Yesterday morning at about 9AM we received a call. Our caller said we should contact another person and ask about the Film Studio. We did so and found out that the workers had allegedly been told about a week before that they should go home due to “lack of funds”*. We contacted another source who told us Leslie Thatcher had asked someone from the Park City Planning office about this at about 7:40 that morning. According to our source they told Ms. Thatcher that this sort of thing is “normal”.

Really? It’s common for a $120 million project to have to be put on hold while waiting for monetary commitments so the project can continue? Was that expressed during the approval process for this movie studio? It reminds me of my fraternity in 1992 who needed some money from all of us to fix our air conditioner. It was a very hot August, September, May, June… well you get the idea.

In the Park Record, which posted the story at about 10:40AM, we learned that construction had been halted on 9/9… a week before anything was reported by the City or any other media outlet. This also jibes with our earlier source’s information.

The important question is why did this take a week to come out? We know it’s embarrassing. We know it’s not the hoped-for outcome. But why did it take so long? It’s big for our little community.

I know it’s the job of businesses to control their message. I know that city governments often operate to protect themselves. I also know that we as people have a right to know about the events that impact us.

That’s why we have added the ability to submit tips to the Parkrag. If you know of something that should be reported and don’t want it squashed by the powers that be, please let us know. We can’t make any guarantees about publishing the info. We don’t have hundreds of lawyers ready to fight Cease and Desist orders. However, there are things that should be reported. If you know of something and are willing to share, please let us know.

You can either submit a form with the information or email us. We are also happy to take information anonymously. We just want to make sure information that should be shared is actually shared.

Our goal is to increase transparency in and around Park City. There is no reason an issue like this should have been hidden from the public for a week. Hopefully, in the future, it won’t be.

*Note: We didn’t hear the term “lack of funds” from the original source. This was relayed by someone else. So, we can’t confirm exactly what was said specifically at the time.

Driving down Highway 248, you sure don’t miss the new Park City Film Studio’s building. It’s 40 feet tall, framed of steel, and appears to be built to last, at least what’s been completed. What you may miss are the workers that are supposed to be constructing the facility. Where are they? Are they taking a week long lunch break? It’s a ghost town.

Two months ago it was common to see construction on Saturdays, with a big crane lifting steel as high as you could see. Now the only thing moving is a piece of plastic blowing in the wind. What’s going on?

The Park Record is reporting that Greg Ericksen, the Studio’s founder, says that “the pause” is “due to financial questions surrounding future tenants.” Future tenants like Raleigh Studios, the studio that was supposed to headline the establishment but said they would be willing to let some other studio take over if there were any takers? Or Future tenants like … any movie? Either way it doesn’t look good.

We’ve expressed our doubts since our article History says the movie studio will fail was published in May. There were a number of reasons evident in 2012 that should have cast doubt on this project and prevented Park City from approving the studio. At this point we would be remiss if we didn’t remind everyone how your City Council voted on this project:

Andy Beerman – Against

Alex Butwinski – For

Cindy Matsumoto – For

Dick Peek – Against

Liza Simpson – For

The Park City Planning Commission actually voted against it but that didn’t stop the City Council from moving forward. Oops.

Ericksen says this is only a temporary stoppage and that work will begin again in the “next couple weeks”. Let’s just say we are still doubtful that this project will turn into a success.

That leaves us hoping that Park City was smart enough to limit uses for this parcel of land. If the movie studio doesn’t work, it would stand to reason a developer would want to sell it for another use. We hope those possibilities don’t include a Family Dollar, a Motel 6, and a Souper Salad. We won’t hold our breathe, though.

It hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for Park City government. We thank them for the bang up job they are doing and are looking forward to dining at the Sizzler before our next softball game across the street at Quinn’s Junction.

Update: We’ve heard word from a couple of people that the workers were sent home a week or more ago due to lack of funds. The city says work stopped September 9. Why haven’t we heard about this before?

Park City Film Studios has arisen from the ground like Godzilla from the sea.  Its shadow falls over not only Quinn’s Junction but all of Park City. The hope is that it brings a thriving movie production business to Park City, diversifies our community away from tourism, offer jobs, and becomes wildly successful.

Meanwhile in Detroit, Michigan Motion Picture Studio, a studio that seems to have many things in common with Park City Film Studios (PCFS), has finally started getting a couple major film projects.  Three years after Oz the Great and Powerful was being filmed, they are now working on special effects for Batman v. Superman.  Before that they worked on Into the Storm.

There are two common threads linking the two movies:

1. They both were primarily filmed in downtown Detroit
2. They both got big tax incentives from the state

What does that say for Park City’s chances of using it’s movie studio full-time, leading to lots of full-time jobs?  It’s likely not good. From speaking with a few people in the movie business, it seems that studios like PCFS are typically used when the majority of filming is done in close proximity to the studio.  In the case of the two Michigan films both were being filmed primarily in Detroit.  It makes sense that they would want to have special effects handled nearby.

Would it make sense for a large budget movie to be shot primarily in Park City? No, although parts of Dumb and Dumber were filmed here.  How about Salt Lake City?  There actually have been quite a few films that had some scenes filmed around Salt Lake, including Park Rag’s favorite SLC Punk!. However, many of those just use the Bonneville Salt Flats, with a majority of filming happening in Los Angeles, et al.

Yet films that are primarily shot in Utah are done for the scenery and that scenery is often in southern Utah around Moab.  Films like John Carter and Lone Ranger need something that can’t be found elsewhere.  If they are doing a majority of filming here, a production studio makes sense… in Moab… but not 5 hours away in Park City.

The other side of the equation that even makes a studio want to film in a certain location are incentives.  For instance, Michigan gave $12 million in incentives to Into the Storm and $25 million in incentives to Batman v Superman in order to entice them.  Utah provides up to a 25% tax incentive. Yet, other factors are in play:

The total allotted by the state is $6.8 million each year.
The total allotted by the state is $6.8 million each year.
The total allotted by the state is $6.8 million each year.
The total allotted by the state is $6.8 million each year.
The total allotted by the state is $6.8 million each year.
The total allotted by the state is $6.8 million each year.

People with a vested interest have been saying for years that this limit on incentives, which is 1/2 of the money given in Michigan for a movie you’ll never see, must increase. It hasn’t.  So, not a lot of movies are going to be filmed in Utah.  If some are, not a major portion of the movie will be filmed in Utah. For those that are, the majority will be filmed in southern Utah.  And that’s a long way from Park City. That’s a lot of ifs, ands, and buts… and you know how that phrase is finished.

So, we rest our hopes on a TV show, maybe a spinoff of High School Musical 6 in Space that makes sense to film in Salt Lake, and requires some wicked special effects that can only be done at PCFS.  Otherwise, it turns into another Osmond Studios, and you REALLY don’t want to know what it’s currently being used for.

Building any sort of studio in Utah is at a best a crap shoot.  At least building a production studio in Moab or St George has some logic behind it.