Bismarck, ND Filmmakers - Balkowitsch Documentary

Thanks for visiting our Her, Him & The Fellas  GoFundMe page! We are two filmmakers from Bismarck, ND embarking on our first official documentary film. 'Her' is Chelsy Ciavarella and 'Him' is Greg DeSaye. We started Her, Him & The Fellas after we began producing our first documentary film in May 2018 called "Balkowitsch" on wet plate artist, Shane Balkowitsch. Please watch the trailer above or read about the story below.  

The funds raised through this campaign will go towards private screenings for our community, film festival submissions and expenses, and other post-production costs for finishing the film. We also plan to use a majority of the funds to help promote this film to a much larger audience through national target marketing. What Shane is doing is extremely noble, artistic, and great for North Dakota. It has been a real honor to work with him on this project and to meet everyone that we have along the way. 

We really want to see how far we can reach with this story. Your support truly means a lot! We have incentives up above so please follow us on Facebook  or Instagram  if you need to reach us for anything. You can also contact us at herhimandthefellas.com . 

Greg & Chelsy 



Bismarck, ND native, Shane Balkowitsch had always loved art but never thought of himself as much of an artist. Instead, he focused on growing a family, practicing as an oncology nurse, and starting a successful medical supply business that he still operates today.

However, his life changed in August 2012. That’s when he became captivated by an image that he came to learn was captured using the collodion process.

Balkowitsch had no formal training in photography. His only camera, a phone. But driven by curiosity and passion, Balkowitsch decided to learn this very archaic and complex process of photography. Forty-five days after that image had grabbed hold of his soul, he made his first wet plate.   

Fast forward to the present day, only a few short years later, and Balkowitsch has captured over 3,000 plates. Many of his Native American photos have been permanently curated by the North Dakota Historical Society, a plate of Evander Holyfield was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution, and he operates one of the most renowned natural light wet plate studios in the world.

Shane's Work 
Shane's Facebook Page