Studio city: Will Neal McDonough turn Spokane into Hollywood Pacific Northwest?

“Boon” producer Jason Starne has taken a page – or more like a line – from the film “Field of Dreams.” “If they build it, we will come,” Starne said about a potential film studio in Spokane. Starne raved about filming his Western “Boon” in January and February in and around Spokane.

“I absolutely loved making the movie in Spokane, and I love the diversity of the area,” Starne said while calling from his Dallas home. “It’s so ideal for making movies in Spokane. You shoot scenes in the city, and then you drive 30 minutes, and you’re in the mountains, and it feels like you’re in the remote mountains.

“You drive an hour from there, and you can shoot like you’re in the desert. All that is left is building a studio.”

If Spokane ever constructs a studio and filmmaking takes off, Alex Terzieff deserves the keys to the city. While Terzieff, the stunt coordinator of “Boon,” as well as “Z Nation,” was discussing potential film locales with actor-writer-producer Neal McDonough, he gave a big thumbs up to Spokane.

“Neal and I were at a Washington Huskies (basketball) game, and I told him that Spokane is the only place I would shoot if I were producing this film,” Terzieff said while calling from Los Angeles. “I did ‘Z Nation’ there for all of those years (2014-18), and it’s a tremendous place to shoot.”

McDonough scouted locations last year for “Boon,” his Western sequel to “Red Stone,” and was impressed. Spokane checked every box but one: no studio.

“You really have everything but the studio there,” McDonough said while taking a break from shooting just off Mount Spokane last month. “When you shoot on the streets, people are happy, not upset like they are in some cities because you’re causing a traffic problem. I would love to have a studio in Spokane since I would love to shoot more films there. You can capture the feel of the Pacific Northwest easily there.”

McDonough hopes to build a 25,000-square-foot studio somewhere around the Spokane International Airport. “That looks like a great spot for a studio,” he said. “It would help if there were a better tax situation.”

The tax incentive is 30% coming back to filmmakers from the government, but there’s a $3 million cap on spending annually on films. “If you want to bring in the big CW shows or movies, the legislature has to pump that up,” McDonough said. “Three million dollars is not enough.”

It’s competitive to draw movies, which are big business. If a producer can score a much friendlier deal in states such as Oklahoma or Louisiana, where they don’t have such caps, money talks.

“What Washington needs to take into account is that the state and the city of Spokane will benefit,” McDonough said. “All the money comes back to restaurants, hotels and car rentals. It all adds up really fast. Let’s build a studio in Spokane, and let everyone in Hollywood know that you don’t have to go to Canada to capture that amazing Pacific Northwest look. We’ve been speaking with Lisa Brown about what can happen.”

Brown, who is the director of the Department of Washington State Commerce, would love to see a film studio in Spokane.

“I’m super excited about the possibility of a studio,” Brown said from her Kendall Yards home. “I’ve been a big fan of the potential of this industry that can boost our creative and cultural economy. I passed the original piece of legislation for a tax incentive for motion pictures. I was a sponsor of that bill we passed in the legislature in 2006.”

However, Brown realizes that the incentive must increase. “Our incentive is low compared to other states. The incentive needs to be larger. Hopefully, that will increase. And regarding a studio, when they figure out exactly where the location would be, we will work with them as a department of commerce. Maybe we can help them with a grant to help make the site a reality?”

Brown is well aware that a studio and film projects in Spokane will help with employment for creatives. “Those in Spokane who work in film and music have been hit hard,” Brown said. “That sector has been battered by the pandemic. Movie productions utilize local labor. We’ll do whatever we can to make the studio happen.”

The feedback Brown has received during the “Boon” shoot has been positive, and she believes Spokane residents truly enjoyed the production. “I heard how much people enjoyed that the movie was being shot in our city, and I saw how people felt,” Brown said. “I was out there 6 feet away wearing a mask. The crew and the people from our city really seemed to enjoy themselves.”

What was remarkable is how relatively seamless filming was during a pandemic. It’s a fact not lost on McDonough. “It was amazing how smoothly everything went,” McDonough said. “That’s something else that’s great about Spokane. Can you imagine what it will be like when we shoot a film there when things get better? I hope everything works out so we can shoot many more films in Spokane.”

“Boon” director Derek Presley feels the same way as McDonough. “I would love it if there was a studio there,” Presley said while calling from his Dallas home. “There is nothing negative about shooting there. If you can get studio space there, great. You have a great company there, North By Northwest.

“I love that Spokane has a unique wind pattern, and it’s so beautiful. We didn’t have much daylight to work with there in January and February, but can you imagine how amazing it would be to film there during the summer when you have so much daylight? I’m crossing my fingers we’ll be shooting more in Spokane. But much is up to Neal, who is the businessman. I’m a creative, and I’ll go where we’re filming.”

McDonough is planning to return and might come back with some star power. “Whenever we go to shows and go backstage, we hear from people like Tim McGraw, who say, ‘I want to be in a movie with you, Neal,’ Ruve McDonough said while on the set with her husband, Neal, who backs her up.

“We do hear that all of the time,” Neal McDonough said. “We heard that from James Taylor, and I would love to cast James as my father in my next movie. How cool would it be if I brought J.T. to Spokane?”

It would be off-the-charts cool. After finishing a 12-hour day in January on the set, McDonough and his family hung out with “Boon” actor and Train frontman Pat Monahan, who sang his hits such as “Drops of Jupiter” in front of a campfire at their South Hill rental.

Can fans imagine what it would be like if Taylor serenaded the McDonoughs with “Fire and Rain” and “Carolina in My Mind?” “That would be special,” McDonough said. “But so is shooting in Spokane.”

Will a studio be constructed in Spokane? Stay tuned.