Diverse terrain, convenient locations, few union entanglements and talented crews could put the newest off-Hollywood location in Provo.
"There's no reason why instead of being the best stop between New York and Los Angeles we can't be a stop on equal footing eventually," Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said at a press conference Thursday.
Stone Five Studio, corporate owner of HaleStorm Entertainment, hosted the conference and released plans to build a state-of-the-art film studio at the Riverwoods shopping complex in Provo — the largest studio in Utah.
The 42,000-square-foot building will feature two sound stages for film and television production, a recording studio, mixing console, band accommodations, several video editing suites and full high-definition editing capabilities. Ground breaking for the studio was last month, and it is expected to be completed in November or December.
"We know we have the best locations, we're also known for the best crew in town and now we have a full-service sound studio coming on board. . . . It just makes us that much more competitive," said Leigh von der Esch, director of Utah's Office of Tourism.
She said a "tremendous amount of synergy can be created between films and tourism." After the movie "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" opened, Utah saw increased tourism to Arches National Park, which was used as the birthplace of young Indie.
"The World's Fastest Indian," starring Anthony Hopkins, to be released later this year, is the next big movie officials hope will bring more tourists to Utah. The movie details the life of the man who set the land-speed world record at Bonneville Salt Flats in the '70s.
"We have a great opportunity to showcase this state even more," she said.
Film crews often refer to California as a "boneyard" because so many locations and neighborhoods have been used over and over again, said Kurt Hale, film director and chief operating officer of HaleStorm Entertainment. Dave Hunter, CEO of Stone Five Studios and president of HaleStorm, added that Provo specifically is becoming the new "hotbed" of feature film production.
"Part of our mission has always been to be super-friendly to other global filmmakers," Hunter said. "We hope that they'll be partnerships there to be formed where we can bring in other local film producers, film companies to share space with us, share ideas with us and that we'll be able to have a real center district company out in Provo."
While the business model of creating family-friendly entertainment is similar between the two film companies, the studio will be open to all film genres. The company aims to bring one to two big Hollywood films to the studio each year. And, with the average budget for a Hollywood film exceeding $66 million, government officials are hoping the studio will help bring hundreds of millions of dollars to the state each year.
The two-story building is a nice addition to Provo's burgeoning Riverwoods business park, said Leland Gamette, the city's director of economic development.
"We have the international headquarters of Tahitian Noni across the street, myfamily.com, some high-tech firms plus another moving in that has yet to be announced," he said. "This solidifies that business and economic node in our city."
Gamette said the new building will generate property taxes to benefit the Provo School District and Utah County. The studio's business model won't directly generate sales taxes to benefit the city, but the out-of-state companies that lease the studio will bring money into the community.
"This type of business will generate sales in Utah County," Gamette said. "When the production companies from California come in to use this studio they will need meals, lodging, supplies and equipment that they will purchase here. They also will hire local technicians, and everyone will need meals, lodging, supplies. That generates income and sales taxes that will be a real benefit."
Huntsman, who said the studio announcement marked a "great day for the state," said Utah needs to be a more competitive force in the film industry. Over the last 12 years, Utah has received $1.3 billion from the film industry, especially from popular television series like "Touched by and Angel" and "Everwood" and major movies like "Independence Day" and "National Treasure" that filmed in Utah.
The location of the new building will be 5350 N. 300 West in Provo. The new building will house HaleStorm, all of its subsidiaries and several other video and audio production companies.
E-mail: astowell@desnews.com