MISSOULA — We are taking you to a place called New Missoula.
It's a town that’s survived the end of civilization and zombies and robots — and where Mount Sentinel is a volcano.
It’s a comedy created by a Missoula man about a chef who creates the first cooking show after the apocalypse.
But the movie is also about big dreams.
"I came up with Cuisine de la ‘Pocalypse five years ago. I studied screenwriting at the University of Montana and immediately went down to Los Angeles to pursue that dream,” writer and director Kyle Weingart told MTN.
The plot of his movie grew from an idea about food while brainstorming with friends and fellow screenwriters.
“We had an MRE, and we were going to do a talk show about military meals and then like, what if it was a show and what it if was the apocalypse and what if it was it was like Gilligan's island a little bit or a bit like The Office?” Weingart recalled. “We kept that going and going and our feature film is our third version of cuisine to a point where it’s a lot of fun.”
The movie has some familiar names — Kevin Sorbo, Natasha Leggero and Emilio Rivera and the unstoppable optimist chef played by Kevin Jack.
But it’s a local production, too with actors, motion capture artists, one brief appearance by a local newscaster, photographers and editors and a huge supporting staff.
"We were definitely a bunch of dreamers sitting there trying to make this movie and that starts at the very bottom of the chain all the way to the top,” Weingart said. “Our executive producer was just so gung-ho, and our editor had many sleepless nights sending me clips at 2 in the morning and then going on to edit Lincoln Lawyer for Netflix the next day.”
Taking a story about the end of the world to the end of production was apocalyptic in itself.
“The entire process was a grind. We have been going since October of 2022 and the cost production — we had 350 visual effects shots which is equivalent to the first Star Wars. That being said, Star Wars visual effects budget was the budget for our entire movie. And that was in the 70’s,” Weingart noted.
This movie’s budget is just under $1 million, funded by a private benefactor and with a grant from the Montana Film Office.
The process of making this movie parallels the message it’s sharing.
"The message of the movie is don't let something like the end of the world get in the way of your dreams,” Weingart said.
This dream might not be just a done and done either. Weingart would like a sequel or even turn it into a series.
It’s a movie with pure escapism that you can see for yourself at a screening on Thursday, May 23.
“It’s not just a screening. Some of the stars will be there, there will be a Q and A after the show, and we’ll ask the audience if they recognized a Missoula business in the movie and they can win a T-shirt,” Weingart said. “It will be a lot of fun and more than just a screening
The screening of Cuisine de la ‘Pocalypse will take place on May 23 at the Wilma in downtown Missoula with the doors opening at 5 p.m. Click here for ticket information.
Watch the Cuisine de la ‘Pocalypse trailer below:
