Mollywood - Utah's Film Industry Booming Again

From Sunday's Salt Lake Tribune:

Twenty-three feature and TV films were shot at least partially in Utah during the fiscal year that ended June 30 - more than twice as many as in each of the preceding four years. Since mid-2005, casts and crews have been working all over the state, from Salt Lake City and the west desert to Bryce Canyon National Park and Lake Powell. "It's been nonstop," says Aaron Lee Syrett, director of the Utah Film Commission, who gives much of the credit to Utah's seasoned crews, proximity to Los Angeles and smorgasbord of scenery. "Filmmakers here can find almost any look they want, from alpine forests in the north to deserts in the south. Our production designers are really good at making Utah look like whatever it needs to be. If it's supposed to be the South, they'll throw moss over the trees." Syrett also credits a new state program that offers financial incentives to filmmakers who shoot in Utah. Launched in 2004, the program gives filmmakers a 10 percent rebate on every dollar spent in the state. It already has helped fund 16 films, including the Disney Channel smash hit "High School Musical." (by Brandon Griggs)