The North Dakota Ethics Commission has announced it is investigating a complaint regarding the state’s Motion Picture Production Recruitment (MPPR) grants, which awarded $600,000 to a Bismarck filmmaker to produce two films in North Dakota.

The grant was an amendment to House Bill 1018 from the 2023 legislative session, and was ultimately awarded to Daniel Bielinksi, the founder of Canticle Productions in Bismarck. The process only provided 10 days after it was announced for applications to be submitted, and Canticle was one of four applicants, including Minot-based InDak Media.

The complaint was filed in February by Bismarck businessman and filmmaker Matt Fern, one of 25 North Dakota-based producers and production companies who signed an open letter last year to Gov. Doug Burgum regarding the fairness and transparency behind the process.

“I first became aware of these grants even existing in August of last year when the Department of Commerce announced that $600,000 was awarded to Canticle Productions to make two films. I immediately reached out to the film program manager for more information. I also reached out to every filmmaker I knew in the state, and no one knew anything,” Fern said.

The complaint alleges that Bielinksi acted as an unregistered lobbyist, and attempted to influence the passage of the 2021 and 2023 MPPR grants. The 2021 grant of $100,000 was awarded to Canticle without a competitive bidding process, and Bielinksi’s application for the 2023 grant was submitted less than 48 hours after the grant was announced.

The complaint also highlights a statement made by Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, of Williston, on the Senate floor on April 14, 2023, regarding the added funding for the grant, “to a production company for another motion picture that’s being made in North Dakota. Many of the productions from this company have been North Dakota centrist productions and this is another one they are bringing online.”

Fern said in the complaint that he believed the company referred to by Bekkedahl was Canticle Productions.

In a statement to The Minot Daily News on Sept. 2, 2023, Kim Schmidt, communications manager for the Department of Commerce, said that while legislators may have expected the grant to be awarded to Canticle given the 2021 grant award which produced the film “The End of the Rope,” the legislative intent was for there be a competitive application process.

The process itself fell under the scrutiny of the state auditor, which recently released a report finding the Department of Commerce did not follow their normal process for a grant application timeframe.

As stated in the report, “We reviewed awarding procedures for 12 other grants issued by the Department in 2022 and 2023 to determine the number of days allowed for applicants to apply and found that in the same competitive process, the Department gave 28 to 84 days from the date grants were announced.”

The Commerce Department’s response to the audit was included in the report, arguing that a delay would have hindered the recipient’s ability to deliver the intended product back to the state within the timeframe established by the legislature.

When Fern filed his initial open records request regarding the film grant, only one email was produced from Bielinski to the Commerce Department which included Canticle’s grant application. It was later revealed at the meeting between the group of North Dakota filmmakers and Governor’s office personnel on Monday that an additional email was not included with the tranche of documents sent by Bielinski to Commerce Commissioner Josh Teigen on May 26, 2023.

The email was later provided to Fern, in which Bielinski identified himself as the president of Canticle Productions and sought to discuss logistics for the payout of the $600,000 from the grant, under the presumption that it had been awarded to him. Teigen replied saying he didn’t believe the legislation stated a recipient, and required the department to follow a competitive request-for-proposal process.

While he awaits the ethics investigation to complete and produce its findings, Fern said he and the other filmmakers hope it will bring about transparency, accountability and will lead to more opportunity to more of the talented filmmakers around North Dakota.

“I really believe in these film grants, and North Dakota is surrounded by successful film grant programs in other states. We aren’t starting from scratch. They at least have a normal and transparent application process. These large grants didn’t even have an application process in 2021, and I believe the application process in 2023 was extremely flawed and biased in favor of Canticle Productions,” Fern said. “I truly believe these grants are an incredible opportunity for the whole state of North Dakota.”