Could Sundance Film Festival's move mean more films shot in Colorado? Locals hope so.
As Colorado celebrated the coming move of the
Sundance Film Festival to Boulder
, Colorado film industry leaders were looking ahead at what seemed like potential for more production.
"I really hope that it will attract other productions to come. I hope that our state continues to support filmmaking so that we can attract productions from all around the country and the work," said Paula Dupré Pesmen, a producer and documentary filmmaker who lives in Colorado.
Colorado has tried for decades to attract the film industry.
There are selling points for the state.
"There's amazing locations -- you can be in the mountains, there's towns, there's cities, there's Denver. There are so many different locations that can work for so many different kinds of stories," said Dupré Pesmen, whose work includes the recent Oscar Award-nominated documentary, "Porcelain War," about artists in Ukraine. The addition of business production and post-production houses could come if there's growth.
"Studios, stages, all of those things. If the work is coming here, those things are going to be developed," she added.
But creating a larger industry means pulling it away from somewhere else.
The Colorado Office of Film, Television, and Media boasts that the state's existing film incentive program has generated $153 million dollars in economic impact, creating over 5,000 cast and crew jobs -- albeit temporary ones. But other states have been more successful.
"Tyler Perry built a huge vertically-integrated production company in Atlanta and Georgia gives a ton of investment," noted Dean Stoecker, CEO of Ranch Productions, serving as executive producer of a movie now being shot in Boulder.
"We have named it, 'The Man who Changed the World,'" said Stoecker.
The movie is a story about his family. Some of the crew is from Colorado, some come in from out of state. Production trucks have been brought in from Albuquerque, New Mexico, which has used significant incentives to draw in film production. Then 3,000 costumes were brought in from Los Angeles, said Stoecker, because there are no costume houses in Colorado. The way to build up the industry, be believes, is with larger incentives.
"What we found out is that every dollar of investment from the state leads to $8.50 dollars return to the state. And so I don't know anywhere you can get and 850% return on your money unless you're a bank robber," said Stoecker.
But setting aside government money is always a tough sell.
"I think it's incentives. I think it's tax incentives and the availability of the locations. And the infrastructure," said Stoecker. "So I'm convinced it will work. The timing of it, I'm not sure."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Kate Hudson Puts a Velvety Spin on the Little Black Dress for the Newport Beach TV Fest
Kate Hudson attended the Newport Beach TV Festival on Thursday in Newport Beach, Calif., for a special occasion at the inaugural event. The Oscar-nominated 'Almost Famous' actress was honored with the TV Performance of the Year Award (Actress). For the event, Hudson opted for her spin on a classic wardrobe staple. The 'Running Point' star wore a black velvet maxidress with sharp shoulders and long sleeves. The dress was designed with a fitted silhouette and included a sleek style sensibility and a high-neckline. More from WWD Miley Cyrus Puts Her Own Twist on a '80s Rockstar Hairstyle at the Chanel and Tribeca Film Festival Luncheon in NYC The Best Beauty Moments at The Fragrance Foundation Awards 2025: Laverne Cox, Vera Wang, Carolyn Murphy and More Outcast Clothing Brand Brings French Sensibility to the Grove in Los Angeles for a Limited-time 'Le Club Outcast' Pop-up Store Hudson added pops of white to contrast her black velvet dress, adding a pair of pearl earrings and carrying a white clutch with seashell inspiration as her main accessories. As for her glam, Hudson opted for old school glamour. The actress' blond tresses were styled with a side part and coiffed with long, flowing beach waves. Her makeup included standout elements as bold brows, lined eyes and another pop of color thanks to her bold red lip. The actress regularly collaborates with Los Angeles-based stylist Marc Eram. Hudson's Newport Beach TV Festival look follows a recent trend of celebrities putting their own respective spin on the little black dress. For her Wednesday appearance on 'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,' Miley Cyrus went back into Mugler's archives to style her LBD with inspiration from the fashion label's fall 1998 ready-to-wear collection. At the 'I Don't Understand You' screening on Monday, Amanda Seyfried got playful with fringe elements on her little black dress, courtesy of Rabanne. Taraji P. Henson also styled her LBD, courtesy