts."
welch was required by the court to post cash to cover the costs as estimated by
the counties of the statewide manual recount by 5 p.m. on Dec. 12.
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