ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Brandon Smith, Matt Drago, and Jonathan Stoddard about Somewhere in Montana. Smith discussed writing and directing the new, Graham McTavish-starring project, while Drago and Stoddard opened up about their experiences filming the movie and more.
“Montana cattle rancher John Alexander (McTavish), at risk of losing his land, agrees to let a film production use his property for a location shoot,” the synopsis for the movie reads. “He doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the urban cast and crew, from the risqué storyline to how they handle their props. The film’s obsessive director, Fabian (Drago), is intent on calling the shots and getting his film made whatever it takes. The two clash but ultimately come to terms with their respective points of view. Alexander decides to trust Fabian, and Fabian now knows he’ll be able to finish his film—until a shocking incident brings production to a complete halt. A devastated Fabian tries to revive the project, but because of the incident, no one will touch it.”
Somewhere in Montana is now playing in select theaters in the United States.
Brandon Schreur: Brandon, I’m always so curious how a project, just in general, comes to fruition, but especially with something like this. Somewhere in Montana is so unique and so different than anything else you can see that’s out there right now. Can you tell me a little bit about how Somewhere in Montana came together? When did you start working on this, what did the process of the pre-production look like of getting this all together?
Brandon Smith: That is a long story! And probably a longer story than you want. It started with a character study. I went to a 4H event. There was a gentleman there who was a rancher in Northwest Montana. The ranches of Northwest Montana are smaller ranches, they’re not Yellowstone, right? So it’s not — well, it can be for thousands of acres, but it’s not helicopters and dropping people off at the train station.
I looked at this man’s hands and he had all these calluses. You got this impression that this man — what his family ate, where they lived — it all came from this man’s hands. So I created a character study, in my mind, of who this person was. And, for fun, I created his opposite. Then I thought, ‘Well, in today’s society, these two men have to hate each other. And it’s ridiculous. So let’s put them in an impossible situation.’ From there, I kind of massaged them, took them to more extremes, and things like that. But that was the nexus of the idea, at least.
Interesting. Do you remember, in general, how long ago that was? Like, how long did it take from going, ‘I have this idea for a character study’ to ‘We now have a whole movie planned?’
Smith: That’s kind of interesting because it was around four years ago, I think, I started the idea for the whole thing. At least four years, maybe five years ago, where the kernel of it came about and I started working on it. It was funny because I took the idea to a pitch competition. I walked into the pitch competition and gave this pitch. I was like ‘This is a pretty good pitch’ while I was also putting it together on the way over there. I had just gotten asked to be in it. I put a pitch together, I gave it on stage, and I didn’t win. I don’t even think I cracked the top three.
After the competition, this woman came up to me. She did a lot of tax credits and things like that. She said, ‘That’s a really good idea. That should be a movie.’ I was like, ‘Really? Okay. I’ll write up the first 10 pages.’ That’s what I did, I wrote the first 11 pages and sent them to her. She said, ‘Yeah, this is really good, you need to flesh this out.’ As per my usual, I sat for a few weeks and thought about it. Then I sat down one day and typed the whole thing out.
Just like that. That’s so cool. Matt, you play Fabian in the movie, who is such an interesting character for so many reasons. Like Brandon said, he’s kind of the exact opposite of Graham [McTavish’s] character. But it’s such an interesting dynamic to explore, there. Tell me a little bit about your journey into being cast in this movie. What made you want to be part of this project?
Matt Drago: Telling a beautiful story of the times. This is a story that resonates with a lot of what we’re going through as a country right now. I really, really love the first part of this journey, for me, which started with Brandon and I. It was on Zooms, just like this. It was hashing out the character and really exploring the depths of his journey and his need to create stories. I feel like Brandon wrote a lot of himself into Fabian. It became this really interesting collaboration on exploring what we both wanted out of Fabian. I look back on all those times all the time. They were really special. Sometimes, when you get to this point, right now, when you’re doing press for the movie that’s coming out, you tend to reflect on where it all began. For us, I’m so grateful for those times.
We did, we’d go through — remember, Brandon? — scene after scene and we’d explore what we both wanted. It was a real, true collaboration, which, to be perfectly honest, is part of why Brandon is such a great director. He allows this space for everybody to bring themselves fully into their roles. When we all got together, that just continued. We were together in really wonderful ways. I think we built this story together. There was definitely a key element to this story that we all felt like it was bigger than ourselves. I felt like we all gave each other the space to tell it together.
