Monty Simo’s first short film, STARTER DOUGH (1999), began as a short story, intended as a writing prompt for his students. His friend, Jason Peterson, encouraged Monty to turn the story into a short film. Tavis Lindquist joined soon thereafter and the trio of Undone Films was formed. The three went on to complete a dozen shorts over the next twelve years, all under the Undone Films umbrella.

In 2012, Monty participated in his first 48-hour film challenge and was hooked. After participating in subsequent film challenges, Monty saw an opportunity for the Peace Region’s burgeoning film community to create its own. In 2014, he helped shepherd the creation of the first Frantic48 Film Challenge, an initiative of PRIMAA (Peace Region Media Arts Association) in collaboration with the Reel Shorts Film Festival. Monty serves as President of the PRIMAA Board.

In 2014, Monty submitted the screenplay for Leavind Sid to SCaMP, the festival’s Screenplay Competition and Mentorship Program. As a finalist, he received mentoring from Scott Belyea and went on to receive production funding from the AFA (Alberta Foundation for the Arts). LEAVING SID screens in the Turning Point package. All four Peace Region films can be seen in the Peace Region & Guest Encore package at 6:30 pm on Sat, May 14 when the award for Best Peace Region Short will be presented by Decca Industries.