Lights, camera, action - it is Carnival time

History will be captured on film this winter. Actually, not film. High-definition digital DVD video.

Two local filmmakers, Adam Pitman and Jake Cook, are producing a full-length documentary about the Whitefish Winter Carnival for the event’s 50th anniversary this year.

“We’re hoping to do two things,” says Pitman, a graduate of Whitefish High School. “First of all, just the history of the Winter Carnival. How it came to be, who thought of this, what it takes to make it all happen. We also want to give people the full scope of what the Winter Carnival is. A lot of people think it’s just a parade. It’s much more than that — it’s extremely important to this community.”

With the final weekend of the 50th Whitefish Winter Carnival coming up on Feb. 7-8, the town is buzzing with activities. Pitman will be at them all, gathering footage and interviews.

He has already shot everything from the Merry Maker and disco party at the Great Northern Bar to the skijoring competition. He plans to mix the current events with historical footage provided by the Stumptown Historical Society to give viewers a balance between past and present traditions.

The documentary will give a never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the event.

“I think I want to narrate it. It’s going to be a very personal view of the Winter Carnival,” Pitman explains. “I have a lot of personal experiences — running from the Yetis, being scared of the Keystone Kops.”

He even wanted to be Prince Frey as a junior in high school, but he wasn’t elected.

“It crushed my heart,” he chuckled.

Pitman is an award-winning filmmaker with two feature-length independent horror films already under his belt — “Roulette” and “Paper Dolls.” Cook helped with the production of “Roulette,” and Pitman said Cook brings a great knowledge of documentary film-making to the project.

Pitman said that when he was younger, he thought the Carnival was something every town had.

“My friend was visiting here, and Herald the Hark came in blowing his horn, Yetis and penguins came marching in, and he was in awe. He said, ‘This is insane’,” Pitman recalled. “I think it’s important historically to get this on film. There is an underlying community for the Winter Carnival. Every person I’ve talked to has in some way or another been involved, growing up here in Whitefish.”

Pitman said he’s going to interview a lot of the so-called “old-timers” — people who’ve been involved for the entire life of the event. He will talk to the present-day royalty, and all the different people that make it a reality every year.

“In 50 years, some things have changed, but the integrity of it has remained,” Pitman explained. “In the ‘90’s, it came close to dying out, but now it has resurged.”

The film will explain many things about the Carnival that people might not know, Pitman said. For instance, the first Carnival, in 1960, was started by 12 people called the “Dirty Dozen” and was based on a festival in St. Paul, Minn. The Carnival grew from that as other people came up with ideas.

“Longtime local resident Ted Lund was having some drinks with his buddies, and they decided to come up with the penguins,” Pitman said. “Things like that.”

The two filmmakers are asking for anyone with archival footage of the Winter Carnival events to contact Jill Evans at the Stumptown Historical Society. They are also asking for tax-deductible donations to their non-profit account at the society. Anyone who donates will have their name listed in the credits and receive a free copy of the film, which Pitman said will be completed around March.

“Hopefully, if we can find a story line that is accessible enough to more people than just those involved, I would like to find a U.S. distributor,” Pitman said. “You would be able to pick it up in video stores.”

He also plans to send it to Montana PBS.

“It would be the greatest tourism tool the valley has ever seen,” he said. “I’m going to show the town of Whitefish and everything. I want to give back to the community. This is something for people to show their friends. I want Whitefish to be a giant destination spot for this Carnival.”

Donations can be sent to the Stumptown Historical Society, 500 Depot Street, Suite 101, Whitefish MT 59937.