BUTTE - Lights, camera, action!
The Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners gave their approval for the chief executive to sign a contract with King Street Productions to use the Civic Center for filming 1932, a prequel to the hit TV series Yellowstone.
"We’re gonna have a spotlight on our community that we haven't had and you can't even pay for that kind of advertisement," said Chief executive J.P. Gallagher.
The Butte Civic Center will be the headquarters for the production company with filming to begin July 1 to January 15, 2023.
There was some hesitation among some council members concerned about events that were scheduled to be held inside the civic center, especially elections, but the group ultimately voted 11-0 for the chief executive to sign.
J.P. Gallagher says alternate venues have been found for most of the events.
"We’re not going to lose any events, we’re just kind of going to relocate within the community and we have something great happening within this community," said
Gallagher.
Karen Byrnes, the Butte-Silver Bow community development director, says the Community Development Department has been working toward this for some time to be ready when it happened.
"Our community is ready to step up and add to the workforce that’s going to be created and so this is an opportunity for a lot of people in Butte to get involved," said Byrnes.
Byrnes is excited about the impact a huge production company like this will have on Butte and predicts the numbers will have many doing a double-take.
Paramount plus series Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner has filmed at various locations in Montana including Missoula and the Bitterroot valley.
According to the Bureau of Business and Economic Research, the filming of the fourth season of the television show Yellowstone in the Bitterroot Valley resulted in: “527 permanent jobs, Montana households received an additional $25.3 million in annual income, and Montana businesses and non-business organizations realized $85.8 million in additional gross receipts.” (http://www.bber.umt.edu/pubs/econ/FilmIndustryImpact2022.pdf)
"They’re going to be at our hotels, they’re going to be out of our shops, they’re going to be buying supplies, they’re going to be impacting our economy in a major way," said Byrnes.
Byrnes says her department will document and gather data on the impact 1932 will have on the community once the production company begins filming.
