BUTTE — Liz and Rob Cox are a Butte couple working on a film that they filmed here starring many locals and they’re about to premiere it. To them, it’s a love letter to the Mining City.
“We really wanted to show Butte in the positive light that we found it when we got here and how much fun it is and there’s magic here to be had. So we decided to retell this fairytale,” said Butte filmmaker Rob Cox.
"The Tinderbox" is a modern version of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale that features many Butte actors as well as several Uptown locations.
“Duane Gulick, who was our first assistant director, when he posted about it the other day, he said this movie is Butte-er than anybody ever thought possible and it really is. It’s about Butte, it’s set in Butte, it’s like a love story to Butte,” said Cox.
Cox described the filming process as guerilla moviemaking.
“We had to do a scene in a pawn shop, so the guy that works in the pawn shop got cast immediately and jumped into the role, and I thought he was great. Same thing happened at the Thriftway, so there will be a lot of people that don’t know they’re in it,” he said.
The Mother Lode Theater will host the premiere on Aug. 6.
“You know, I think it’s going to be filled with a lot of fun, a lot of gaiety—again, it’s the first time people will be able to gather together in the theater and it acts as a nice start of the new year,” said President of the Butte Center for Performing Arts Jocelyn Dodge.
Since production on "The Tinderbox" first began, there have been several major Hollywood productions filmed here in Butte and the makers of the film hope it will showcase some of the homegrown talent right here in Butte.
“The crew that I was working with kept saying that Montana is going to become like the new Hollywood, and I really hope that’s not true, but I do hope people come here and shoot, you know, and I’m hoping they will utilize more of the talent here,” said Cox.
Tickets for the Aug. 6 premiere can be purchased at buttearts.org.
