Local wildlife videographer debuts latest project at Colonial Theater tonight

IDAHO FALLS — Videographer Kris Millgate of Idaho Falls is premiering her latest project Thursday night at the Colonial Theater. The half-hour-long documentary promises “stunning footage of the West and the wild within it.”

Entitled “On Grizzly Ground”, the documentary was a labor of love, Millgate tells EastIdahoNews.com. She spent the summer of 2022 living in a camper and following grizzly bears through the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem.

“That’s significant to us because we are part of that ecosystem,” she says, pointing out the ecosystem includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks as well as portions of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming,” Millgate says.

With bears and humans coming into contact with each other more frequently – sometimes with devastating results – she feels the documentary is especially timely.

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The point of her research, she says, “Was to find out how (bears) make their way while we are in the way.” She says that humans like to play where bears live, and we need to learn how to do that “with bears in the landscape.”

Millgate hopes her film will not only educates audiences about grizzlies but also showcase perspectives from local tribes, tourists, scientists and activists “as they all consider the future of these federally-protected bears.”

“When covering an issue as dynamic and ‘hot-button’ as grizzlies, you want to make sure you are … getting perspectives from everybody,” Millgate explains.

Millgate’s production company, Tight Line Media, partnered with Idaho Falls Toyota dealerships and Four Wheel Campers for the production.

“I’m extremely excited about our opportunity to support Kris Millgate’s next major production,” Travis Zmak, Teton Toyota’s managing partner said in a news release. “What Kris endured while following Grizzlies for this new film is inspirational.”

“On Grizzly Ground” premieres Thursday evening at the Colonial Theater, located at 450 A Street in downtown Idaho Falls. A VIP party, which begins at 5:30 p.m., still has a few spots open, Millgate says. Doors open to the general public at 6:30 p.m. The screening and presentation about the “behind-the-scenes stuff” will be from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. An after-party will follow.

Millgate will also be signing her latest book, My Place Among Beasts, which tells the story of the making of On Grizzly Ground. The book is Millgate’s third, adding to My Place Among Men and My Place Among Fish.

Millgate is excited to continue her work but admits she doesn’t quite know what her next project will be.

“But I do know there will be a ‘next,'” she says.