Film crews shoot a scene from “The Lone Ranger” in Southern Utah in 2013. Utah’s film industry could get a boost from an initiative focused on AI. (Photo courtesy Utah Film Commission)
Out with Sundance. In with an AI-centered initiative for Utah’s filmmaking future.
That’s the approach being suggested by a group of businesspeople, whose idea has been greenlit with $2 million from the state.
The Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity board, at its January meeting, approved the one-time grant from the Industrial Assistance Account for Nuovo Film Festival Inc. “to operationalize key film ecosystem objectives through the establishment of specialized programming, workforce and infrastructure.”
The initiative is in the wake of the Sundance Film Festival’s departure from longtime home Park City to Boulder, Colorado, starting in 2027.
“The reality is, the festival landscape nationwide is shifting,” Lance Soffe, GOEO director of industry partnerships, told the board in introducing the initiative. “Traditional festivals are not generating the same impact they once did. Instead of trying to recreate an aging model, Nuovo has presented a forward-thinking approach that builds on Utah’s legacy while embracing where the industry is going.”
Under the proposal, Utah would become the center of next-generation storytelling through AI-enable filmmaking labs; the nation’s first AI-supported soundstage; and partnerships with universities and investment pipelines to bring filmmakers, financiers and technologists together.
“By supporting Nuovo through the IA (Industrial Assistance) fund, we give Utah’s film ecosystem tools that no other state is offering, ensuring that we not only stay on the map but lead in the emerging world of AI-driven film and content creation, with a concentration on supporting Utah’s local filmmaking ecosystem,” Soffe said.
A member of the initiative’s board, Scott Anderson, who served as president and CEO of Zions Bank from 1998 to 2024, told the GOEO board that state government leaders had suggested a replacement film festival to succeed Sundance. But the initiative board instead recommended establishing an ecosystem in Utah “that will put Utah on the map as the place for filmmaking, film financing, film technology, and film streaming and screening,” he said. That would aid Utah by encouraging studios and filmmakers to set up operations in Utah to make films in the state “and empower local filmmakers to benefit directly from the ecosystem’s success,” he said.
Anderson spelled out Nuovo’s five “pillars”:
• Establishing a filmmaking lab to teach new filmmakers how to tell their story with tech and AI.
• Enhancing Utah’s film incentives programs to attract filmmakers to the state by being more competitive with incentives offered by Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico and New York. Improved incentives not only would encourage filmmakers to come to Utah but also establish operations in the state and encourage local filmmakers to make their films in Utah, he said.
• Creating an AI soundstage at Convergence Hall at The Point development, which would be the first of its kind in the nation.
Anderson said that making an “Avengers” movie now would take three years and cost between $140 million and $200 million. With an AI-enabled soundstage, it would take nine months and $10 million, “so it democratizes filmmaking and gives the power back to the filmmakers rather than to the studios,” he said.
• Encouraging Harbor Fund, an international philanthropic investment platform focused on social-impact film and TV, to move to Utah.
• Establishing certificate programs at rural high schools and Utah’s tech colleges and universities to educate in the filmmaking crafts, including makeup, scenery, design, sound and editing “so that Utah would have the dedicated and trained workforce to allow filmmakers to come here and use the local workforce rather than bringing them here,” Anderson said.
Long-term funding sources for the initiative will be individuals, foundations and corporations, he said.
The 12-month initiative is projected to result in $8 million to $12 million in direct economic impact through facility development, attracted productions and program activities over five years; the creation of 50-75 new jobs in film production, technology integration and creative services; the attraction of three to five major productions in the first year, generating $15 million to $25 million in production spending; the foundation for $200 million-plus in annual economic impact by the fifth year through sustained production activity and year-round programming; and a boost of 10 percent to 15 percent in tourism in designated film districts through cultural programming and facility activations.
The initiative’s board consists of Anderson; Mark Burnett, reality TV producer (“Survivor” and “The Apprentice”); Gordon Bowen, founder and chairman of advertising agency McGarryBowen; Geralyn Dreyfous, co-founder of film fund Impact Partners; Jim Swartz, co-founder of venture capital firm Accel; and Michael Maughan of Smith Entertainment Group. It has asked Jefferson Moss, GOEO’s executive director, to appoint a board member and the board will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Utah Film Commission to work together on the initiative’s buildout.
Jesse Turley, acting chair of the GOEO board during the meeting and chair of the GOEO incentives committee, said the matter had been thoroughly discussed.
“There has been pretty robust dialog and conversation about this,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that this is actually going to put Utah where it needs to be within the film space.”
The $2 million previously had been allocated to help Sundance, but the initiative is “allowing us to still keep within the film vertical but look at where the future of this industry is going,” he said.