GOED board approves incentive for small-budget film

The Governor's Office of Economic Development Board authorized its first financial incentive for an "under $1 million" movie Thursday during its monthly meeting.

The panel voted to provide a cash rebate of no more than $30,000 to Taylor James Limited Partnership, which will film "The Letter" in Utah.

The feature-length family film is expected to provide jobs to Utahns for 21 cast members and 21 crew members for 18 days. In all, the production is expected to bring $220,000 to the state during filming.

Board members were told the state has lost production of a number of small films because other states offer incentives. The small-production incentive, in essence, makes Utah competitive when trying to land those films.

The board also approved a cash rebate of no more than $478,540 to Bronson Avenue II for "Circle of Eight," which will spend about $2.4 million in the Beehive State and use six local cast members, 70 local crew and 22 local extras over the course of about three weeks of filming.