Utah’s 100 Years of Hollywood History
How landscape and incentives lure filmmakers to the state
Utah is one of Hollywood’s realworld backlots. The scenic state’s close relationship with moviemakers began 100 years ago during the silent film era when cowboy star Tom Mix shot “The Deadwood Coach” in Southern Utah, and continues today through projects from the likes of multi-hyphenate Kevin Costner.
Dramatic red rock geologic formations, sandstone buttes and wide-open spaces have provided ample backdrops and artistic inspiration for legendary filmmakers throughout the decades. John Ford, Robert Redford and Ridley Scott memorialized Utah settings from Monument Valley (“Stagecoach”) to Mt. Timpanogos (the wilderness of “Jeremiah Johnson,” now within the Sundance Resort) to Southeastern Utah’s Fossil Point in “Thelma & Louise.”
Since 1924, more than 1,000 film and TV programs have lensed in state. Film incentives sweetened the attraction, garnering a total in-state spend of more than $604 million across 237 projects just over the last 10 years, per stats from the Utah Film Commission (commemorating its 50th anniversary in 2024).
“Our locations are unique and gorgeous,” says Utah Film Commission director Virginia Pearce, noting the natural appeal for Western-themed stories.
“We also do very well in the Anytown USA vibe, so Hallmark and Disney love shooting here because there’s many small-town feels within an hour of Salt Lake,” she explains.
Sci-fi works too: exec producer-director Jonathan Nolan’s “Fallout” most recently made use of northern Utah locations for the game-based, post-apocalyptic-set Amazon Prime Video series.
The annual Sundance Film Festival (marking its 40th edition in 2024) has brought in legions of indie filmmakers, who often return for future endeavors. Taylor Sheridan filmed “Wind River” in Utah after attending a Sundance Film Festival, says Pearce, and then shot the first three seasons of “Yellowstone” in the state, which ultimately led to Kevin Costner’s decision to set up production for “Horizon: An American Saga” in rural Utah.
“Once people get here, the state sells itself,” says the film commissioner. “It’s a film-friendly place to work, locations are diverse, it’s easy to get in and around and we’re just 90 minutes to L.A. [by air], which is helpful for productions.”
Currently, Pearce is working with legislators to maintain funding for Utah’s refundable tax credit-motion picture incentive program, which encourages production in rural counties outside the main corridor along the Wasatch Mountains’ front. During the second year of the program, $24 million was allocated and close to $95 million was spent by productions as a result.
Utah-based location manager-scout Andrew Hodge (his credits include “Horizon: An American Saga,” “Yellowstone” and Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life”) contends the contrast of locations in proximity “can be achieved logistically easier in Utah than in any other state in the country.”
Options are plentiful. The mountain resorts of Park City, Alta and Snow Basin are within an hour of Salt Lake City’s airport; the desolate Bonneville Salt Flats or famed red rock locales are all within a half day’s drive. “Canyonlands, the gateway to the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell: all those looks are unique to the world,” he notes.
During the last 100 years, Utah has stood in for places as varied as Timbuktu and Switzerland to historic the Revolutionary War era and upstate New York. Per James D’arc, former Brigham Young U. professor and author of “When Hollywood Came to Utah, Centennial Edition,” the availability of underexposed locations is what brought movies to Utah initially. (His research inspired the upcoming “100 Years of Utah Film & Television” exhibition at the Utah state capitol building.)
“Even in the 1920s, Hollywood was getting tired of the familiar landscapes, filmmakers knew it, and they were looking for new landscapes,” says D’arc. During that period, the Parry brothers drove the initiative to bring Hollywood to Utah; their intent was to promote tourism in the area around what is now Zion National Park. (The Parry Lodge in Kanab is evidence of that key connection). These ambitious entrepreneurs convinced Western star Tom Mix to shoot on location, and “that made all the difference,” he adds.
In 1949, locals also worked together to promote the Moab area to film companies. According to Bega Metzner, the Moab to Monument Valley film commissioner, ranchers and other businessmen established a film committee — now the world’s longest operating film commission — to facilitate John Ford’s productions. Seventy-five years on, the locale most recently served as the anchor location for Kevin Costner’s postcivil War opus on the settlement of the American west, “Horizon: An American Saga,” for 87 shoot days.
“There’s barely any fenced-in land: we benefit from wide open spaces,” says Metzner. There are also no paparazzi. “People respect filmmakers’ privacy to work,” Metzner observes.
Utah’s backlot role in TV series and movies (“High School Musical,” “Westworld” and “Touched by an Angel”) is a proven boost to tourism. Market research indicates that 37% of Utah’s visitors were motivated to visit a specific destination due to its appearance in film or TV. The Utah Office of Tourism promotes film tourism road trips as jumping-off points. There are guides to locations in “The Sandlot,” Sundance films like “SLC Punk!” and “Brigsby Bear,” classic Westerns, “High School Musical” and “Forrest Gump.” A section of Highway 163 is where Forrest Gump ended his illustrious run remains Utah’s most popular film tourist destination.
D’arc confirms the cultural impact on film: “So many people have found Utah from the movies.”