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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's vast and diverse scenery has been the backdrop for many films, but some say the limitations of the state's Motion Picture Incentive Program could be pushing productions elsewhere.
Utah's screen debuts date back almost 100 years ago with "Deadwood Coach" being filmed in Kanab. The film was the first of many to come for Kanab, which eventually earned the nickname "Little Hollywood."
"We directly feel the benefits of film incentives in rural Utah, especially in Kanab, the impacts are very visible all the way from the direct spending part," Kelly Stowell, a member of the Rural Utah Film Coalition, said. "Film is the gift that keeps on giving and movies that were shot here decades ago are still popular with people."
Film tourism can compel out-of-state visitors to select a destination because of its link to a film or TV series. That link has delivered 2.2 million visitors to Utah and $6 billion in revenue to the state over the past 10 years.
Rural communities like Kanab and Kane County have thrived off of the productions, but the film industry and the competition for its business has risen over the years. Competition has gone from just among states to also among countries.
To meet the competition, the Utah Legislature passed the Motion Picture Incentive Program in 2011. Utah is among more than 30 states that provide a tax incentive to digital media companies. The program has provided large economic benefits to the state and its communities in the past decade, a study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association of Utah and the Rural Utah Film Coalition revealed.
The Olsberg SPI study shows that in the last five years, the film incentive generated $614 million in net output, with $48 million being spent in Utah on film and television productions in 2021.
Nearly half of the $614 million was through direct spending by the industry with the rest generated through supply chain and wage effects. Production budgets can stimulate a local economy through equipment purchases, hiring crew members, transportation and hotels.
But Utah is beginning to become overlooked by production companies who turn to states that have increased incentives over the years. The Motion Picture Incentive Program has received more requests than it can fund, leading the state to lose out, Motion Picture Association of Utah President Jeff Johnson said.
"We are competing against 34 other states that offer tax incentives and unfortunately, at this point, Utah's one of the lowest right now. We need to up the amount of money that we have in there in order to compete," Johnson said.
The loss includes productions with budgets totaling $216 million in 2018 and $207 million in 2019, according to the study. Among those losses was Paramount's popular series "Yellowstone." Approximately 75% of the first three seasons was filmed in Utah, before the production was moved to Montana.
"In Utah, we have a lot of landscape diversity. We have everything from the Sahara Desert to the high mountains. We have sand dunes, the high mountain forest and all the canyons and country in between that. We have that going for us. We have the crew, but we need the final piece of this as an incentive that helps us compete against the other states," Stowell said.
Part of that incentive could be expanding for rural Utah. A bill sponsored by Sen. Ronald Winterton, R-Duchesne, would exempt certain rural production from the cap in the Motion Picture Incentive Program each fiscal year. The bill is an opportunity to show commitment to rural Utah and its communities, Stowell added.
"This is a way for the Legislature and for our governor to show us what they think about us in rural Utah," the senator said. "It's a good opportunity to the Legislature and the governor, who campaigned on rural economic development and helping the rural communities. I think this is a way that they can directly help us."
