Cazador del Oso began eight years ago as a series of musical compositions by artist/musician and film auteur, Zac Fawcett, from Whitefish, MT. Based loosely on the largely unknown and under-appreciated heroic feats of the 25th Infantry’s “Buffalo Soldiers” who saved both Wallace, ID and Essex, MT from the Big Burn of 1910, Cazador del Oso pays homage to these events, people and NW Montana. Cazador del Oso explores the plight of a fictionalized Jamaican protagonist, dealing with his own trauma, while navigating the lawless wilderness of rural Montana and its cast of early Montana pioneers like Dan and Josephine Doody –the bootleggers of Glacier National Park, and “Stagecoach'' Mary Fields –Montana’s first black female postal carrier.

In addition to Cazador del Oso's unique multi-layered presentation, this project represents a one-of-a-kind product in which the writer also composed and recorded the soundtrack. A magnum-opus of this scale has scarcely been attempted in film-writing, and yet this unique combination of originally-composed music set to careful and thoughtful writing allows both the music and the action to best compliment each other.

Full length feature films require vast sums of both time and money. Our current budget is carefully and fairly priced at $523,000, to which any donation amount will help us reach our goal. We have secured pledges to cover half up front, and with favorable outcomes from various film grants we've applied to, we are asking the community for $250,000 to help get this one-of-a-kind, purely Montanan, full length feature film to the big screen and in film festivals domestically and abroad.

Zac is currently amidst the final stages of releasing Cazador del Oso, the original soundtrack and graphic-vinyl LP, in Fall of 2024. This will include a gala event, art-auction, and five-course paired meal and live performance of Cazador del Oso's soundtrack featuring the Rockaz Orquestra, and accompanying visual presentation. Details to be announced soon. Stay tuned!