of Christian Siriano, for her 'Tonight Show' look on Tuesday. The little black dress, popularized by such cultural moments as Audrey Hepburn in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's,' is considered a wardrobe essential for its versatility. Over the course of the last week, celebrities have show just how adaptable the look is, with unique textural moments, appliqués and more. View Gallery Launch Gallery: Kate Hudson and Mindy Kaling Channel Gold Glamour at Netflix's 'Running Point' Premiere Red Carpet Arrivals, Photos Best of WWD Mia Threapleton's Red Carpet Style Through the Years [PHOTOS] Princess Charlene of Monaco's Grand Prix Style Through the Years: Louis Vuitton, Akris and More, Photos Princess Charlene's Monaco Grand Prix Style Evolution at Full Speed: Shades of Blue in Louis Vuitton, Playful Patterning in Akris and More
Elle
4 hours ago
- Elle
This Chanel Look Made Nico Parker Feel Like the Ultimate Princess
From the big screen to the red carpet, Nico Parker is living the dream. In a brief few years, the actress has starred in several major projects, including Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, The Last of Us, and, most recently, as Astrid Hofferson in the highly anticipated live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon (based on the hit movie and book of the same name released in 2010 and 2003, respectively). Last night, the BAFTA-nominated actress and Chanel ambassador attended the film's L.A. premiere, stepping out on the red carpet in a gorgeous rose-colored gown fresh off the house's fall/winter 2025 runway, styled by Rebecca Corbin-Murray. When Parker initially saw the look from the show, it was love at first sight. The floor-length dress was accented by a tiered ruffled skirt and delicate bows. She layered a sheer silk shawl over the ensemble, enhancing its ethereal, fairy-tale charm. The fashion didn't stop there. There was also a stunning assortment of Chanel fine jewelry on display that brought out the soft undertones of the blush pink, including two rings and a pair of earrings. The overall vibe exuded a princess-like elegance—precisely what Parker and Corbin-Murray aimed for, and perfectly suited to the fun, fantasy-filled action film. On the carpet, Parker posed alongside her co-star Mason James, who plays her romantic interest, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Below, see how she got ready for her big night.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
You Probably Hate This Masterpiece Sci-Fi Show. Here's Why You Need to Rewatch It in 2025
You may be thinking, "Really, Macy? You're going to the mat over a show that came out over 20 years ago?" Well, yes. Because it simply isn't given the respect it deserves. Like many Americans, my family and I loved our nights huddled around the TV to watch our favorite TV shows live. For us, that meant American Idol, Dexter and, of course, ABC's network hit Lost. There's a good chance you watched Lost in the early 2000s, too. And there's an even better chance you think it got bad. Or you have some sort of perspective that it started strong but went off the rails after the first three seasons. Somewhere along the way -- maybe when the flash-sideways began, or when a smoke monster turned into a man, or when you realized there wasn't going to be a clear-cut answer to every mystery -- you bailed. Maybe you saw the finale and thought it ruined the whole show. (More on that later.) I watched Lost when I was a kid, but hadn't revisited it for close to a decade. Until it came to streaming services, first Hulu and now Netflix and Disney Plus. One day, I decided to replay the pilot episode and, well, it transformed me into the person writing this 1,500-word defense. I binged the show and then immediately turned around and binged it again. I'm truly mad at myself for wasting so much time thinking this show was a disappointment. In truth, it's a glorious, ambitious near-masterpiece. It's my favorite show. That's why I'm writing this. I'm here to ask you to do something radical: Rewatch Lost in 2025. Yes, all of it. And this time, go in with fresh eyes -- see it not as a weekly network drama, but as a serialized, character-driven odyssey that, along with The Sopranos and Mad Men, paved the way for the prestige genre TV we obsess over now. Because the truth is, Lost wasn't a failure. It was just ahead of its time. Here's why. Looking for more streaming recommendations? You should also watch my favorite movie, a historical drama packed with modern themes, for free now. The last thing I want to do is spoil the ending of a show I'm trying to get you to rewatch. But I feel like I need to address this early since one of the main reasons audiences ultimately turned on the show was a misconception about the ending. I'll tell you right now, spoilers be