ST. GEORGE — A new film production incentives bill in the Utah Legislature could mend the broken fence that allows money from Utah to escape into neighboring states.
State Film Production Incentives Amendments, designated as SB 49 in the 2022 Utah Legislature and sponsored by Roosevelt Sen. Ronald M. Winterton, would rein in lost money and jobs by offering more significant tax breaks and incentives for film and television. The bill would exempt rural film productions from limits on the amount of tax credit incentives available.
Layton Rep. Stephen Handy, who is sponsoring the bill in the Utah House, said the state is known for its incomparable scenery and outstanding professional production crews.
“Utah has many advantages that other states do not. However, our film incentives have not kept up with neighboring states such as New Mexico,” he said in an email to St. George News.
Handy wrote:
The Utah Film Industry counts 3,723 crew members and 874 businesses involved in motion picture production in the state, with $94.5 million spent in rural Utah between 2017 and 2020. But they have also tracked the loss of $149 million from 2010 to 2021 due to not having a viable film incentive. For every $1 of incentive, $7 is returned to the Utah economy.
Currently, tax incentives for the production of films are 25%. Still, the Motion Picture Incentive Program has received more requests than it can fund, and then the program runs out of money within the first few months each year. Jeff Johnson, president of the Motion Picture Association of Utah, said that Utah loses out when this happens.
“The big thing about this incentives bill is it will allow us to have some more long-term network television series that stay in Utah,” Johnson said. “That will be more long-term employment, and that’s great for the economy.”
Paramount’s “Yellowstone” TV series has left Utah due to better incentives in Montana. Other projects lost include Disney’s “High School Musical The Series,” which moved to Los Angeles, and BYUtv’s “Dwight in Shining Armor,” which moved its production to Georgia.
Johnson said supporters of SB 49 hope that by raising the cap on incentives, employees of the film industry in Utah can continue working year-round.
“One of the things people don’t understand is that they think all those incentives are going to Hollywood or back to big movie stars. And that’s not how Utah’s incentives work,” he said. “You have to hire locally to get these incentives. So when a big company comes in, they hire as many locals as possible because they only get tax incentive based on local hires.”
Johnson said a film project in the Midway area plans to drop $400,000 into a single hotel in the coming months. It’s not uncommon for communities in Utah – especially Southern Utah – to see a major influx of spending on hotels, restaurants, car rentals and other hospitality industries, he said.
Handy said the most significant part of the bill is that the post-production tax credit would help rural Utah. He said that is where most of the film production in Utah takes place.
“This is all post-production. A film production company first files their intent, (and) that is reviewed and approved,” Handy said. “They deliver receipts and documentation. Then a check or a tax credit is issued. But there is a cap on what they can receive presently.”
From “Gunsmoke” to “Westworld,” Utah’s big-screen history started almost 100 years ago. The film “Stagecoach” was shot in Kanab in 1939. According to the Utah Film Commission website, the film was the first of many to come to the area, eventually earning the nickname “Little Hollywood.”
In 2021, the commission released a video promoting the state as a destination for filmmakers. The video featured some of the films produced in Utah, including “Murder Among the Mormons: The Mark Hofmann Story” and “Joe Bell” starring Mark Wahlberg. Many TV series were created for Netflix, Lifetime and the Discovery Channels.
Story continues below the following video, courtesy of the Utah Film Commission
Not only is the state being promoted to filmmakers, but the concept of film tourism can compel out-of-state visitors to select a destination because of its link to a film or TV series. The Utah Office of Tourism states that film tourism has delivered 2.2 million visitors and $6 billion in revenue to the state over the past 10 years.
A recent study shows that the current film incentives generated $614 million in net output in the last five years, with $48 million being spent in Utah on film and television productions in 2021. The Olsberg SPI conducted the study.
Nearly half of the $614 million was through direct spending by the industry, with the rest generated through the supply chain and wage effects. According to the study, production budgets can stimulate a local economy through equipment purchases, hiring crew members, transportation, and hotels.
The Utah Senate received SB 49 from Legislative Research on Jan. 12. The bill is currently in the Senate Rules Committee.
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