Black Gold Boom
One of the most serene places in America has become a brash, noisy place full of drilling rigs and massive trucks. A 30-minute television documentary and transmedia project, Black Gold Boom explores how North Dakota's oil boom has changed lives and altered the peaceful prairie.
In a modern-day gold rush, people have flocked to previously underpopulated regions of western North Dakota in an effort to capitalize off of the lucrative oil boom. Some ranchers are millionaires, a few oil bosses are billionaires, and a lot of working people have more money in their pockets than ever before. But it hasn't come without a cost. One of the most serene places in America has become a brash, noisy place full of drilling rigs, massive trucks, and bright orange gas flares that pollute the skies. Black Gold Boom is a journalistic exploration of the region, providing individual portraits of local residents and oil workers, along with the environmental and social consequences associated with the boom from western towns to members of the Three Affiliated Tribes at Fort Berthold reservation. Using a combination of traditional documentary video and online storytelling tools, Black Gold Boom showcases how the world’s thirst for oil has frazzled towns, dazzled politicians, and changed the state forever.