A state board spent part of its day Friday watching movie and video clips that could lead to more tourists coming to Utah.

The Utah Board of Tourism Development was wowed by an eight-minute clip of Utah featured in the latest Warren Miller outdoors movie, titled "Playground," and a five-minute highlight reel of Utah landscapes and activities shot specifically to be offered to the state's tourism partners.

"I think the segment Warren Miller produced this year is a big success," Nathan Rafferty, president of Ski Utah, told the board.

The Warren Miller clip features both southern and northern Utah and shows people mountain biking and skiing. Rafferty said crews spent three weeks in Utah.

The Utah Office of Tourism has a two-year sponsorship deal with Warren Miller and thus has access to all the Utah footage — earlier this year, officials said it totaled about eight hours — for Utah tourism promotion.

Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the office, said the office is currently using portions of last year's movie, and Delta Air Lines is interested in using a portion in its mix of in-flight videos.

The Miller movie makes its way across the country through four "tours" that total 185 markets and more than 400 showings. International distribution, DVD sales and cable TV airlines follow.

Kim McClelland, the board's chairman, said that people attending the movie in theaters get excited, and "there's a huge amount of hootin' and hollerin' that goes on."

"One of our original missions was to try and brand the state across the country, and if you look at the states and locations that this thing shows up on ... it's a very emotional event," he said. "It's a phenomenal opportunity, I think, to send home the message that Utah's not just skiing, but it's a unique destination."

Salt Lake agency Struck Inc. put together the five-minute highlight reel of Utah landscapes, events and activities, part of a 90-minute compilation that tourism partner organizations will have available for their own promotional materials. The highlights show beautiful shots from Logan to Zion National Park.

McClelland suggested providing DVD copies to chambers of commerce and convention and visitors bureaus in the state.

Von der Esch said the tourism office will try to determine to what degree the video will be made available for commercial use. The state might charge for that use and have more money available for tourism promotion.

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