Mongolian Yurts in Hollywood!

With yurts becoming increasingly popular around the world, they are beginning to attract the attention of major film and advertising producers. These are always fun, but often tricky, opportunities…

Started with Yurts in the Yukon & Iceland

It began a few years back while we were delivering yurts in the Yukon.

A very well-known movie company called us to source a few yurts for a Ben Stiller production. The issue: they needed them 1 week later in New York City!

After much deliberation, we managed to get the yurts on site and in time to be shipped out once more to Iceland for the set. The yurt scene for ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ was eventually cut from the blockbuster, but this is how the first Mongolian yurts ended up on this crazy island in the North Sea.

Our next big feature found us sending yurts to New York City once again.

This time, a TV studio was asking for a 12’ ger and the delivery was nothing short of eventful.

We made it on time but not without a pit stop in the Adirondacks after completely totalling our car in an icy highway ditch; the Hollywood lifestyle is hardcore. I guess that’s show biz, never a dull moment.

The yurt was eventually transformed by the TV studio into an African hut (seriously?) for a series whose name has since been forgotten. On the stage, we transformed the back of the yurt to accommodate a large camera. Yet another modification for the Mongolian yurt! The possibilities seem to be (almost) endless.

Indie Yurts in Alberta

The third venture occurred in our home country for an Indie film being shot in Alberta called, ‘Burn Your Maps.'

This movie set saw half of our stock of traditional Mongolian yurts, furniture and clothing in an effort to recreate a scene in the Mongolian countryside. If this interests you, the film trailer can be viewed on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q35bysShewQ.

New Mexico, Quebec, California & Beyond

A couple of other noteworthy film projects are the special agents occupying about 10 of our yurts in New Mexico for the filming of a TV series, ‘The Brave’ - and an unreleased film shot in Quebec that required 4 yurts and a lot of Mongolian furniture and clothing.

Additionally, we have been lucky to participate in another half a dozen sets, predominantly located within Toronto and California.

As new B-listers in the Hollywood scene, everyone knows that it is essential to become involved with TV commercials. So, we made this happen.

Our yurts can be found in TV ads such as ‘Jack in the Box’ and the recently world-famous Avocados from Mexico, which aired during the 2020 Super Bowl.