Is Missoula Ready For Its Close Up?

by Travis Mateer

I snapped this pic of the Yellowstone crew outside Pangea while on my to get coffee this morning. I first reported on the return of filming for Yellowstone nearly two weeks ago because I’m not the kind of journalist who waits around for press releases to tell me what’s going on in my own community.

When I contacted Scott, the co- owner of Liquid Planet, this was his response to me about whether or not a Liquid Planet property would be involved in filming:

Today’s post is going to educate Scott Billadeau about the fact that production crews DO discuss when and where they will film, but only in certain circumstances, like when they know filming will disrupt regular business in a public space. That’s why NBC Montana is reporting that regular business will be disrupted this Friday at the Missoula County Courthouse. From the link:

The TV series “Yellowstone” resumes filming this Friday in Missoula. 

Streets will be closed around the Missoula County Courthouse.

County staffers encourage residents seeking services at the courthouse to allow for additional time to find parking.

For a visual of the areas where parking won’t be available on Friday for us lowly Missoula citizens, here’s a graphic from the article:

When production was happening two years ago in Missoula, I reported on the local impacts. Here are some of the posts I wrote at the time:

A Question Of Worth And Cost As It Relates To Selling Our Community Out To Costner’s Yellowstone (June 23rd, 2022)

Talking With Some Missoula Cops About Keeping The Yellowstone Production Safe (July 7th, 2022)

Here’s What Ross Douthat Thinks Of Montana In His New York Times Yellowstone Op-Ed (July 29th, 2022)

A Yellowstone Skirmish On West Main Street As The Larger Narrative War Continues (August 11th, 2022)

A Morning Beer And An Extra Story About Yellowstone (August 11th, 2022)

On-The-Ground Yellowstone Reporting…But Who Owns The Ground? (August 18th, 2022)

Is Yellowstone A “Fictional” Pressure Release Valve Meant To Mesmerize And Pacify Its Audience, Or Something More? (November 15th, 2022)

The Irony Of Missoula Current “Environmental Reporter” Complaining That The Show Yellowstone Is Helping Ruin Montana (November 17th, 2022)

Week In Review: July 17-21 (July 23rd, 2023)

So, Missoula, are you ready for your close up? Because it’s not just Yellowstone putting Missoula on the exploitation map for Hollywood. The reboot of Road House has Elwood Dalton’s character, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, coming from “a little town called Missoula“, and the show I just started watching a few days ago, Outer Range, has Josh Brolin’s character asking the hippie, Autumn Rivers, if she’s from Missoula or Boulder when she shows up in the first episode.

Another star encounter our humble town recently experienced involved Jim Carrey. Here’s the famous actor giving Missoula kudos for our generosity:

Well, Jim, how long do you think Missoula can maintain this small town charm amidst economic pressures pushing out non-wealthy residents and replacing them with deep-pocketed out-of-staters fleeing rotting liberal hellholes like Seattle, Portland and LA?

While Missoula enjoys its limited time in the spotlight, I spent some time yesterday chatting with a Wall Street Journal reporter about the text messages I’ll be publishing at the end of this month from a Detective who has had brushes with fame himself.

For example, here’s a review of the Krakuer book about Missoula, which featured prominently our famous Detective, Guy Baker. From the link (emphasis mine):

Detective Guy Baker is a dynamic character in the book. Krakauer gives Baker more time and space than any other member of Missoula law enforcement. After Allison starts emailing him questions, Detective Baker guides Allison toward making her own decision about reporting Beau Donaldson to the police. Once Allison decides that she has to report Beau, Detective Baker works hard on her case. He is supportive of Allison in more personal matters as well. At Allison’s request, Detective Baker often appears with her at important meetings regarding her case.

Why did texts from Detective Baker start pinging my smart phone? Is it because of the unique methodology I use to collect stories about Baker and the people he surrounds himself with, like Lowell Hochhalter, the chaplain of the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office and head of the LifeGuard Group?

Maybe the content of the texts will help illuminate the intent, so stay tuned for when I publish them on May 31st.

If you appreciate the uncompromising approach to local reporting I exhibit six days a week, then please consider donating to Travis’ Impact Fund (TIF). I have bills to pay, and it’s been two whole weeks since I received my last donation, so what are you waiting for? Donated today!

Thanks for reading!