Incentives may lure films

A plan to establish a tax rebate program to spark movie production in Utah got a thumbs-up from the new Motion Picture Task Force Wednesday.

The legislative task force endorsed a proposal to have the state Board of Business and Economic Development set up a demonstration program using Industrial Assistance Fund money as a tax rebate for productions shot in Utah.

The business board will discuss the matter Friday.

"Typically Utah sells itself. That's been one benefit we've had in Utah. But when programs like the Elizabeth Smart story are filmed in Canada because Canada is providing incentives, rather than being filmed in Utah, it's significant," said Jerry Oldroyd, a board member, referring to a recent made-for-TV movie. "It's a significant statement about how far we are behind."

The IAF film production incentives would top out at $1 million for 2004, using existing IAF money, and no single project would get more than a $500,000 rebate. Typically it would be a 10 percent tax rebate, but that could grow to 12 percent if the project story line is set in Utah. The amount would be derived through various formulas for films, TV series, TV pilots and commercials.

"We do not think this is enough money or a solution to the problem in Utah, but it is a start," Oldroyd said.

The demonstration program would implement the incentives and determine how valuable they were in getting and keeping the productions in Utah. Speakers Wednesday noted that Utah is competing with several other states and countries for film productions.

Leigh von der Esch, executive director of the Utah Film Commission, said the Civil War drama "Cold Mountain" was shot in Romania, while "Chicago" was filmed in Toronto.

"Now we're losing films to Louisiana, which has a completely different look (compared to Utah), simply because of money, simply because of the incentive," she said.

IAF film production incentives might help Utah land a couple of film projects, she said. "The first question that people are asking us is . . . 'What incentives are you offering?' " von der Esch said.

Utah is competing against Canada for one project and with New Mexico for another. Both productions would be eligible for a 12 percent rebate because their scripts would be changed to "use Utah as Utah," she said.

One would depict the University of Utah football team. "It will identify itself as the University of Utah football team on the University of Utah campus and all the attending things for that, so they want to film during the football season," she said.