Bakken Documentary Filming To Begin

With a lot of focus on problems, housing and changes around the Bakken, sometimes the stories of real people are overlooked. A few Montana documentarians have been raising funds to change that through a Kickstarter campaign and will be filming in Northeastern Montana.

The documentary project titled “High Plains Heritage Project” will spend time with people living in the areas of the Bakken oilfields and give people a more human aspect of the farmers, ranchers and workers who are living in the area.

Stan Parker, one of the four involved in the project, explained that they would travel to Sidney, Williston and other small towns near the oilfields.

Parker, Peter Tolton and Jessica Hart all are natives of Montana and have seen some of the effects of the boom around Billings.

The fourth person on the project is a radio journalist from Brooklyn, N.Y., Tarek Fouda.

Parker said they planned to begin gathering film and information today. With just a few weeks to go until the project begins, the crew has already raised 80 percent of the needed funds from community members and interested parties through Kickstarter. He said they've raised around $9,000 of the goal, with the final amount of $11,750.