Southern Utah to get movie ranch

PARK CITY — There was a lot of talk at a press conference Tuesday about dreams, healing, being "blessed" and energy, but in the end a big part of what everyone involved in the planned Sky of Dreams Ranch wants is a state-of-the art place to make independent and commercial movies in southern Utah near St. George.

Construction on what investors are calling an arts and entertainment community is supposed to begin by the end of 2008. As for a dollar amount for the project, it will be in the "multi, multi millions." No one will say at this point exactly where it will be located, only that it will be on 50 acres of a 1,700-acre multi-use, master-planned community already in existence.

Native American healer Ramona Sierra called the many partners in the concept her "spiritual warriors."

Sierra will be part of what project planners are calling a "Life Healing and Discovery Preserve" component of the development. A Native American Cultural Center is also being planned for the project. Sierra is a social worker and founder of both Sierra EarthWorks Foundation and Sierra Health Associates.

Sky of Dreams will have two sound stages, a back lot for use in simulating Western towns, five-star lodging and everything under the sun that a filmmaker would need from pre- to post-production. It's being billed as the largest film production facility in Utah.

"Now is the time to bring this concept and this project to the world," said Gary Wilson, a partner in Celerity Investments, which is handling the real estate end of the deal.

Other names connected to the development include Next Entertainment, Lone Wolf Productions Group and Imagic Technologies. It will also be a place for video game development.

The first movie being produced in conjunction with the new development also is called "Sky of Dreams." It is based on writer Mac Adamson's trilogy "The Mystical World of Nebe." Initial production budgets for each "message-driven inspirational" film in the series is currently estimated at $85 million. Abramson described his trilogy as a "little boy's journey into a mystical world."

Imagic Technologies has plans for an in-house motion picture imaging center capable of creating virtual sets while at the ranch, which is being touted as Earth-friendly because of plans to use green technologies in construction of facilities there.

Next Entertainment's Sausha Seus, whose parents were handlers of the famous animal actor Bart the Bear, said she has invested her heart in the Sky of Dreams project. Yet another part of the ranch project is to create an area dedicated to the preservation of endangered species "and the Earth."

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E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com