Andrew Wiest thought he'd learned his lesson after his first movie: Winter and movie making are not a fun combination.

The filmmaker was living in Wyoming when he shot “Dead Noon.” He was used to the state's bitter winter winds, but one January day of filming seemed particularly blustery. Finally Wiest gave up for the day.

“We finally had to shut it down,” he remembered. “When I got home, I found out it was blowing 105 miles per hour. It was blowing roofs off of houses. …

“After that movie, I vowed I would never make another winter movie,” he added.

It was a vow he wouldn't be able to keep. Wiest, who moved to Montana about 15 years ago, wanted to keep making movies — and he wanted to make them at home.

With Northwest Montana's long winters, that meant cold weather was unavoidable. Wiest’s next movie, “The Wylds,” was shot in the fall and encountered snow. His latest film, “Treasure State” — which is now available at box stores and online retailers — was filmed in March with 6 feet of snow on the ground.

“I don't even try anymore; I just write winter movies,” Wiest said. “I don't want to go anywhere else to shoot.”

“Treasure State” is a Hatfields-and-McCoys-type story set in Montana. Two families have been fighting for years, and the next generation has inherited the bitter feud.

Then, one day, an airplane crashes in the wilderness. The plane carries “a cargo of great importance,” as Wiest mysteriously phrases it, and its owner is offering a substantial reward for its recovery. A son from each feuding family sets out to find the plane, but so do the film's two villains. The boys must put their rivalry aside to beat the bad guys to the treasure.

“I grew up on '80s family films. There were a lot more real kids in real peril, and I hadn't seen a lot of that, really, in recent years,” Wiest said. “I want to get back to that, with real bad guys, real guns and big adventure, too.”

The winter weather added to the movie's drama, Wiest said. Deep snow allowed him to shoot snowmobile action series. It also contributed to the film's appearance.

“The look of the movie is pretty spectacular,” he said. “It was miserable shooting conditions, though. We had to wear snowshoes and were stuck in waist-deep snow in a blizzard.”

Wiest and his friend, co-writer and filmmaker Ryan Reed of Columbia Falls shot “Treasure State” a couple of years ago. The cast includes a handful of professionals from Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, but local actors play most of the movie's major roles.

Solomon Ray and Judah Justine, both of whom starred in “The Wylds,” play the feuding families' rival sons. Colton Christensen is one of the movie's two villains.

“I had written the parts for two specific people,” Wiest said of the bad-guy roles. “But [Christensen] came in wanting to audition.”

Wiest said Christensen’s reading blew him away. He gave him the role and moved the actor for whom the part had been intended into another role.

“He's really funny in the movie. He's the idiot younger brother of the bad-guy duo,” Wiest said of Christensen. “He's so good I'd forget that he's not actually an idiot: 'Oh, yeah, you're actually an intelligent guy.'”

Other local performers in “Treasure State” include Crystal Lewis, Karen Dunham, Ron Wilson, Elisabeth McLellen, Liam Justine and Jake Bramante.

Another Flathead Valley resident, Ian Sterchi, was a vital crew member, Wiest said. Eureka cowboys Marion and Gerald Eash provided the movie’s stunt riding and team roping.

All of the local actors held their own with the professionals, he added.

“That was really cool to see,” he said. “They'd get right in there and go toe to toe with people who do this all the time. I thought they all did a real bang-up job.” 

Wiest said he wants to get the word out about “Treasure State” so Flathead Valley viewers can see their gifted neighbors in action.

“It's nice to see the talent people have locally,” he said.

“Treasure State” is available at several online retailers, including Barnes and Noble and Amazon, and may be available locally at stores such as Walmart and Best Buy, Wiest said. It’s available for rent from Netflix and Blockbuster.

The film is also available on its website, treasurestatethemovie.com. 

Kristi Albertson, editor of This Week in the Flathead, may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.