Livingston officials allow ‘Pawn Shop’ film to continue in Montana

After public comment at a nearly seven-hour Livingston City Commission meeting Monday night on whether a polarizing film could continue shooting in city limits, vice chair James Willich rifled through his notebook. “That’s a new record!” By the end of the night, commissioners voted unanimously to allow the Daily Wire-affiliated movie about an ICE agent doing battle with Antifa protesters and MS-13 gang members to continue. The decision came two days after the commission temporarily paused operations on set, and served as an added plot point in a weeks-long drama over the film’s production in the southwest Montana town since filming began in late September.

The commission’s decision means that filming — on a set featuring a fictional Minneapolis pawn shop and Korean grocery store — can recommence. Filming is slated to end on Saturday. Producers pledged to abide by permit regulations, including keeping a local food pantry open and accessible, reining in private security activity, and continuing signage and notifications to impacted neighbors.

“I’m sad that we’re all gathered here under these circumstances,” local producer Ari Novak testified. “In five days from now, much of this film crew will leave. And I want to be a good neighbor to people I have like-minded ideas with and disagree with.” More than 120 people crammed into the Livingston City Commission meeting, sitting cross-legged on the floor and spilling over into the hallway and adjacent rooms.

Over about two weeks, news stories and social media accounts had spiraled over the drama: This tension over a movie in a small Montana town appeared to be a microcosm of immigration and culture-war drama seizing communities all over the nation. At first, opponents of the film took issue with its content: A leaked copy of the script — working title “Pawn Shop” — features thinly veiled allusions to both the murder of Renee Good and the saga of Kilmar Albrego Garcia, both depicted through a conservative, tough-on-immigration lens. In the script, a copy of which was reviewed by Montana Free Press, the film’s protagonist shoots a protester as she drives maniacally into his car, killing his law enforcement partner.

A detained immigrant claims to be innocent, but later turns out to be a key player in MS-13.