BOZEMAN — If you happened to find yourself in downtown Bozeman on Monday morning, you might have noticed some commotion. That’s because a film crew was hard at work in the heart of downtown — shooting a new spinoff of the hit television series “Yellowstone.”
Twin brothers Scott and Stacy, visiting from Canada, were caught off guard by the scene. Scott, who is in the process of moving to Big Sky, was curious what was going on.
“Is it ‘Yellowstone’?” Scott asked.
“It is ‘Yellowstone,’” I replied.
The two were excited to learn that the production was for The Madison, a spinoff created by Taylor Sheridan and starring Michelle Pfeiffer. Filming took place Monday morning at the downtown restaurant Heist.
“I’m actually going to walk back on the other side just so I can see,” Scott said.
While the twins were thrilled, they’re not Bozeman locals. To get a local perspective, Grace May, assistant manager at Ace Hardware on Main Street, weighed in from her vantage point directly across from the set.
“I mean, do we need more publicity? Maybe not,” May said. “But everybody loves it and everybody loves this place, so I’m not going to say, ‘Oh my God, it’s the worst thing ever.’”
May said she arrived at work at 7:30 a.m. to find crews already set up. She wasn’t caught off guard, though.
“It actually wasn’t a shock. They were really good. I got a heads-up from somebody on their crew last week. I had a map given to me of where all the parking stuff was going to be,” she said.
As for business, she said the production hasn’t had much of an impact.
“Being on the opposite side of the street, it’s not having a big impact on us. I would imagine if we were sharing a wall with them it would be a little different.”
So, naturally, I headed over to a business that was sharing a wall with the film set.
Creighton Green, founder of Scout Arms — a gun shop in the back of Schnee’s — said the crew’s presence sparked extra curiosity.
“Yeah, we’ve actually had a little more foot traffic today than normal. I think people are coming in,” Green said.
Though he had a front-row seat, Green didn’t realize what was being filmed until I told him.
“Do you know what ‘Yellowstone’ is?” I asked. “I do,” he replied.
“What are your thoughts on that?”
“Well, I don’t think there’s any issues with it. As long as they paint the right picture,” he said.
For “Yellowstone” fans like Scott and Stacy, the anticipation is clear.
“Are you going to watch when this comes out?” they were asked.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” they replied.
According to the city, the production secured permits to film downtown, which extend into Tuesday.
