‘Idaho is a central character’: Local filmmakers bring growth to the big screen
Aidan Brezonick wants to have a hard conversation about Idaho’s growing pains, and he thinks he’s found the perfect way to do it.
“Filmmaking is one of the best ways to get across conversations that are difficult to have,” Brezonick told the Idaho Statesman in a phone interview.
Brezonick, who grew up in the Treasure Valley, has teamed up with other Idahoans to make a feature-length film called “Mirage” about the Gem State, its residents and the vast changes the state is undergoing.
“I very rarely think a movie is for everyone, but (this) is something that’s both for the Idahoans that have grown up here and the people from out of state that think they know what this place is,” said Brezonick, who wrote the film’s script and will direct.
Commodification of the West
Brezonick started putting Idaho on camera when he was a teenager working as a camera operator for KTVB.
“It wasn’t filmmaking in the beginning, it was news and telling local stories,” he said.
After graduating from Eagle High School, he moved to Chicago to attend film school and later began working on film projects in places like Los Angeles. After a decade away, he moved back to Boise shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.
By then, Brezonick said, he had realized he had a unique perspective as someone from Idaho — he could tell stories about a wild, unique place that many others couldn’t.
“(I thought), ‘Somebody has to tell these stories, these things that are huge and important and get left out of everyday life,’” Brezonick said. “(I decided) I’m only going to tell stories about Idaho now.”
In 2021, he joined Boise producer Ross Sauriol, of North by Northwest production studio, and local actor Logan Leavitt to film “Meridian,” a short film shot in the Treasure Valley that explores climate change and everyday life. The film won the Gem State Award at the 2022 Sun Valley Film Festival.
Sauriol and Leavitt have again joined Brezonick to create “Mirage.” The film, set in 2008, follows a young news videographer, Dean, as he uncovers uncomfortable truths about growth in Idaho while reporting on a billionaire’s record land grab.
“He keeps running into people saying their lives are changing because this billionaire is buying up land,” Brezonick said. “This billionaire is basically fencing off the West. It’s a metaphor for the commodification of West.”
The movie’s title is a nod to Dean’s revelations — “what is there vs. what do you think is there,” Brezonick explained.
Brezonick said he was inspired by rising tensions in Idaho as Texas oil tycoon billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks have snapped up tens of thousands of acres of land in recent years. But the story has twists that may surprise viewers, as Dean becomes more jaded with growth and discovers more about the mysterious, wealthy stranger transforming his home state.
“(Dean is) getting a firsthand glance of this place he knows and loves changing,” Brezonick said. “It feels like he’s one of the first people saying, ‘This is going in a direction nobody really wants, but nobody’s talking about it.’”
Leavitt, who plays the lead role, told the Statesman in an interview that “Mirage” is a “neo-noir Western” that hits home for him as someone who was born and raised in Boise. That made it easier to step into Dean’s shoes.
“It rings completely true and it is a Boise film down to the smallest molecule,” Leavitt said.
Sauriol, who first met Brezonick in high school, agreed. After living in Los Angeles for more than a decade, he said he was taken aback by growth when he returned to Boise in recent years.
“There couldn’t be a more relevant time to make this movie,” Sauriol said. “It’s about the changes that are happening here. Idaho is a central character.”
Brezonick said he’s in early talks with “big names” for other roles in the film, which will begin shooting in late September or early October following a fundraising campaign. He plans to edit during the 50-day film shoot and take the movie on the festival circuit in early 2023.
Making Idaho’s mark on film
In addition to telling Idaho’s stories, Brezonick wanted to show that quality films can be made here. When he went to film school, he said, he felt like he had to go to Los Angeles or New York City to pursue a career. Leavitt, who studies acting and creative writing at Boise State University, felt the same.
“It felt like, ‘Oh man, I need to get out,” Leavitt said.
Sauriol said pre-production in Idaho has been “a breath of fresh air” after making movies in Los Angeles, where he said people are disenchanted with the filmmaking process.
“People here want to open their houses to you,” Sauriol said. “They’re hospitable. They get excited about it. That just makes it more fun.”
Brezonick said “Mirage,” which will be shot on film rather than digitally, could show the entertainment industry that Idaho has serious potential and noteworthy talent. All three men said they hope their efforts open the door to more projects in Idaho.
And Brezonick has another hope — that “Mirage” will tell the world what Idaho is before an outsider has a chance to change the narrative.
“Idaho hasn’t really had a chance to stick up for itself,” Brezonick said. “This is a more serious way to show what our values are about and what the place is.
“My hope is it can be a point of reference for people,” Brezonick added. “Don’t change Idaho, let Idaho change you.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
