Lights, camera, action! Utah's film industry comes of age.

• Author: Bullinger, Cara M.

Lights, Camera, Action! Utah's Film Industry Comes of Age

On any day around Utah, you might see scenes like this: a film crew on location in Liberty Park, filming scenes for the TV movie, "Battling for Baby"; a car commercial being filmed in Arches National Park; photographers from the state film commission taking location shots in the San Rafael desert or the Kanab film commissioner talking to a film company that needs cowboys, horses, cattle, lumber, and guides.

Utah's scenery and support services are a major catalyst for this business, but as any seasoned businessperson knows, it takes good marketing to sell a product. Thus, state economic development officials consider the state film commission's budget ($400,000 in 1990) "seed money" in a big investment.

Lucrative film budgets contribute to local economies around the state. In 1990, Utah enjoyed $33,000,000 in direct spending from film crews. This is a combination of commercial production generated by in-state and out-of-state organizations. (That $33,000,000 figure is fondly referred to as the "what-is-left-behind dollar." It does not include multipliers.)

Private business in Utah that provides support services to film crews has increased 50 percent, according to Leigh von der Esch, director of the Utah Film Commission and president of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI). The percentage of Utahns on film crews has increased from 10 to 80 percent since 1985. (See accompanying article, "On Location," on p. 21.) In that same time period, production days doubled from 600 to over 1,300 per year. Filming activities include feature films, TV movies and series, documentaries, TV commercials, corporate and training videos, and magazine ads.

Take One

Utah's history as an entrepreneurial state has connections to the film industry as well. Utah was one of the first states to create an official film commission. After the filming of "Stage Coach" in Moab in 1949, Utahn George White became a one-man film commission there. Over 40 years old, the Moab Film commission is still going strong, attracting gems such as "Thelma and Louise." In 1974, Governor Rampton created the Utah Film Commission.

However, what some term as the earliest "unofficial film commission" flourished in Kanab in the 1920s. In 1925, "The Vanishing American" was filmed in Monument Valley the same time "Deadwood Coach," starring Tom Mix, was being filmed in Kanab. Whit Perry, who ran a lodge and tour services...