“Beneath the Plains” – Minuteman Missile National Historic Site

The land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system known as Minuteman, went online in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis and remains one of the triad nuclear armament systems in the United States. Working with the National Park Service, BPI shows both US and Soviet perspectives about the nuclear arms race in this award-winning film. 

“Beneath the Plains,” the park’s 30-minute orientation film, tells the story of the development of the US Minuteman Missile program and the US nuclear program from World War II to the present. 

Providing a balanced perspective to world events, the other 15 media pieces at the historic site (films and audio programs) include US and Soviet perspectives and elements of present-day nuclear armament. They incorporate original production in addition to layers of archival and stock imagery.  

BPI worked with both the National Park Service and US Air Force in developing this media. BPI filmed interviews with dozens of USAF missileers, security, maintenance, and other personnel, landowners, historians, and both US and Soviet citizens. Other filming involved small-scale re-enactments, some of which were filmed at the NPS missile sites as well as active Minuteman missile sites in Nebraska.