BENCHMARK
On the verge of resurrecting his late fathers used car dealership building into a world class amateur wrestling club in Augusta, Montana, former olympic wrestler turned coach, Mike Zadick, remembers lessons learned from his most pivotal wrestling matches; but when complications arise with the building project, Mike must dig deep into those attributes taught to him by his wrestling coach father, or else his dream to create a thriving community that coaches the next generation of Montana leaders won’t be achieved.
Made possible in part by The Big Sky Film Grant
Coming soon
“Benchmark” will be a 30-45 minute documentary film following Mike Zadick, over the course of 2024-2025, as he oversees the building of Benchmark Wrestling’s new facility to completion. Mike and his family remember their late father Bob Zadick who laid the important foundation for both Mike and his older brother Bill’s wrestling and coaching success. During the building project Mike flashes back to his most important wrestling matches and coaching career highlights where we learn how to push through adversity in life, how to dream big, and how to never quit on your goals. “Benchmark” embodies the essence of the American West through a Montana wrestling family legacy. The final film will play in local and national film festivals and attempt to air on PBS. The final viewable film will eventually live on this website page and Benchmark Wrestling’s website.
Subscribe to Big Cedar Media’s email list (bottom of page) to follow along and find out where and when you can view the film.
FILM FUNDing NEEDed
Big Cedar Media was graciously awarded $15,000 from the Montana Department of Commerce’s Big Sky Film Grant in June of 2024 for the production of “Benchmark.” Big Cedar Media still needs to raise an additional $55,000 to cover the rest of production and post production costs and is currently looking for grants, businesses, and individuals to help finance this 30-45 minute film.
Cost breakdown:
Camera Operator - Seth shoots the rest of “Benchmark” film over the course of 2024 - 2025. $15,000
Archival Footage - Archival footage licensing fee estimate. $4,000
Editing - Seth edits “Benchmark.” $15,000
2nd Editor - Freelance editor. $3,000
Colorist - Freelance colorist to color the film for theaters. $5,500
Sound Mix - Freelance sound mixer to adjust audio for theaters. $5,500
Musical Score - Freelance musician to create an original musical score. $7,000
Businesses and private individuals who donate to the production of the “Benchmark” film will be listed in the end film credits in descending order of support, with the largest funder appearing first. If the funder donates $10,000 or more they will be credited in the front (and back) of the film with the wording “Major funding for this program was provided by John or Jane Doe.” If donors give less than $10,000 they will be added to the end credits of the film as “Additional funding was provided by John or Jane Doe,” or “Made possible in part by John or Jane Doe.”
Seth has a pitch deck created and will email it upon request. Please reach out if you’d like to discuss this further.
If you’d like to Financially contribute
to the creation
of benchmark film please reach out today
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