Totally. And it totally comes across, too. It really feels like a big, collaborative thing where everyone is bringing their A-game. You can tell there’s a lot of passion in this, which I love. You can’t say that for every movie, but you can here. You mentioned something in there, Matt, I want to circle back to in a minute, but, first, Jonathan, I also really liked your character and your performance in here as well. I feel like I’m repeating myself, but everyone is so good and it’s so cool to watch you play this guy. What was going through your mind, do you remember, when you first got this script and you found out you got this part?
Jonathan Stoddard: Yeah, it’s kind of fun. Originally, I was filming another movie, a rom-com, out in Montana. It was my first time there, out in Big Sky. One of the day players that was there, she was on set. And after we filmed all day, she sent me a message. She was like, ‘Hey. There’s local casting for this movie and I really think you’d be great for it.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, sure, why not?’ She sent me the thing and you could read through all the different breakdowns, everything from Fabian to all the different characters. I saw Spencer and I was like, ‘This looks fun.’
This is a character, who — even though he’s kind of unhinged and there’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of layers. Not only for the character in life, to be able to get to that point in time, but in terms of the crux for how the story and how the movie unfolds, Spencer is such a vital part of hitting those milestones. He’s the weight of the tension and what’s going on with the development of the film. He’s the crux of how it ends up completely blowing up in everybody’s face. There was so much gravitas to Spencer that he was the only thing I wanted to audition for. I had such a great time. So when they called and let me know that they wanted me for the role, I was beside myself. I’m absolutely just so incredibly grateful for it, he’s such a great character.
No, totally. I loved watching you as him. Matt, you mentioned that you could see a lot of Brandon in this script, and that’s something I was wondering about. The inciting incident for this movie is a film crew looking for a place to film in Montana. Obviously, Brandon, you’re a filmmaker who was looking for a place to film in Montana during the pre-production. I was going to ask you, how much of yourself is in this movie?
Smith: It’s interesting because I think there’s a kernel of every writer in each character. There’s a little bit in every character. I think that’s one of the reasons I like to give away the characters, a little bit, to the actors. If everything is in one voice, and it’s consistently in one voice, you’re only going to hear that one voice. That’s it. The film becomes monotone, to a degree. When the actors have time, they spend time and they are earnestly trying to envelop that character and become that character, then something kind of remarkable happens and they make it more than you could have ever made it.
I think the myth of the director with an iron grip — someone saying, ‘This is my vision, this is how it has to be’ — is very much a myth. If I did that, they would only work to my level of skill. And I don’t want any actor working to my level of skill because I’m a horrible friggin’ actor. What these guys really do, they took this little kernel and they really did something with it. They developed the characters so, so well, and that’s what really comes together on screen. It’s not just that they have their own ideas, but they developed the ideas within the context of the narrative, itself, and they understood the vision for the narrative. Everybody bought into it and took it along those paths, which is really what made it good.
That makes total sense. Building off that, working on the script for the movie, there are all these personal elements to it, but then you have these characters like Fabian, Spencer, and everyone else in the movie. When you’re working on this for the first time — and I’m sure it goes through a lot of development phases — but are you imagining actors like Matt and Jonathan in these roles? Like, are you specifically looking for something during the casting, or do you meet them on these Zoom calls and go, ‘Oh, you’re perfect, I can see exactly how this is going to work?’
Smith: It’s kind of like starting a journey. You get in your car and are like, ‘I’m going to go somewhere.’ Well, where are you going to go? Uh, I think I’m going to get something to eat. Well, what do you want to eat? Uh, I think I want Italian. Okay, I think I’m going to go to Buca di Beppo or something. You start and you’ve got this vision of what you want to do, but, as people come up, they change that vision as it comes along. That’s what I was getting at with the strengths.
So, let me give you an example. The first time I saw Jonathan, I was like, ‘Damn, this guy is an actor.’ He’s just so good, he’s such a good actor. I thought, ‘He will be able to take the insanity of this character and reign it in, to the point where it’s believable.’ And I don’t think a lot of people can do that.
Same thing with Graham’s character, John. We brought him to Montana three months earlier. Now, originally, he wasn’t my consideration. But when my casting director mentioned his name, immediately, every scene in the movie, I could see him in every scene of the movie. It was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I’ve seen this guy act with his face more than his words throughout his career, in some of his movies. He’s so intense and so good. When we brought Graham to Montana three months earlier, he called me after he met some of these ranchers, I was on another film. He said, ‘Brandon, we have a problem. The script. There’s too many words in the script.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I know, Graham, but if I had written it that way, nobody would understand the script.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, but these ranchers, they don’t speak that much. When they do speak, it’s important.’ And I said, ‘Exactly!’
