In August, The North Dakota Watchdog Network reported about the efforts of a group of North Dakota filmmakers attempting to bring attention to a grant program by the North Dakota Department of Commerce that was clearly set up to be awarded to a particular company.
In short, the grant recipient was chosen before the program was even public.
Three months later, after getting ghosted from state officials, Matt Fern and a group of filmmakers are renewing their call for state officials to dig into this situation by sending a request to Attorney General Drew Wrigley and State Auditor Josh Gallion.
To watch the Press Conference Video, click here
According to the North Dakota Watchdog Network, during the press conference, Matt Fern acted as spokesman for the North Dakota Film and Media Association and outlined the flimsy grant process that was used to hand out $600,000 to Canticle Productions this year, after they received $100,000 last budget cycle.
According to Fern’s documents, Canticle asked the Commerce Department to make the $600,000 check out to a non-profit organization that was not yet officially registered in the State of North Dakota at the time the “application” was submitted. The name of the nonprofit is Grain of Wheat Productions.
One major issue is contrasting the Canticle awarded grant application period with the application process for another film grant from 2020, administered by the Department of Commerce for $25,000.
“I am very familiar with the grant process with the state,” Fern said. “For examples, in 2020 a grant included two rounds of submissions which had a 50-day initial application period and then a another finalist round.”
Fern also pointed out that this nonprofit wasn’t registered before they received the grant money. Speculation in the interview on Talk of the Town with Steve Bakken and guest host Jason Spiess on whether it was a nonprofit at all before receiving the grant money.
This level of transparency is valid. Fern and the other filmmakers have raised concerns about Canticle’s application, claiming its submission was missing details that are typically included in film grant applications, such as timelines, cast, crew and project budgets.
“Who knows what they are spending the money on,” Fern said.
The North Dakota Watchdog Network has compiled a list or pattern of behavior from the North Dakota Commerce Department and their lack of transparency with public money.
Most recently, they reported on the recent special legislative session and the reauthorization of a $125 million “forgivable loan” (which is essentially a grant) that is essentially earmarked for a specific company: NextEra.
Because the state operates under the premise that everything is legal unless and until the Supreme Court declares it not to be, until someone spends their own money to challenge these practices the constitution will continue to be ignored.
This is the mentality that led to the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement Board suing the legislature for its violation of the single-subject rule.
In the above case, it was a governmental entity suing the legislature to have the constitution enforced. The NDPERS board taking this action was actually a service to the state and to the taxpayers according to the North Dakota Watchdog Network.
Another example is Economic Development and self proclaimed “Mr. Wonderful” Kevin O’Leary. As the North Dakota Watchdog Network points out, economic development is an area where elected officials disregard the need to protect taxpayers' interests.
The desperate desire to take credit for making some sort of economic activity happen is too appealing for elected officials - not to mention that often times recipients of those taxpayer-funded economic development dollars generally become loyal campaign contributors to elected officials.
Circling back to the issue involving the North Dakota Filmmakers, Fern said he is planning on taking more action and steps towards transparency and accountability, including filing ethics violations and asking for an investigation into the matter and parties involved.
According to Fern, in 2021, Daniel Bielinski’s Canticle Productions received $100,000 from the state for film production, but the grant was not advertised.
And in 2023, Canticle received $600,000 in grant money through an application process that was open for less than two weeks.
Fern also reported that a crowdfunding page for the films has also brought in nearly $19,000 as of publication, and does not mention the grant.
At the end of this day, over 25 filmmakers have called on the Attorney General, Aditor’’s Office and Governor Doug Burgum for total transparency about how Canticle Productions was selected for both grants.
ND Filmmaker Calls on Gov. Burgum, Commerce for Transparency, Accountability On $700K Grant Package