BERN — Angel Studios, a Utah filmmaking company, recently filmed a scene in Southeast Idaho for one of its upcoming movies starring Neal McDonough of the miniseries “Band of Brothers” and Bailey Chase of “Longmire” TV fame.
Bernadette Kunz, who with her husband Edward owns the property in the small town of Bern near Montpelier where the scene was filmed, said the movie is called “Homestead” and will be released later this year.
“It was pretty exciting,” she said about the fiery scene filmed on her property. “People have heard about it and are asking a lot of questions.”
Angel Studios’ website, www.angel.com/movies/homestead, says this about the film: “’Homestead’ is an intense post-apocalyptic family survival drama. Ex-Green Beret Jeff Eriksson (Chase) takes a job as head of security at an elaborate prepper compound, ‘The Homestead,’ as the world crumbles. Inside, they face resource wars and ideological conflicts, while outside, chaos reigns. Amid the mayhem, unity and forgotten truths emerge as love grows in unexpected places and the community strives to cultivate the land and fend off impending destruction.”
Bernadette said the scene filmed in Bern involved burning a house that was on their property. The house was old and unsafe to live in, so she and her husband were already planning on burning it down.
Her son-in-law introduced her to Ben Smallbone, the director of “Homestead.”
“My son-in-law, Seth Taylor, works for Angel Studios,” Bernadette said. “The director looked at (the house) and said we could burn it (for the movie). He was very excited.”
Bernadette said several people came to their property to help with filming, including Chase, best known for his role in the TV series “Longmire.”
“We had it all set up,” Bernadette said. “We lighted it and they did the takes. It burned really good.”
She said she enjoyed her time with the film crew. She said Smallbone and Chase were both professional and polite to her and her husband.
“They were very kind,” Bernadette said. “They offered to pay us, but we were going to burn it anyway.”
She said she and her husband have owned the house for the past three years after purchasing it from the previous owners, Calvin and Gayle Buhler.
“It had to be burned,” Bernadette said. “It wasn’t able to be saved. Kids wanted to play in it and teenagers would break in.”
“Homestead” will be released into theaters towards the end of the year. A trailer for the movie is available at https://youtu.be/Hf8PYgTk41A.