So he did everything with his face that I had originally written [as dialogue] in the script. And he did it brilliantly. Again, all these guys, all our actors — everybody served a purpose, right? Take somebody like Kaleigh, who played Laney. She was a magnet. She drew everybody together. Bob is our quiet wisdom and, honestly, he’s John’s support. He’s his best friend. And he’s also that uncle, that indiscernible uncle, between the ages of 40-60 that exists in every native family. If you know a lot of native people, that uncle is in every family. You have no idea how old he is, he’s got a super dry sense of humor, and that’s who he is. Everybody just took those and played them so well. Like, yeah, you have a nebulous form of what something’s like, but then someone comes in and just makes it clearer and clearer and clearer.
Sure. Graham, too, you mentioned him. So good. I’ve seen him in so much stuff where he’s the heavy or the serious guy; like, I know him best from Preacher where he’s the guy walking around with the guns all the time but he doesn’t actually say much.
Smith: The Saint of Killers, yeah!
Exactly. You see him and he’s someone I wouldn’t want to mess with. Then you watch that opening scene with the Hollywood people and he doesn’t say much, but what he does say comes across so well. I loved that character and his performance as well; he brings so much it to and you get to see him explore different sides to him you don’t always see in all his roles. I was going to ask the three of you what it was like working with him and what kind of vibe he brought to the set. He’s such a certain kind of movie and wouldn’t be the first person who would pop into my mind for a role like this, but then you see him and it’s just, like, perfection.
Smith: The way I would say it about him is rock solid. He is a rock-solid actor. The guy comes on screen, he nails it, and he moves on. It’s fascinating, he even got the local dialect down of the ranchers, themselves, the mannerisms and everything. When it comes to character study, he is unbelievable. He’s just amazing.
I remember when we had a scene; it was the scene in the lake house with the guys sitting around the fire. I remember he was like, ‘Did you get what you wanted from that scene?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I got what I wanted.’ He said, ‘Would you be offended if I watch it?’ And I say, ‘No no no.’ We brought him around behind the monitor and put the headphones on. I said, ‘What I want you to do is watch how your eyes go in and out of the light for the different parts of the scene.’ He watched, he watched, he took the headphones off, and he says, ‘I see what you did, okay. I didn’t think that’d be caught, but you caught it. This is good. Let’s keep going.’
That’s so cool. He’s great in the movie. Michelle Hurd, too, I loved her — I mean, I’ve been a fan of hers for forever, but she was really cool to see. The whole cast that you assembled, here, Matt and Jonathan included, obviously, I just loved watching all of you guys. I wanted to ask about the filming and the location, too, because the location plays such an important role in this movie. I mean, obviously, Montana is in the title. Talk to me a little bit like filming here. Because it was right near Glacier National Park, right?
Smith: Yeah, it was about an hour and a half south of Glacier National Park. I live in that area and I shot films in other places, but this one had to be shot there. I would probably talk at nauseam about it, what did you guys think of shooting there?
Drago: It was magical. Since Stoddard is on the call, I mean, we all became really fast friends. I think about the day when we all went to the sound bath all the time. We had the same masseuse in town that we all saw; like, Graham, Michelle — we all went to get a massage from Briana. We just all really experienced it. And I think especially for my character in Fabian, it is a big part of his journey. It’s this really unique thing where Brandon created this environment we could all thrive in, but we were also in this incredible, artist’s dream of an environment in Montana, as well. We’d all find ways to enjoy it together.
I think what made it such a powerful ensemble cast is all of the off-screen time together. Those are the times that I think about all the time, when a bunch of us would go hiking, go see the waterfalls, go to the lodge, and get our bison steaks. Graham and I had a lot of time where we spent just really developing the earnest conversation we were having. We had a ten-page scene that Brandon wrote so beautifully. We wanted to make sure it was just a conversation between two guys, that it didn’t feel too precious, and that it was really authentic and genuine. [We wanted it to be] something anyone could see themselves having with one of their friends and just kind of glean from it and go, ‘Maybe I should reach out to that person’ or ‘Maybe I could have done that a little better.’
A lot of the themes of this film are built into just the relationships. It’s one of my favorite lines that Brandon wrote — ‘It’s people that matter in life. Not things, people.’ I know I didn’t say it exactly true, but I don’t want to give it fully away. But it is, it’s true. It is people that matter. I think, from what I gleaned from being in this film, a lot of us really needed this film. Like, a lot of the people that were a part of it brought everything into it. We were just all rooting for each other, and that doesn’t always happen. I remember the first time I saw John’s take in the hotel room and I was just blown away. Different things that I’d see during the course of the filming, I’d just be so proud. I went to see Kaleigh and Tashia [Gates’] scene, I went there that day on my day off. I was crying while I was watching their scene because I knew how much it meant to the movie. Like, it was all about the story that we were collectively telling, and it started with Brandon creating this incredible ecosystem we could all thrive in.
