Why Idaho Will Never Land A Western Series Like Yellowstone
Who doesn't love a good movie or television series? One of the most popular shows is Kevin Costner's Yellowstone. The show was filmed in Utah for the first few years but recently moved its production to Montana. ( I know, a TV series about life in Montana filmed in Utah? It didn't make sense at the time.)
What You Need to Know About Yellowstone Season 5:
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Attracting a television/movie production to your state is not about the Western lifestyle; it's about giving big Hollywood wigs money, commonly known as incentives. Utah provided Paramount with several incentives detailed by the Deseret News.
"Productions that meet several requirements, including spending a minimum of $500,000 in Utah, are eligible for a 20% to 25% tax rebate as part of Utah's film incentive program. However, the program is stunted by its annual $8.3 million cap."
During the first three seasons, Yellowstone employed 250 people and spent over eighty million dollars in Utah. Utah's cap didn't allow the television production company as much money in incentives as they could get from another state like Montana.
Montana lured Yellowstone from Utah by offering Paramount more money to locate a television show about Montana from Utah to Montana. Yellowstone was so important to Montana that its legislature passed a bill giving Paramount a healthy raise from what they received in Utah.
What About Idaho and Yellowstone?
Idaho's incentive package is not as appealing as another state's in the country. Currently, the Idaho Film Office coordinates any requests for production companies seeking to film in Idaho. Set Hero looks at what Idaho offers perspective incentives for filmmakers wishing to come to Idaho.
Here's definitive look at what offers: To qualify for a 20% rebate, 35% of the production crew must be Idaho residents. If shooting a television series, each episode can be eligible individually, with a minimum spend of $200,000 per episode.
The state requires a minimum spend of $200,000 dollars capping the incentives at $500,000. There are some negatives to having Hollywood in your state. Georgia has a huge California presence changing the state from red to purple and possibly permanently blue.
Hollywood will not get any freebies to film their projects here. However, here's a list of movies that were filmed in our great state.
Did You Know These 15 Big Movies Were Shot in the State of Idaho?
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