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Filmmakers nearing end of project – completion funding still needed

MILES CITY (AP) — The annual Miles City Bucking Horse Sale is being used to demonstrate the culture of eastern Montana in a documentary film being prepared for public television.

By The Associated Press

http://helenair.com/articles/2003/12/27/montana/a06122703_01.txt

‘‘We are using the Bucking Horse Sale as a state of affairs for small ranches. … It’s a more intimate look at what life is like in eastern Montana,” said Ian Kellett, co-producing the film with Jon Dodson.

The annual three-day sale and rodeo in May usually brings 200 to 300 unbroken horses to be viewed in a rodeo setting by buyers from around the country.

Kellett and Dodson, both of Livingston, expect the film to be aired initially on Montana PBS in about April. They showed the demonstration version during this year’s sale at the Custer County Art and Heritage Center.

They are now editing and raising money to complete the project. They have raised $17,000 of the estimated $39,000 they need.

They are looking at how the area’s history and horses have been intertwined, including homesteaders releasing their horses into the hillside and Fort Keogh raising horses for soldiers in World War I.

‘‘The problem with this film is that there are so many fascinating stories, it is hard to figure out how to fit it all into 27 minutes,” Kellett said.

Dodson and Kellett, both experienced filmmakers, discovered a couple of years ago that they were working on the same project separately. Dodson filmed the sale in 2001, and Kellett filmed it in 2002. They came to the 2003 sale together.

Dodson’s work has included commercials, feature films (including ‘‘Titanic”), and documentaries. Kellett has worked for National Geographic, including filming tiger sharks in Australia, worked on ‘‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not,” and has freelanced.

They share an admiration and enthusiasm for the lifestyle and culture of the Miles City area. The film follows a group of characters from a ranch, including such activities such as branding, to the sale.

‘‘There’s a strong sense of community and how people work together,” Kellett said. ‘‘It’s really fascinating to us the strong sense of community out here that’s not common in the world anymore.”

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