Over the last year or so, I’ve written about the problematic situation with the North Dakota Commerce Department issuing grants to a specific filmmaker without much of a bidding process - and how other filmmakers in North Dakota have been standing up for themselves to find out why it seems this process was “rigged”.
Last week, the North Dakota State Auditor’s office issued its regular audit of the Commerce Department, and included a section on these grants confirming their process for issuing the grants stinks.
As the North Dakota Monitor reported when the audit report came out:
While the bidding process for the 2023 grant broke no laws, the application window was unusually short, the audit found.
The grant made $600,000 up for grabs to North Dakota filmmakers.
The point of the program was to support films that show off North Dakota’s natural features, history and culture, according to the report. Applicants had to be based in North Dakota and have a track record of distributing films about the state. The grant money also had to be used exclusively on in-state filming and production.
The Department of Commerce announced the grant online on July 21, 2023, and closed the application window on July 31, 2023 — 10 days later.
That’s much shorter than normal, the report notes. According to the audit, 12 other grants issued by the agency in 2022 and 2023 had application windows ranging from 28 to 84 days.
The report says this could have made it difficult for film companies to meaningfully compete for the money.
“Eligible applicants may not have had time to properly collect, organize and submit the required information in time to apply,” the audit states.
The Department of Commerce disputes those findings in a response included in the report.
“The methodology used appears flawed as it fails to consider the inherent differences between grant programs,” the agency argued. “We implemented a competitive RFP process, ensuring objective evaluation and merit-based selection of the strongest application.”
Some Legislators Did Intend To “Rig” The Process To Direct These Funds
Video evidence of legislative hearings was also recently uncovered and compiled showing that legislators did in fact intend to play favorites, directing these funds to a particular filmmaker.
The last clip of Senator Brad Bekkedahl in particular proves that the legislators involved intended one particular company to get the money.
Ethics Commission Complaint Filed And In Process
From The North Dakota Monitor:
The North Dakota Ethics Commission is investigating whether a Bismarck filmmaker broke lobbying rules before securing grant money from the North Dakota Department of Commerce.
The complaint alleges that Daniel Bielinski, founder of Canticle Productions, acted as an unregistered lobbyist when he hosted Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, at a private dinner and screening of his film “End of the Rope” on April 14, 2023 — a claim Bekkedahl disputes.
The complaint was filed by Matt Fern, also a Bismarck filmmaker, in February.
“I want people to know what happened,” Fern told the North Dakota Monitor.
Bielinski did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment by publication.
The complaint notes that, on April 29, 2023, Bekkedahl alluded on the Senate floor that a $600,000 grant included in the Department of Commerce’s budget bill was intended to go to Canticle Productions. Bekkedahl did not mention the company by name.
“There’s added funding for a motion picture production and recruitment grant to a production company for another motion picture that’s being made in North Dakota,” he told fellow lawmakers during a presentation of the bill. “Many of the productions from this company have been North Dakota-centrist productions, and this is another one they are bringing online.”
Bekkedahl said Thursday he was merely explaining the changes to the bill to the rest of the chamber. He wasn’t responsible for adding the motion picture grant to the budget, he said.
“It was my job as the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee to bring that bill to the floor of the Senate on the final day of the session and explain all the 63 amendments that were placed into that bill,” he said.
“Secret” School Choice Meetings Require More Scruitiny
Yesterday, I wrote about the situation regarding the “secret” legislative meetings on school choice and how they play into a pattern recently in North Dakota government.
In the audio above, about half way through, I visited with Amy Dalrymple of The North Dakota Monitor.
Watchdog Wednesday: Film Grants and Secret Legislative Meetings