GREAT FALLS — Julie Mac is highlighting some of the Montana's treasures in a new a video series called "Montana’s Best."
She has been a producer for programs on Discovery, A&E, ESPN, and HGTV, and is now using her skills to showcase the best of what Montana has to offer.
Julie and her crew travel the state looking for the people, places, and pictures that make Montana special.
“Here I am from Montana, but I had no idea that Glendive, Montana, is the number one spot to be going dinosaur digging in the United States,” said Mac. “I had no idea that we had all these hidden gems.”
By talking to tourism officials and getting a grant through the Montana Film Office, Julie launched the program in March, letting viewers know there’s much more to Montana than what the outside world might think.
“They said, 'Listen, we need to spread the love with tourism, we need to make sure people know more about Montana except for just Glacier National Park and Yellowstone Park,'” said Mac.
There are currently 13 episodes to choose from, with more in the works.
For those who say Montana doesn't need more tourism, Mac says it’s an industry that still needs support: “I can’t even tell you how many people contact us. It’s come from county commissioners, mayors that have called us saying, 'Please come to our county, highlight our attractions, we want the tourism, we want people to come visit.'”
Click here to visit the Montana's Best website.
Julie was the guest on the most recent episode of Tim McGonigal's podcast "Making Montana Connections."
The "McGonigal’s Chronicles: Making Montana Connections" podcast is available on Omny.fm, iTunes, Spotify, Google, and Stitcher. Previous guests include:
- Jeff Ament of the rock band Pearl Jam
- Sarah Calhoun, creator of the Red Ants Pants Music Festival
- Jamie Ford, Great Falls-based NYT best-selling author
- Nada Bakos, former CIA operative
- John Cameron, retired Great Falls police detective
- Dava Newman, former deputy administrator of NASA