TV movie may get funding from Utah

A made-for-TV movie may get up to $250,000 from the state of Utah this week through an incentive program to jump-start a flagging film industry.

The application, by an undisclosed company, is a first for the state's Board of Business and Economic Development, which traditionally has dished out incentives to companies based primarily on permanent job creation or relocation to or expansion in Utah.

Now the board is focusing on the often-transient film production industry, whose economic impact is valued in Utah at $135.6 million in fiscal year 2003, down from $141.6 million the previous year, according to the Legislature's Motion Picture Task Force.

To lure more films, the board last month set aside $1 million in film incentives. The incentives make up roughly 11 percent of the $9 million remaining in the state's Industrial Assistance Fund.

Incentives are considered in four categories: major feature film and Utah-based TV series; indigenous Utah film and made-for-TV movies; TV pilots and other episodic TV shows; and commercials.

"We've had a lot of interest in this million-dollar incentive fund," said Tracie Cayford, a spokeswoman for the Utah Division of Business and Economic Development. "It's a demonstration project that will offer various projects on a first-come, first-serve basis."

Further incentives are available to films whose scripts include Utah content. According to the incentives guidelines, production companies could get back up to 10 percent of their dollars "left in the state." That increases to 12 percent if the project's story line is set in Utah.

"What we mean by 'Utah content' is that the story line is set in Utah, identified as Utah, and Utah names are being used," said Mark Renda, director of the state's incentives programs. He added that the script before the board this week does not contain Utah content.

"Certainly that could change," Renda said during a Monday meeting of the task force. "It will be very interesting to see, assuming that the board approves this project, whether or not these additional incentives will induce the script to change to use Utah so that they can come up and receive the full incentive that might be allocated to them."

The new film incentives are targeted at productions that spend at least 60 percent of their payroll and taxable purchases in Utah.

"This project falls just below that," Renda said. "And so the incentive will be pro-rated rather than receiving the full amount."

This year has marked a turnaround in promoting Utah's film industry. A sales and use tax exemption bill goes into effect in July. A separate bill created a legislative task force to explore further financial incentives in promoting Utah's film industry.

Leigh von der Esch, executive director of the Utah Film Commission, recalls telling people about the incentives at an April trade show in Los Angeles.

"Every single person that came up to our booth would either ask for incentives or talk about other programs," she said. "The response since then has been terrific. It's conceivable we could use up the allocation very quickly before the next funding cycle."

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