At long last, Colorado may finally be ready for its close-up with the movie business.
Soon, the state will finally have a real chance at snagging some of the billions of dollars that make the film industry go ’round, and previously go around Colorado when looking for a place to shoot.
After two failed bills in two years, state lawmakers have finally agreed to offer moviemakers incentives to film in the Centennial State, instead of the Rocky Mountains of our neighbors.
Making movies is very expensive, and more than ever, movie companies go where they can get the best deal, and that wasn’t Colorado.
A bill that won bipartisan support increases the amount of taxes rebated to movie companies who make big movies in Colorado, and spend big bucks doing it. Making movies is all about big money — really big money. The state relatively recently revamped the state’s film-project office, creating the Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media. Officials there estimate the entire industry pumps more than $20 billion into the Colorado economy, accounting for more than 50,000 jobs.
While much of that comes from the more mundane satellite TV companies such as DISH Network and Liberty Media, billions of dollars and thousands of jobs are created by making movies, documentaries, videos, shorts, commercials, stock footage, music and more. A nationally acclaimed film school is right here in Aurora, run by the Community College of Aurora.
And if you think that this really doesn’t affect you, right here, think again. Gov. John Hickenlooper is slated to sign the incentive bill into law at High Noon Entertainment in Aurora.
When production companies bring projects to Colorado, they bring needs for hotels, catering, restaurants, dry cleaning, equipment, labor and location fees. State officials said that when Paramount Pictures filmed part of Eddie Murphy’s “Imagine That” in Colorado for two weeks, the production company dropped $3.25 million in the state. Beyond that, many of these films become inadvertent tourism magnets themselves.
This industry, like other aspects of Colorado’s tourism engine, needs to be not only protected, but fired up as a way to bring the state’s flagging economy back to health.
Colorado has long been a destination for movie directors. Just a few famous films created here include “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” “The Shining,” “Around the World in 80 Days,” “Bucket List,” “The Stand,” “How the West Was Won,” “True Grit,” “City Slickers,” “Sleeper,” “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “Die Hard 2,” and “Independence Day.” But dozens of smaller movie, TV, video, commercial, music and documentary projects come to Colorado every year, often to take advantage of the state’s beauty and environment.
Colorado, however, is not alone in offering inspiring vistas and lucrative incentives. Several western states have gotten into the picture, offering tax deals, as well as cash rebates.
State officials would do well to accentuate what this incentive bill does and work hard to lure film industry officials to a state that’s happy to have them.