Introduction

For more than 100 years, filmmaking has been an exciting part of the Beehive State. While the film industry in Utah only accounts for a small portion of the state’s economy, it has influenced Utah’s communities, culture, and state identity in significant ways. Read this brief history of Utah film to find out why!

Vocabulary:

• Cinema, views, productions, motion pictures: different words for “movies.”
• On location: out filming for a movie somewhere.
• Sets: places where movie scenes are filmed.
• Extras: background characters in a movie.
• Technicolor: a process filmmakers used to make the first colorized movies (not black-and-white).
• Tax incentive: a program that allows some people or groups to pay less money in taxes if they’re spending money in a helpful way. Utah’s motion picture tax incentive makes it cheaper to film in Utah.
• Independent film: a movie made by people who aren't part of a major film company.

Early 1900s: Beginnings

The Rocky Mountain Moving Picture Company started in 1908 Salt Lake City. It produced scenic films in Utah to try to draw tourists. Henry Revier started one of the West’s largest film plants in Salt Lake City soon after; his first film, Love’s Sorrow, boasted “real Western scenery, real cowboys in their natural surroundings.”

1920s: The First Hollywood Films

In 1923, James Cruze (from Ogden) directed The Covered Wagon in Northern Utah. It was called the first great Western epic, showing remote places and even bison running on Antelope Island.

In southern Utah at about the same time, three brothers; Gronway, Chauncey, and Caleb Whitney Parry; started tourism businesses in Cedar City and Zion National Park. They eventually brought Tom Mix, a popular Western movie star, to Kanab and produce the 1924 film The Deadwood Coach, which kickstarted Utah’s film industry.

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Lobby card for The Deadwood Coach, 1924, Fox Film Corporation (Public Domain)

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Film poster for Utah’s first movie with sound, In Old Arizona, 1929, William Fox (Public Domain)

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1930s: Growth in Southern Utah

Once filmmakers had discovered Southern Utah, they kept coming back. Building on the popularity of The Deadwood Coach, several Western films were made in the region during the 1930s. Some of the biggest ones were Cecil DeMille’s railroad drama Union Pacific and John Ford’s Drums Along the Mohawk. In 1939, Utah further cemented itself as a Western film capital when John Ford filmed Stagecoach, starring John Wayne, in Monument Valley.

1940s: Little Hollywood

After that, Southern Utah's film industry grew dramatically. Rather than slowing productions, the World War II era boosted Utah filmmaking. In 1943, My Friend Flicka was filmed in Cedar City and Kanab. It was so popular that soon its sequel was filmed near Kanab, along with many other movies. Locals made money as extras, animal wranglers, and suppliers. Although increasing fees discouraged filmmakers from filming as much in national parks, so many films came to Kanab that in 1949, Kanab was the most popular filming location outside of California. It was nicknamed “Little Hollywood.”

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The Parry Lodge was built near Kanab in 1931, providing lodging to many film production crews. Image courtesy of Parry Lodge.

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Poster for Stagecoach, 1939, United Artists (Public Domain)

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John Ford's films in Monument Valley made the mittens "iconic symbols of the American West" (D'Arc).

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Poster for My Friend Flicka, 1943, 20th Century Fox (Fair Use)

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1950s and 1960s: The Golden Age of Utah Westerns

The spread of television in the 1950s transformed the film industry. Westerns became even more popular, with Utah as a common filming location. Big stars like Clark Gable and Gary Cooper made movies in Utah, and films like The Conqueror (1956, starring John Wayne) gave Utah worldwide publicity. Although there were some troubles with extras' strikes in Kanab, Southern Utah continued to play the leading role in Utah's film industry.

In 1969, Robert Redford created strong ties to Utah by starring in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (which was filmed partially in Utah). He became an instrumental force in Utah film's future.

1970s: Shifts and State-led Expansion

By the 1970s, Westerns became less popular, and the stream of movies filmed in Southern Utah slowed. However, Utah film was far from finished. With help from Robert Redford, Governor Calvin Rampton led several efforts to expand the industry, including creating the Utah Film Commission in 1974. The Utah Film Commission still operates today, advertising Utah to the whole world as a prime filming location and connecting film companies to local resources and talent.

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Poster for Sargeants 3, 1961, United Artists (Fair Use)

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Robert Redford starred in Jeremiah Johnson, 1972, which was filmed throughout Utah.

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Calvin Rampton, Utah governor from 1965 to 1977, worked to revive Utah Film and created the Utah Film Commission.

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1980s and 1990s: Sundance and Variety

All of that effort paid off— Utah film quickly grew into a modern and varied industry throughout the 80s and 90s. In 1981, Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute to support independent voices in American film. By 1985, the Sundance Film Festival had become a ten-day showcase of new independent American films.

Several iconic Utah movies, like Footloose (1984) and The Sandlot (1993) were filmed during this period. Utah towns became popular options for nostalgic, everyday scenes.

2000s: Continued Growth

In 2005, Utah created a small tax incentive program to remain competitive with new locations for filming movies outside of the state. Filmmaking tax incentives mean that movie crews who film in Utah (and thus spend money here) can keep more of the money they make from their work and pay less of it in taxes. In 2011, that small tax incentive was expanded into the Motion Picture Incentive Program, which is still an important part of why filmmakers choose Utah today.

In 2006, Disney Channel filmed High School Musical in Salt Lake City and Murray. The iconic film was part of 27 Disney Channel movies shot in Utah because of its “anytown USA” look. The Sundance Film Festival also grew in prominence in the 2000s, becoming the largest independent film festival in the United States.

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Poster for Footloose, 1984, Paramount Pictures (Fair Use)

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Poster for The Sandlot, 1993, 20th Century Fox (Fair Use)

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Poster for High School Musical, 2006, Disney Channel (Fair Use)

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The Sundance Film Festival became the largest independent film festival in the U.S. in the early 2000s.

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Utah Film Today

More than 100 years from its beginning, Utah's film industry has come a long way, and it continues to grow; it brought over $604 million in spending and 36,600 jobs to the state in the last decade, much of that in rural communities. Streaming channels and independent films have brought a lot of the most recent growth. The Chosen, Yellowstone, and several Hallmark Christmas movies are still being filmed in Utah. With Sundance Film Festival expanding every year and the Utah Film Commission constantly working to bring crews to the state, Utah's film industry will likely continue to impact its culture and economy for decades to come.

References and Additional Resources

D’Arc, James. When Hollywood Came to Town: A History of Movie Making in Utah. Gibbs Smith, 2010.
Utah Film Commission Website: https://film.utah.gov/
Sundance Institute Website: Sundance Institute - sundance.org

Author: Carley Garner, undergraduate student at Brigham Young University