Why Aren’t There More Films Made in North Dakota?

| Bella Sletteland

Throughout the years, there have been very few movies made in North Dakota. Despite the beautiful landscapes of the Badlands and the idyllic small towns peppered throughout the state, there are only a handful of movies that are set in North Dakota. ND has several indie studios, but Hollywood never quite reaches all the way up here to the flyover states. Why is that? Doesn’t North Dakota deserve to have a little more representation in the blockbusters? Do we really need yet another movie set in New York City? I wondered about this and looked into the reasoning. Besides the complications of paying for travel, transporting equipment, and filming permits on locations, some states give tax breaks to film producers, drawing film crews to locations in states like New York, Illinois, and Georgia.

When thinking about movies set in ND, the first that comes to mind is Fargo. Fargo is a critically acclaimed dark comedy/crime drama starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, and Steve Buscemi. It was directed by Ethan Coen, was nominated for many awards, and won Best Leading Actress and Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards. Funnily enough, most of the film was not actually filmed in North Dakota. Most scenes were filmed on locations in Minneapolis. The only times the film crew ventured into the Peace Garden State was to shoot the winter scenes as the snow had melted in Minneapolis before they could shoot. They followed the snow line to the closest place, which was Grand Forks. Many North Dakotans were extras in the film for these scenes. Other films made in North Dakota are Wooly Boys, Boomtown, and A Different American Dream but they aren’t nearly as well known as Fargo. I had only heard of one of them, and never seen any of them.

It would be amazing to see more big films set in North Dakota but there is a significant reason why more aren’t. Many states have high numbers of films set in them because state governments will either fund film crews or provide them with significant tax breaks. In California, filmmaking is a multibillion industry so programs like “Scene in San Francisco” provide refunds for up to $600,000 on filming fees paid to Californian cities. Illinois is also on the way to becoming a multibillion dollar film industry state as well, since the legislation of The Illinois Film Production Tax Credit program increased their breaks to a $500,000 cap. This legislation applies to Illinois residents and non-residents, attracting productions like The Batman to film scenes of Gotham on the streets of Chicago. Kentucky is the cheapest state in the US for filmmakers to film in, providing up to 35% tax breaks on spending. Many other states like Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Washington, and West Virginia also use legislation like this to attract the film industry to their locations.

It is understandable that North Dakota does not have a legislature to give tax breaks to filmmakers because the industry is not very present here, but that doesn’t mean that it's not a possibility in the future. Filmmakers could make use of North Dakota’s flat landscapes. Especially in independent and indie style films, open prairies and stretching landscapes are very popular locations for shoots. Medora is also a beautiful setting that has been used in several indie westerns, and could be so beautiful in a drama or dramedy. North Dakota is also a perfect setting for westerns and historical dramas, which is a dying genre that could be revived by a fresh setting.

I hope that more film companies move production into our beautiful state. It would be really inspiring to see more midwestern and North Dakota representation on the big screen. Although ND doesn’t have convenient tax exemptions and governmental funding for the film industry yet, that shouldn’t stop companies from diversifying the locations used in their movies.