Fine Alpinist Ranch
Make art. Build community.
It's all we got.
An artist-led film and media studio in the desert
Fine Alpinist Ranch started as a 2020 pandemic lockdown project. "Could we write and record an album here, all on our own?" With no engineer, no producer, one good mic and a handful of shitty ones, we FaceTimed audio engineer friends, looked at a lot of YouTube tutorials, and tada! Material Flats by Bethany Thomas and Tawny Newsome was born.Now, we're continuing to evolve with an inaugural pair of independent short films. Both will be filmed on the property with the same DIY spirit (and this time, better gear).
The films
Both films are written by and star Tawny Newsome. They feature all Black casts and ask questions about access, responsibility, and who gets to take up space in the outdoors.
Quodlibet
A woman brings a drum kit on a camping trip. When a fellow camper confronts her, tension melts into an unlikely collaboration, transforming the wilderness into a stage.
Wildfire
A solo hiker reports a wildfire from deep in the backcountry. But as new fires appear, the line between witness and suspect begins to blur. Wildfire is a twitchy little dramedy about managing grief through hyper vigilance.
Support the Work
Capitalism is crushing art.Independent art requires time, and space to breathe... a luxury most artists don't have as they grind away at the task of basic survival.In addition to making films, podcasts and music, Fine Alpinist Ranch exists to carve out that space for artists who need it.$50 will provide a gas stipend for one artist visiting the ranch. $500 sponsors an artist at the ranch for a week... $5,000 can fund a weekend creative retreat. Any contribution is meaningful.
Ranch Hands
Become a Ranch Hand and get an exclusive look behind the curtain via updates and members-only dispatches.Ongoing support helps us complete projects in the short term, as well as continue building Fine Alpinist Ranch as a space for artists to gather, make noise, and create meaningful work together under a desert sky.Includes a full subscription to the suite of podcasts produced by Fine Alpinists Ranch: Sub-Optimal Pods