The Film Studio’s First Project Likely Begins with a Whimper

I was about to write a mea-culpa regarding the Park City Film Studios. I have been very harsh on the concept over the past year but then it was announced that an ABC series called Blood and Oil will use the entire studio. How could I have been so wrong about the studio’s prospects?

Then it was announced the film studio financial savior backer, Gary Crandall (of Newpark fame) was suing Greg Erickson (the current “owner”) for control of the studio, due to Mr Crandall’s infusion of cash. It appears Mr. Crandall wants control of the studio but Mr Erickson says the studio never defaulted on anything and he should keep control.

Wow, it’s its own soap opera. Park City, get ready for our own version of Telemundo.

So, we have a TV series that was pitched in the mid 2000s, who finally got picked up by ABC in 2013, moved to USA Networks, and then optioned back to ABC in 2015. We have a cast that was changed after the pilot. We have a planned 13 episodes. We have investors in the movie studio apparently embroiled in a lawsuit.

Oh and we have the Utah film commission who desperately agreed to give this production $8 million to film in Utah. It seems someone is probably trying to save face. Blood and Oil is the first TV show to film in Utah in over a decade.

Yet, lest I come off as too negative… if this is any indicator… Park City does likely have a future in film for TV shows, filmed in Ogden, that take place in North Dakota, about the oil boom of 2012.

The show also stars Don Johnson (the way his accent changes throughout the trailer is deliciously-reminiscent of Kevin Costner in Robin Hood…).

So, the Film Studio has that going for it.

I give the TV show 5 weeks. But as always, please make up your own mind on both the future of “Blood and Oil” and the Park City Film Studios. Here is the Blood and Oil trailer: