Filming has taken place in Western Montana for a new short film backed by the Montana Big Sky Film Grant, which in late September brought a 20-person crew primarily based in Missoula to the region to shoot a heartfelt road trip drama.

Awarded in 2024 by the Montana Film Office through the Department of Commerce, the grant supports the upcoming 15-minute narrative project produced by Ashley Maria Productions, a woman-owned, independent video production company based in Los Angeles. The grant honors storytelling excellence and the economic contributions of production companies committed to filming in Montana.

Since receiving the grant, the production team has spent over a year scouting locations and assembling a local crew. 

“We received the grant back in 2024 and it’s taken us a year and a half to get everything in place,” said Lea-Ann Berst, the film’s executive producer. “We finished raising the rest of our budget and hired all of these wonderful local filmmakers to bring the story to life.”

Written by Molly Quinlan Artwick and directed by Ashley Maria, the film follows two adult sisters on a poignant road trip through their late father's favorite Montana haunts. 

“It’s mostly a drama with some comedic elements,” explained Artwick. “They’ve recently lost their father and are trying to reconnect with him, and with each other, by visiting his old stomping grounds around Alberton and Missoula.”

The film's opening scene takes place at The Antique Depot in Alberton, where store owner Colleen Worley temporarily closed her shop to accommodate filming. 

“They pull into the antique store, they’re lost, they don’t have cell service, and they’re arguing over a list their dad left behind,” said Artwick. “When the phone slips, it knocks over the urn with his ashes, spilling them everywhere. They end up putting him in a Ranger Bear cookie jar from the antique store, and he ‘goes on the trip’ with them from there.”

Although the production company is headquartered in Los Angeles, with additional teams in North and South Carolina, the crew for this shoot is largely Montana-based, demonstrating the state's growing capacity for professional film production. 

“We interviewed all of these people and found amazing talent,” said Artwick. “We’ve been working remotely and it’s going incredibly well.”

Key local crew members include: Assistant Director Mason Slider of Bozeman; Director of Photography John D. Nilles of Missoula; production designer Kyle Weingart of Missoula; first assistant camera Kristin Bloom of Missoula; grip Seth Shults of Missoula; gaffer Aspen Cox of Missoula; behind-the-scenes videographer Gage Ball of Missoula; set medic Brianna Lui of Missoula; Associate Producer Diana Dalke of Ronan; wardrobe Judy Smith of Polson; Assistant Director Mason Slider of Bozeman; production sound mixer Travis Kidd of Bozeman; and script supervisor Abigail Oltrogge of Bozeman.

Additional crew includes Spencer Artwick as production assistant and producers Wendy Wilkins and Sara Bruya, the latter being Missoula-based. 

Bruya led the charge on location scouting, working closely with local officials including Alberton’s mayor. One standout scene is scheduled to be shot on the Natural Pier Bridge and surrounding gravel roads in the Alberton area.

The production has worked in close partnership with the Montana Film Office, local and state parks agencies, and community stakeholders. 

“The setting is more than a backdrop; it’s a character in the story,” said Berst. 

“The forests, rivers, and mountain views are integral to the emotional arc of this road trip,” she added. 

Due to SAG-AFTRA regulations, the names of the actors cannot yet be released. However, producers promise audiences will recognize the talent once the film is released to the public. 

Ashley Maria Productions hopes the project will not only highlight the beauty of Montana but also create a positive economic ripple throughout the region. As a company, it focuses on contained genre films with uplifting messages, designed to spark impact and conversation.