OMAHA — In the past few years in Scottsbluff, you might have spotted actress Frances McDormand running a piler at the beet factory or one of the Coen brothers dining out at a local restaurant.
Or maybe you’d walk past McDormand and husband Joel Coen buying yarn at the Brown Sheep Co. outside of town.
“She’s quite the knitter,’’ said Starr Lehl, economic development director for the city of Scottsbluff.
Since 2017, the Scottsbluff area has been a location for two movies and a reality TV show, “Street Outlaws.’’
Joel and Ethan Coen first filmed a segment of “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs’’ on a private ranch in the area in 2017 and then McDormand returned in 2018 for “Nomadland.’’
It recently won a Golden Globe for best drama motion picture, and Chloe Zhao became the first Asian woman to claim the top director prize.
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Two former Omahans worked on the film: Mary Kerrigan as first assistant director and production manager and Madison Pflug as a set dresser.
“I think the reason they chose Scottsbluff is that when Frances was here when her husband was filming the ‘Ballad of Buster Scruggs’ just north of Scottsbluff, she would go to coffee and different places and people would not recognize her,’’ Lehl said. “They wouldn’t approach her. I think she liked that.’’
McDormand was nominated for a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Fern, a woman who leaves her small town to travel the country in search of work after losing everything in the Great Recession. The story is based on a book by Jessica Bruder.
Her storyline fits right in with many of the temporary workers the Western Sugar Cooperative Co. hires every fall to help process the 1.4 million tons of sugar beets grown on 45,000 nearby acres.
“People travel and live in a van and work for us and make their money and move on somewhere else,’’ said Jerry Darnell, vice president of agriculture for Western Sugar.
McDormand and crew filmed for several days. They’d aim for the golden hour, he said, right before sunset.
McDormand was shown how to do different jobs on a piler, which pushes beets via a large conveyer belt into huge piles that eventually are processed into granulated, powdered and brown sugar.
Western Sugar employees showed McDormand how it was done and the film crew captured snippets of her seemingly doing each job.
McDormand wanted to make sure that it looked authentic.
“We went through everything before she got started,’’ said Michael Relka, an agriculturalist. “They were just shots. She wasn’t there working. I would have loved to have an extra employee for four days.’’
McDormand was also shown in front of the Midwest Theater in Scottsbluff and at a gas station and local restaurant. It made up less than 10% of the film, which was shot in five states.
Lehl doesn’t know the economic impact “Nomadland’’ brought to Scottsbluff because it was a small crew and a short stay. But she estimates that the monthlong shooting for “Buster Scruggs†brought in about $3 million from hotels, caterers, law enforcement and extras. A firetruck had to be on set at all times.
“For ‘Buster Scruggs,’ they wanted the area to be kind of brown, so they shot at the end of August and first part of September,’’ Lehl said. “They were from California, and they were buying hats and scarves and gloves. It gets cold at night.’’
“Street Outlaws’’ brought a crew of about 80, plus the drivers and their families, from across the United States, providing a needed shot of revenue for several businesses last fall during the economic downturn due to the coronavirus, she said.
It’s not the first time that Zhao has filmed in the Midwest. She shot “Songs My Brother Taught Me’’ at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. “The Rider’’ also was made in South Dakota, with a livestock auction shot across the Nebraska border in Rushville.
Danny Ladely, director of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, brought Zhao to Lincoln to talk about “Songs My Brother Taught Me’’ after it was released in 2015.
He knew she was special from the start, he said, and loves “Nomadland.’’ After winning a Golden Globe, it’s the front-runner for an Oscar.
“It’s extraordinary. It’s wonderful in many, many ways,’’ he said. “It’s typical of Chloe’s work in that she uses a lot of nonactors.’’
Most people in Nebraska had never heard of Zhao until Ladely brought her to Lincoln, said Laurie Richards, state film officer with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.
Omaha native Alexander Payne is the gold standard for filming in the state, she said.
He’s a two-time Oscar winner, but Zhao could be next in line.
“I think she is a genius. She handles the materials she chooses very well,’’ Richards said. “She knows what the feel of the environment is in the state and it helps tell the story.’’
Richards said every few years. She’s the one who helps them find the perfect location.
Lehl said Scottsbluff is a beautiful area with a lot to offer. The Wildcat Hills to the south are perfect for shooting mountain scenes.
“Hopefully,’’ she said, “we treated everyone right, and they will be back and take a look at us.’’
MOVIES FILMED IN NEBRASKA