State On Hollywood’s List Remoteness Biggest Drawback

Idaho lost a campaign to attract another feature film to the state but at least got a chance on the playing field.

When producers for “Second Civil War,” a comedy that occurs in Idaho, were selecting filming sites, Boise was considered.

But Sacramento landed the film.

The reason was simple.

Sacramento is closer to Hollywood.

Peg Owens, film specialist for the Idaho Film Bureau in Boise, had hoped Idaho could attract its second feature film in two years and benefit from the corresponding economic boost.

Last summer, “Dante’s Peak” was filmed in Wallace and Kellogg. In a few months, $10 million was dropped into those towns’ struggling economies.

Producers spent money on food, lodging, materials and labor. They also compensated business owners for the time their stores had to be closed during filming.

Owens wasn’t surprised that Idaho wasn’t selected for “Second Civil War.” She wasn’t discouraged either from continuing her campaign to tell Hollywood of Idaho’s attributes, its magnificent mountains, mighty rivers and water falls, and the hospitality of its residents.

Those factors are the state’s strongest assets, but they usually can’t overcome Idaho’s biggest deficit when it comes to attracting the film industry.

“Our locations are in the middle of nowhere,” Owens said.

“You can’t reach these places reasonably for people who are on the clock.”

Ideal film sites in terms of scenery include Shoshone Falls, City of Rocks, Craters of the Moon, Hells Canyon, Bruneau Sand Dunes, Upper and Lower Mesa Falls and small rural towns.

But those areas are difficult to reach.

A film crew generally has to fly to a metropolitan airport such as Salt Lake City then make connections to Idaho cities, then drive several hours.

North Idaho has accessibility problems, too, Owens acknowledged.

Still, it was chosen for “Dante’s Peak” because the film’s producers fell in love with the landscape and small towns of Wallace and Kellogg.

“Production decisions are made for personal reasons,” she said.

Since the Legislature first opened the Idaho Film Bureau in 1987 and hired Owens, she’s worked on many projects besides films.

Owens has helped producers of television commercials, catalogs, calendars and print ads find Idaho backgrounds for their products.

Idaho scenery, for example, can be found in J. Crew and Spiegel catalogs.

She’s also written the Idaho Production Guide, a 112-page guide that provides producers and directors with maps, free-lance crews, climate, times of sunrise and sunset, mileage charts, transportation and Idaho laws and regulations.

Idaho’s film bureau is relatively small.

Owens is the only person on staff and works with an annual budget of $75,000.

Despite Idaho’s remoteness and the bureau’s size, several glimmers of hope shine on Idaho’s future with the film industry.

When producers ask Owens if Idaho towns can handle lodging that film crews need and what Idaho has to offer besides scenery, she always has a quick answer.

“We can say we had ‘Dante’s Peak.’ It worked beautifully,” Owens said about cooperation of local residents during the filming.

“So now we’ve had 300 people go back to Southern California talking very favorably about Idaho and the red carpet treatment they got.”

A sound stage, a soundproof warehouse where studios can be built, may soon await producers, too.

An MTM Entertainment chief executive officer retired to Eagle recently and plans to build a sound stage at a theme park in Nampa.

Although the filming of “Second Civil War” didn’t take place in Idaho, footage from the state might appear in another film.

A crew several months ago shot the Lost River Mountains near Mackay for possible use in a Disney film about the Dalai Lama.

The Lost Rivers resembled mountains in Nepal where the Dalai Lama traveled.

Maybe when Idaho gets another chance to campaign for a feature film, it can win the battle.

“We may get a ‘Dante’s Peak’ every few years,” Owens said.

MEMO: Cut in the Spokane edition