It took over 9 years to shoot, edit, and release this film about McCarthy and the people who live inside Wrangell/St. Elias National Park. That’s kind of how it works when you are working on a passion project with no budget. But I’m proud of it, and I’m not beholden to any sponsors. The stakeholders in this film are the people who call the Wrangells home and this is for them.
We started in 2011 with a trip to McCarthy, Alaska to scope out the possibility of making a film. My friend Dave Huppert and I returned in 2012 and recorded a ton of interviews with locals. The story we got from a lot of folks who loved this place was a bit hard to pin down. Many were nervous about outsiders coming in and making a movie. But we were able to spend 2 weeks and captured a ton of stuff. But still no real story.
I actually edited the film into a rough piece that just felt a bit… dismal.
The next year, Discovery Channel came in and made a reality show of the place. That seemed to be a tough show to follow, so we kind of abandoned it as a rough cut.
Then in 2016, the Wrangell Mountains Center invited me back as an artist-in-residence.
I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but I said yes and I brought a camera. I shot for another 2 weeks, getting some updated interviews and meeting some new characters.
Photos from pre- production
Check out some pics from when we were scoping the documentary.
I came home and immediately started working at Upworthy, so I never even really looked at the new footage.
Queue the 2020 quarantine.
I got a nibble from someone at Voice of America who was looking for “American Stories” to license. So I sent her my original film. She liked it but also had some good feedback for me. I recut the film, to make it a bit more of postcard from this place, as opposed to a story about the people vs. the national park service.
It was better!
I was also able to utilize music that we had recorded in McCarthy in 2012, instead of licensing a bunch of stock music with zero budget. I love that I was able to honor these musicians because they are such an important part of the community and what makes it special.
They are:
Robin Child - Banjo, Vocals (IG @gobanjogo)
Melissa Mitchell - Guitar, Vocals (IG @melissaalma)
Michelle McAfee - Guitar, Vocals (IG @michellemcafeemuse)
Jared Steyaert - Guitar, Vocals (IG @jpsteyaert)
Bryan Campbell - Cello
Hope you enjoy and I would love you to leave me a comment if you do!
🙏
Pete