Latest Alexander Payne film "Nebraska" on location near Buffalo

Alexander Payne's ("The Descendants," "About Schmidt") latest film "Nebraska" is shooting at the Lake Stop near Buffalo. The film is about "an aging, booze-addled father who makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim a million dollar Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes prize." And we know that all roads from MT to NE go through WY. Shots are production stills taken off of the Wyoming Film Office's Facebook page.

Preston Randolph's "The Summer of '81" named winner of Wyoming Short Film Contest

From the Wyoming Film Office:

“The Summer of ‘81,” a short film produced by Preston Randolph and filmed near Meeteetse, Wyoming is the winner of this year’s Wyoming Short Film Contest. The short tells the unique story of Wyoming man, Bob Taylor and the spirit and struggles of his life's journey. From teaching in the city, to being a Cowboy in Wyoming, to raising his family without electricity in the cabin he built by hand, and of course baseball. Now in its fifth year, the Wyoming Short Film Contest awarded $25,000 to Randolph who will now have the opportunity to produce another film in Wyoming with the proceeds.

Randolph began his film making career at Cody High School, where he remains the only student to have won the statewide Wyoming High School Short Film Festival three years running. Alongside his filmmaking career, Randolph dedicates the remainder of his time in being a political activist for social justice. He has organized an annual charity drive for the people of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and is currently working on a feature-length documentary, “Wind Chases the Sun.” The film exposes the case of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, and his ongoing 36 years of imprisonment.

According to film contest administrator, Colin Stricklin, "The point of this contest is not just to award one filmmaker $25,000. Rather, it's our goal to provide exposure to the talented filmmakers, to support independent film projects and to encourage filmmakers to consider shooting their projects in Wyoming. There is an exceptional amount of talent on display in this contest, both from in-state and out-of-state filmmakers."

For 2012, the Film Office also offered a Filmmaker’s Choice Award giving contest entrants the opportunity to recognize a fellow filmmaker. The winner of the award, and the associated $5,000, was filmmaker Mark Pedri. His film, “Western Wandering,” follows the filmmaker on a 700-mile mountain bike ride around Wyoming to discover what truly defines the state he was born and raised in.

You can still watch all of this year's entries at http://www.wyomingshortfilmcontest.com/.

Jackson Hole ranch and Grand Teton National Park site of Quentin Tarantino shoot

The Jackson Hole News& Guide reported this:

Director Quentin Tarantino wrapped filming for parts of his latest movie, “Django Unchained,” in Jackson Hole last week, with plenty of shots of snow, the Tetons and even elk.

The director decided to shoot five scenes instead of an originally planned three at the private Bar BC Ranch on Spring Gulch Road, Mary Jane Ashmore, the ranch’s marketing manager, said.

In all, the production spent more than $500,000, rented 100 rooms at Snow King Resort for about a week and also filmed in Grand Teton National Park.

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Based on a 1966 Italian-made spaghetti Western, Tarantino’s feature is about a slave-turned bounty hunter, starring Jamie Foxx in the title role. Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Sacha Baron Cohen also have roles.

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Tarantino’s production company hired several residents for crew work, Michelle Howard of the Wyoming Film Office said. The company also brought in veteran movie horse wranglers Robin and Kate Wiltshire from Turtle Ranch near Dubois.

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The production company spent more than $500,000 in Wyoming, which qualifies it for a cash rebate of  up to 15 percent of those expenses, [Howard] said. The state’s Film Industry Financial Incentive program requires a production spend $200,000 or more to qualify for the rebate.

Cheyenne filmmakers return home to make feature film based on Kafka story

From the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle: Writer/director Dillon Petrillo trains his camera on actress Mary Higgins in between takes while filming a movie based on Franz Kafka's "Description of a Struggle" at a residence in Cheyenne on Friday evening. Petrillo, along with actor/producer Ian Rowe are paying for the production through a $25,000 grant by the Wyoming Film Commission, which was awarded after the pair won the Wyoming Short Film Contest. Photo by Jerret Raffety, WTE staff.