The precedent set while downsizing Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments is the greatest threat to our public lands that our generation has ever experienced.

-ABOUT THE FILM-

Volume 1 | In December 2017, a presidential executive order reduced two of our national monuments of scientific, cultural, and geological significance. For the first time in history, the Antiquities Act is challenged, resulting in a handful of grassroots organizers banding together in rural communities in Southern Utah to ensure their way of life, lives on.

This film unveils the never-before-told stories with inside access into what truly happened leading up to this attack on our public lands. In one of the most remote regions of the United States, a fierce land battle is being waged due to a determined religious ideology dating back to the early 90s with the establishment of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument.

The Antiquities Act has never been tried in this way before, with the stakes at their highest. With the national monument protection status removed, hundreds of thousands of cultural artifacts and dinosaur fossils are now at risk of being looted from local communities to be sold on the black market.

What lies in the balance is the future of our national parks, national monuments, and the development of our public lands.

What happens if we lose our connection to nature while in the midst of an unprecedented attack on our public lands? Midnight Monument is an ensemble non-fiction film, driven by multiple characters that have a connection to this landscape.

This is a story about livelihood and healing. This is a story about the survival of generational traditions.

Join us on our first behind-the-scenes series, following our Traverse documentary crew on the making of Midnight Monument. We are beyond thrilled to share our adventures over the last 5 years making this feature film. We love making films for those who love the outdoors and to inspire adventure. The series begins with the Traverse documentary crew traveling to Southern, Utah to work on uncovering the real, and untold story of why our two national monuments have almost been erased from the map entirely. A film that has endured every possible hurdle, and even a pandemic, later in the summer of 2023 we are excited to finally release this film.

Additional Crew

(Not Pictured)

Kristen Olson - Producer

Stacey Fronek - Associate Producer

Alex Witkowicz- Camera

RC Walker - Camera

Kevin Deming - Camera

Cory Palencia - Camera

Caitlin Bassolino - Post-Production Intern