Lawmakers Cut Film Incentives, Silver Screen Dreams Fade For Colorado
DENVER (CBS4) - Hollywood's attraction to Colorado may be fading after state lawmakers cut incentives for the movie industry.
The incentives helped draw a major motion picture to Telluride this year -- Quentin Tarantino's "The Hateful Eight," which will open in theaters across the country this fall. It was the biggest production in the state since True Grit in 1969 and it may be the last blockbuster for a while.
Colorado's film fortunes were looking bright with the Tarantino film and "Fast and Furious 7" when the legislature cut $2 million in film incentives. Instead of landing blockbusters, Colorado is now losing them.
"It's about money, it's very much about money," Colorado Film Commissioner Donald Zuckerman said.
Zuckerman said Oscar-winning Director Steven Soderbergh, who made films like "Traffic," "Erin Brokovich" and "Oceans 11," wanted to shoot his latest HBO movie in Colorado but has pulled those plans citing a lack of incentives.
"If we'd gotten $5 million we could have done this movie, Soderbergh's movie, and had money left over for some other things," said Zukerman.
If "The Hateful Eight" is any indication, the return on the investment is substantial. The film received a $5 million incentive and spent about $35 million in Colorado.
"They rented 9,000 hotel room nights in Telluride," said Zukerman. "We're now getting commercials here that don't even ask for any money. They know we have a skilled crew here now."
Zuckerman believes if the film incentive program shrinks further, Colorado's presence on the big screen will fade with it.
"If we don't fund it, we will not get movies to come here, it's that simple," said Zuckerman.
Colorado will have $3 million in film incentives for 2016, which are good for the film industry, but those incentives don't even begin to compare to neighboring states like Utah with $15 million and New Mexico with $50 million.
Gov. John Hickenlooper is expected to include additional film incentives in his 2015/16 budget request to the legislature.