Stoddard: What I will say about the landscape is God’s wallpaper.
Drago: Oh, yes!
Stoddard: It is. It is. All we had to do was wake up and look out the window or step outside. In any direction, it doesn’t matter where you look, it’s breathtaking. Whether you had the snow-covered hills off in the distance, this beautiful, like, mirror, magical-looking lake. Blue skies, white, cottony clouds. It’s picturesque anywhere and everywhere you look. God’s wallpaper, that’s all I’m going to see.
Drago: Amen. Well said.
Smith: It’s funny because Ross, who is a friend of ours, said that Garry Marshall once told him, ‘If you ever have a doubt, move the scene outside because God is the best set designer.’
Oh, I hadn’t heard that before, that’s cool. Matt, you touched on some of the themes in the movie. That relates to the location and everything. I don’t want to go too far in the weeds regarding spoilers for those who haven’t seen it, but I think it’s very much — at least, what I got out of it — a movie about people coming together. These characters are from such different worlds but they’re drawn together, forced to be together, and then have to try and find some similarities even when things might be out of their control. Was that something that stuck out to you about this movie when you were working on it? What kind of themes are you hoping people come away from Somewhere in Montana with?
Drago: I know that I understood the theme, or the strength or the core, of the film the one day I was on set with you, Brandon, and David came. It was at the cattle ranch and it was David, Graham, me, and Brandon. We took a shot together, a picture. I spoke to David because I needed to understand what he does. I’m a city boy, I always have been. I grew up in rural Virginia but, you know, New York and LA for most of my adult life. You lose a little bit of that connection to Mother Earth.
I remember looking at David, for a moment — he knew what I was saying, and this is the owner of the real ranch where we shot. I just asked him a simple question. I didn’t expect a big response, but I just asked him a simple question. I said, ‘David, how do you do this?’ He looked at me and, it’s the first time I ever really saw him emote — maybe the one time I ever saw him emote — and then he looked up at the sky and said, ‘Oh, it’s still hard.’ In that moment; in my life, in the world that we’re living in, where we’re in a battle with each other, for the most part, I realized in that moment that we really need each other. Like, we really need each other.
I think that’s the core element to this story that I even learned when I was shooting it. It was this incredible experience of taking all this energy — I mean, from the crew, and our crew was incredible, they sacrificed. And our cast, and just us hanging out together and being together, and really taking in God’s wallpaper and all this wonderful emotion and atmosphere that we were given and that Brandon created for us, and then literally putting it right back into the film. That’s what exists in Somewhere in Montana. That’s why I want anybody that can to go see it.
Totally. Building off what you said there, I think there’s something so special about a movie like this. There are blockbusters, there’s always going to be blockbusters, and there are all kinds of smaller-budget, indie movies, too. But, right now, I live in the West Michigan area, Grand Rapids, and the movie is playing in a theater two miles away from my house down the street. It’s so cool to see this get out there and for people to be able to see it. The movie has had kind of a staggering release, but it’s been playing in theaters. What’s it like seeing people watch this and react to it?
Smith: We officially opened on Friday. It will be a kind of staggered release; we’re in 40 to 50 locations right now. We have a potential expansion, here, in the next couple of weeks. So our roll-out is actually going to last for at least another month. I think we just added a special screening in Palm Springs that we’re all looking at. I think a bunch of us are going to go down to Palm Springs and go to this screening. It is a bit of a staggered roll-out.
One of the reasons for that is because it’s a big film. No filmmaker ever made a movie and said, ‘Hey, I hope everybody watches this on their iPhone.’ This, especially, with the landscapes and everything, I think it’s really important that it exists on the big screen for as long as it can.
To that end, we don’t even, right now, have a deal with anybody for anything online. We’ve had lots of offers. But we haven’t taken anything because everybody who wants to put it online wants to insist on a 30-day window between here and there. My thought is, no, this is a theatrical film, it needs to exist on the big screen for as long as it possibly can. If I didn’t have investors to fulfill, honestly, I would never release it online. I would just take it as a theatrical release only and then maybe rerelease it in another year, theatrically. That’s what I would have done with it.
Thanks to Brandon Smith, Matt Drago, and Jonathan Stoddard for discussing Somewhere in Montana.
