SILO cost less than $2 million to make, according to Goldberg, but he is quick to emphasize that the dollar amount does not include a wealth of in-kind value added to the film by three main partnerships that made the film possible.
The genesis of the film was sparked by an incident that occurred when three teenage boys were engulfed in grain on a farm near Mount Carroll, IL in 2010. “We were ready to start making the film in 2017, but it took us until 2018 to raise enough money.” “We were sticklers for coming up with a screenplay that was ready to go,” says Goldberg. Enough starter capital was raised to do the research for the film and to finance the travel that was needed for Burnette and Jason Williamson, who was brought in to write the script.Įventually, Goldberg notes, the script evolved over approximately 50 different versions. Finding FinancingĪs producers, Blood Orange needed to come up with the financing to bring Burnette’s vision to life. It’s a shocking, visceral experience,” Goldberg recalls of his initial reaction. “Because I had never heard of it, I was originally very intrigued when it was explained to me by Marshall. Goldberg, who is a native of New York City, had never heard of grain entrapment. Goldberg’s and Ulmer’s company, Blood Orange Pictures, was looking for a low-budget, independent film to produce, Goldberg tells Grain Journal, but a film about a farm tragedy had not been on the production company’s radar. He thought that rendering such a tragic occurrence in an authentic way would not only produce an engrossing and entertaining film but could also shine a light on the character and courage of the rural people he had grown up with.īurnette took his idea to Sam Goldberg, the lead producer of SILO, and Ilan Ulmer, Goldberg’s producing partner, in September 2014. 📧īurnette grew up in rural Tennessee and knew about grain entrapment incidents. Subscribe to Safety E-News delivered twice monthly to your inbox.
Film director Marshall Burnette heard a report about the tragedy on National Public Radio and thought the issue cried out for a dramatic portrayal. The genesis of the film was sparked by an incident that occurred when three teenage boys were engulfed in corn on a farm near Mount Carroll, IL in 2010. How the film SILO came to be made is a testament to the teamwork shown by a variety of partners and participants who shared a common belief and commitment to demonstrating dramatically the dangers of grain entrapment. More than 20% of the fatalities have happened to teenage boys. Statistics cited at the end of film explain that, since documentation of grain entrapment incidents began in 1964, at least 1,200 people have died after being trapped in grain. SILO was released on May 7 for widespread distribution after being shown in 250 rural communities as an educational vehicle to promote grain safety. It was filmed on a farm in Kentucky and in an airplane hangar in Mason City, IA. The 77-minute film was inspired by true events and researched rigorously by the film’s writer, director, and producer. When the boy himself is sucked into the corn, a rescue effort ensues that is fraught with the personal entanglements of a rural community. SILO is a first-of-its-kind independent film that depicts in gritty and consuming detail a grain entrapment disaster that befalls a teenage boy who tries to rescue a doomed farmhand from a grain bin of corn.
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