Ya wanna be in pictures? Forget Hollywood. Forget New York. This is the right place.
With movies, television shows and live theater productions flourishing like never before, actors - and backstage/off-camera technicians, for that matter - are as busy as they want to be right here.But perhaps the busiest performer of all is the state itself. As moviemakers have discovered Utah's visual diversity, the state has subbed for a wide variety of geographical regions. "We can sell an awful lot of different looks here," says Lawrence Smith of the Utah Film Commission.
Many moviegoers may still associate the state with John Ford classics, but filmmakers have learned that Utah isn't just for Westerns anymore.
Actually, that's always been true. Here, for example, are some of the more famous movies that have stretched the state's acting muscles:
Prehistory: "2001 - A Space Odyssey" (the opening sequence).
Biblical Holy Land: "The Greatest Story Ever Told."
Asia: "The Conqueror."
Old West: "Stagecoach," "The Searchers," "Maverick," "Back to the Future, Part III," "City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold."
Wilderness: "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Adventures of the Wilderness Family."
World War II Europe: "The Devil's Brigade," "A Midnight Clear."
New West: "The Electric Horseman."
Rural: "Josh and S.A.M.," "The Wizard."
Urban: "Desperate Hours," "Halloween 4-6."
Suburban: "Savannah Smiles," "The Sandlot."
Winter: "Downhill Racer," "Ski School."
Summer: "Wind."
Posthistory: "Independence Day," "Planet of the Apes," "Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone."
Those are examples of past films, of course, but currently there are also two television series filming here full time - CBS's "Touched By an Angel" and its spinoff "Promised Land" - which are set in different locations every week. (Downtown Salt Lake City has even subbed for Manhattan!)
In terms of features, Utah is enjoying an unprecedented period of active production. In fact, so far during this calendar year, there have been more theatrical and TV flicks filmed here than usually come through in a year - and plenty more are scheduled before '96 winds down.
In the can, but without firm opening dates are these theatrical efforts:
- "Larger Than Life," a road comedy starring Bill Murray and an elephant. Filmed for a few weeks in southern Utah. (Scheduled for release Sept. 11.)
- "Unhook the Stars," filmed in and around Salt Lake City, is an independent production by filmmaker/actor Nick Cassavetes (son of the late maverick filmmaker/actor John Cassevetes) and starring his mother, Gena Rowlands, along with Gerard Depardieu and Marisa Tomei. (Miramax has picked this one up for release Nov. 1.)
- "Breakdown," a suspense-thriller starring Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan ("Apollo 13"), about a couple whose car breaks down in the desert, and then the wife disappears without a trace. (Picked up by Paramount Pictures for winter release.)
- "Invasion of Privacy," a thriller/courtroom drama starring supermodel Naomi Campbell and David Keith, about a pregnant woman kidnapped by her boyfriend. Filmed in Salt Lake City and environs.
- "Cheyenne," a European Western filmed in Moab.
Others, which are just completed, currently filming or on the way, include:
- "Con Air" (see accompanying story by Jeff Vice).
- "Truth Or Consequences, New Mexico," a road picture directed by and starring Kiefer Sutherland. Charlie Sheen co-stars.
- "The Old Time Low Down" stars Keanu Reeves in a low-budget effort that filmed in the Ogden area during the spring.
- "Word of Honor," an FBI action-thriller, filmed in Park City, with Roy Scheider and Gary Busey heading the cast. (This one has straight-to-video written all over it.)
- "Heaven or Vegas," another low-budget, independent production.
- "A Life Less Ordinary," a road picture, the latest from independent British filmmaker Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting," "Shallow Grave"). (To begin shooting next month.)
Made-for-TV movies scheduled for airing in the fall, winter or spring:
- "Money Plays," a crime thriller set in Las Vegas, though filmed entirely in Utah (with casino scenes supplied by the Nevada side of Wendover), stars Roy Scheider and Sonia Braga. This is a Showtime pay-cable movie, but there is no scheduled air date yet.
- "Bitter Markings," a thriller directed by and starring Tom Skerritt, filmed in Utah County. Shooting just wrapped on this USA cable production.
- "On the Plain Road," written by Utah native Joyce Eliason for ABC, is a family drama about a young Mormon girl at the turn of the century. Shooting was just completed.
- "Unabomber," the story of you-know-who, starring Robert Hays (yes, the "Airplane!" guy), for the USA cable network. Now filming. (Ironically, a competing TV movie about the Unabomber may also be filmed locally later in the year.)
- "Border Music," a four-hour miniseries based on the book by Robert James Waller ("The Bridges of Madison County"), will begin shooting here in September.
There are many more, of course - including several as-yet-unreleased films from Salt Lake City's three home-grown production companies. Majestic Entertainment has "Heaven Sent" and "Walking Thunder" on hold. Feature Films for Families has completed "Behind the Waterfall" and "Friendship Fields" for its sell-through video business. And Leucadia Films has "Paper Brigade," "Address Unknown," "Just in Time" and "How I Saved the President" ready for release.
And Chuck Norris' CBS TV series "Walker, Texas Ranger" will film two episodes here in the fall. "Walker, Utah Ranger"?
Several other made-in-Utah film and TV projects were not confirmed at press time.