Following public comment at Monday night’s nearly seven-hour Livingston City Commission meeting on whether a polarizing movie could continue to be shot within city limits, vice chairman James Willich flipped through his notebook.
“24 pages of notes,” he muttered. “This is a new record!”
At the end of the night, commissioners unanimously allowed the Daily Wire film, about an ICE agent fighting Antifa protesters and MS-13 gang members, to go ahead. The decision came two days after the commission temporarily paused operations on the set and served as an additional plot point in weeks of drama surrounding the film’s production in the southwestern Montana town since shooting began in late September.
The commission’s decision means shooting can resume on the set of a fictional pawn shop and Korean grocery store in Minneapolis. Shooting is scheduled to end on Saturday. Producers have pledged to comply with permitting regulations, including keeping a local food store open and accessible, reining in private security activities and maintaining signage and notices to affected neighbors.
“I regret that we are all gathered here under these circumstances,” local producer Ari Novak said. “Five days from now, most of this film crew will be gone. I’ll still be your neighbor. And I want to be a good neighbor, with people I agree with and people I disagree with.”
More than 120 people packed into the Livingston City Commission meeting, sitting cross-legged on the floor and dispersed into the hallway and adjoining rooms. About 150 more were set online. For nearly two weeks, news stories and social media accounts engulfed the drama: This thriller about a movie in a small town in Montana seemed like a microcosm of an immigration and culture-war drama gripping communities across the nation.
At first, the film’s opponents took issue with its content: A leaked copy of the script—working title “Pawn Shop”—contains thinly veiled allusions to both the Renee Good murder and the Kilmar Albrego Garcia saga; Both are portrayed as conservative, with a harsh view of immigrants. In the script, a copy of which was reviewed by the Montana Free Press, the film’s hero maniacally shoots a protester who gets into his car, killing his law enforcement partner. A detained immigrant claims his innocence, but is later revealed to be a key player in MS-13.
Although the film contains echoes of real-life events, according to a leaked call sheet, the bulk of the film is an over-the-top action movie starring Danny Trejo and Harvey Keitel; a film that naysayers criticized for being full of guns, blood, explosions and conservative tropes.
“87 pages of nonsense,” Brooklyn Wilde, one of the protesters, said in an interview in late September.
However, shortly after shooting began, critics of the production also objected to the process. They said the producers did not adequately inform the public about the shooting and especially the violence. The shootings included unloaded guns and detonating explosions; these demonstrations shocked the film’s neighbors and raised concerns about public safety. Many members of the public also told journalists and on social media that they felt intimidated, intimidated and harassed by heavily armed security guards hired by the film company to keep members of the public off the streets for the film set.
The closures particularly affected the Livingston Food Resource Center. “We were not notified of shooting plans,” the organization said in a press release in early October. They said the film saw security forces stopping cars and bicycles trying to enter the centre, which brought attendance at food pantries to an 18-week low.
Heeding the community’s concerns, the Livingston City Commission held an emergency meeting Saturday morning while the film was being shot about a quarter mile away. No supporters of the film attended. Ultimately, the commission voted to temporarily suspend the film’s permit.
“I think this is a runaway train,” Commissioner Cindy Daniels said at the time. “I think they’re taking advantage of the situation to make movies that will make a profit.”
At Monday’s meeting, the film’s producers showed up to give their side of the story. Executive producer Dallas Sonnier described dealing with real safety concerns as the outrage over the film grew: On the first day of shooting, he said, a truck drove over barricades, signaling the street to be closed, and the driver shouted obscenities at the cast and crew. Another producer, Amanda Presmyk, said protesters shouted “cut” and “action” during stunt scenes, creating potentially dangerous distractions. “Only then did I decide to hire professional security to protect the crew and maintain the permitted road closures,” Sonnier said.
Many commentators speaking in favor of film production argued that the commission’s decision to pause the permit was based on politics, not law. “The government cannot suppress legal speech simply because the audience objects to its message,” Sonnier said. “Film permits should be based on compliance with the law, not approval of the story being told.”
City attorney Jon Hesse said the question before the commission was narrow and unrelated to the content of the production: Did the film production violate permit conditions? The answer will be to decide whether and how commissioners will allow the operation to continue.
“Please honor the permit the city gave us and reinstate it tonight,” Presmyk urged, doubling down on the producers’ commitment to completing the project. “We’ll finish the movie either way.”
Katy Canetta, a Livingston resident who lives near the filming location, said at Saturday’s meeting that the objection to the production had nothing to do with the film’s plot. “This was about the terrorism that 2nd Avenue experienced at the hands of armed guards in paramilitary gear who harassed defenseless people and used violence and intimidation to ensure the closure of public property for private gain.”
Taylor Wallace, owner of The Gem, a cafe next door to the film set, said he was never notified of the shooting. He said staff were unable to perform basic tasks, such as taking out the garbage, without being harassed by security guards. He eventually closed his shop, fearing for the safety of the workers. “This film’s failure to effectively inform neighboring businesses and residents led to fear, chaos and ultimately risk,” he said. “No one should feel unsafe at work or at home.”
The City of Livingston has a minimum framework for issuing film permits. There are only a few boxes to check and blanks to fill in the binding document. Over the course of two weeks of filming, the production will only bring in just over $5,000 in permit revenue to the city, officials said. The City reserves the right to revoke the permit due to public safety concerns.
“Food safety is a public safety issue,” Livingston local Bex Frucht said. “Misinformation is a public safety issue. Mental health is a safety issue. We’re putting up with all of this because this production came to our town, literally with shots fired, without comprehensive and proper notice. And they were able to take advantage of our lax regulations.”
Both sides of the film debate expressed fear and disbelief, but the film’s opponents and defenders directed blame at each other. Film crew and even security told commissioners that their personal information had been deleted and that they had been subjected to death threats and harassment for their role in the production.
Proponents of the film also emphasized that the film industry is the city’s economic engine. Movie productions have brought tens of millions of dollars and thousands of jobs to the area in the past decade alone, said Richard Gray, co-founder of the Old West-style Yellowstone Movie Ranch about 30 minutes south of Livingston. “If you take a movie out of town because of things that can be fixed, that’s a really bad look,” he said. “And this will seriously impact our film industry.”
Yetta Stein, poet and executive director of Elk River Arts and Lectures, opposed the idea. “A short economic boon is not worth the safety of my neighbors,” he said. “I also think all this talk distracts us from the important job of running our town.”
As the hours progressed, participants left the meeting and commission members discussed the future of the city’s film regulations.
“We do not have the regulations and rules that will meet the wishes of our community,” said commission chair Melissa Nootz. “We haven’t written the things people want yet.”
Reached for comment as attendees were leaving the meeting, Sonnier declined to be interviewed until the film was finished. But the producer gave a weary but strong endorsement after the commission voted. In his statement, he said he would be on set at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning to continue filming.
___
This story was first published by the Montana Free Press and distributed in partnership with The Associated Press.