The bright lights of Hollywood are turning toward the Hi-Line over the next week or two.
Having shot for a few days already in parts of Chinook and at the Northern Winz Casino, the film crew making “Winter in the Blood” are moving this week into the towns, closing a few streets early in the morning on a few days.
Starting early Tuesday morning, filming will close portions of 3rd and 4th avenues and 3rd Street, with the help of the city public works and police departments, as requested by the production’s location scout at the Aug. 15 Havre City Council meeting.
He told them that they planned on shooting outdoor scenes on 3rd Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets, in front of and inside the Masonic Building, on 3rd Street in front of Cavalier’s Men’s and Boys' Wear and on 4th Avenue in front of Helmbrecht Studio, where they really like the look of the old “photo” sign.
“The aesthetics of that are just perfect, ” he told the council last Monday.
They will also be placing a trailer in the Atrium parking lot for dressing rooms, supplies and catering.
The streets will be closed so that the crew can fill the streets with vehicles that would fit the 1975 Havre setting of the movie.
Foot traffic for the affected businesses will be allowed in the areas while they aren’t shooting.
Filming will continue inside buildings in the area, which won’t be as obvious without requiring street closings.
Additional outdoor shooting will continue in Chinook Thursday, when the city will close Indiana Street between 2nd and 5th streets.
Thursday’s Chinook shoot will be a return for residents, after the film crew shot some other outside scenes over the past weekend.
And they will return again to shoot inside the Mint Bar and other buildings.
The crew has been filming all over for about a week already. Acting Havre Police Chief Gabe Matosich said that they had been filming north of town and out west.
On Saturday morning, the Hill County Sheriff’s Office helped out with security at a shoot at the Northern Winz Casino.
Now about a week into their 21-day shooting schedule, they will be filming all over the area, including out to Fort Belknap where the book’s story begins and its author James Welch lived, until the beginning of September. The crew of “Winter in the Blood” should be out of the area before winter is on the Hi-Line.
