MONTANA — A documentary years in the making is showing how skateparks helped bring people together in communities across Montana.
I (NonStop Local's Kendall Hudson) sat down with director Dan Reis, who said Montana Grind goes well beyond skateboarding and focuses on the people connected to those parks.
Over 11 years, Reis traveled across Montana and documented more than 40 of the state's 47 skateparks. What started as a film about skateboarding became a story about the people who built the parks and the communities that formed around them.
I asked Reis what he thinks the film could mean for communities going forward.
"The fact that I was lucky enough to be able to reconnect to those kids that I filmed in 2015, 2016 and then in 2024 and see them becoming young adults... yeah, that made this full circle," Reis said.
"That showed really how these skate parks affected community, really. Not just someone talking about how good it is, its that they're proofs. They're about how good a skate parks can be to the community."
Reis explained that one of the biggest challenges was not filming the story. He said the harder part was keeping the focus on the communities themselves.
While Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament helped launch many of the projects featured in the film, Reis said the documentary centered on the volunteers, families and young people who made those parks their own.
"I believe that the message for this movie is much deeper for non-skateboarders, because skateboarders kind of know about this," Reis said. "They know how powerful it is. But people that are not skateboarders that watch this movie, they'll be like, 'oh man, we need a skatepark in our town.' And I think that's the power of this movie."
A free screening of Montana Grind was set for Tuesday, July 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the Philipsburg Theater.
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