damned. They. Were. Not. All. Dead. The. Whole. Time. The idea that the characters were really all dead the whole series and that the island was just a purgatory-like state is completely untrue. It's been debunked by the creators of the show, the actors who starred in the show and the dialogue in the series finale itself. A twist ending like that -- revealing they had all died in the plane crash right at the start -- would be a horrible one. It would retroactively reduce the entire plot of the show to meaningless, empty nothingness. So, thankfully, that's not how it actually ended. Now, you can just enjoy the show knowing that it all matters. When Lost premiered in 2004, there was nothing like it on network television. A lush, cinematic sci-fi mystery shot on 35mm film, with a massive ensemble cast of mostly unknown actors and an evolving mythology? On ABC, of all places? In the era of CSI, Desperate Housewives, and the dozens of other cop shows and formulaic TV, Lost was a risk. Lost is a sci-fi show (I think a lot of people forget that) with horror and supernatural elements. It's serialized, meaning you must see each episode to understand the next one, unlike so many shows that were airing on network TV at the time. The show follows a group of drastically different people who have just survived a plane crash on a remote, tropical island that seems to harbor deep, dark mysteries. But each survivor has secrets of their own. And they must live together in order to survive. (I can vividly remember hearing protagonist Jack Shepard say, "If we don't learn to live together… we're gonna die alone.") These characters come together with their differences, their pasts (beautifully depicted in flashback scenes), their traumas, their hopes and their desires, to collectively navigate this horrible situation. What unfolds is six seasons of intense, heart-wrenching plot points that subvert expectations and are rich with themes of faith, spirituality, dualism, philosophy and the mystical. It's pretty normal for TV shows now to be cinematic. Shows like The Last of Us, Succession, Stranger Things and Severance all make use of big budgets, high-quality production, engrossing performances and teams of insanely talented writers. But Lost was doing that in 2004 on ABC, which means the showrunners were dealing with the many obstacles and restrictions of network television. For instance, the show's creators -- J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Lieber and Damon Lindelof -- wanted Lost to only be three seasons, but ABC said no, and pushed them to do 10 seasons when they saw what a hit the show had become. They eventually negotiated down to the six seasons we have today. But that's twice the amount of runtime the original creators intended. Despite this, the writers crafted compelling story lines and introduced some of the most intriguing characters (Ben, Juliet, Jacob, Penny, Miles) into the later seasons. It's easy to forget that Lost was doing time jumps, shifting perspectives and emotional bottle episodes long before The Leftovers, Dark or Severance existed. It experimented with structure constantly: a flashback here, a flash-forward there, a time loop in season 5. Entire episodes would focus on side characters you hadn't seen in weeks. It was complicated, sure, but thrillingly so. The show trusted its audience to keep up, even when it was confusing. And yes, that led to frustration at the time, but trust me, it works much better now that Lost is on streaming services. It's a show that really should be binged, so that you can truly appreciate the nuance and hidden details of the writing. The things that made Lost so good at the time are why it hasn't been fully appreciated. It was simply ahead of its time. Lost indeed was a risk, but one that paid off in six seasons of wild, genre-bending storytelling and a gut-punch, emotional ending that will land as long as you give it another chance with an open mind. Read also: The 21 Best Sci-Fi TV Shows to Stream on Netflix Part of what makes Lost such a rewarding rewatch in 2025 is that it doesn't feel dated. The series still looks and sounds incredible. Because it was filmed on 35mm, which can be upscaled and remastered. Plus, shot on-location in Hawaii, the series still looks gorgeous. The performances of the 14 regularly recurring leads of the cast are absolutely brilliant, too. Even though this was a cast of mostly unknown actors at the time, they all, guest actors included, reached a caliber of performance that is still so rare to witness in a TV series. And the music is absolutely remarkable. Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Up, Coco, Inside Out) created what I think is the best TV score of all time for Lost. I mean, he used debris from the crashed plane from the pilot episode to create the unique, bizarre sounds you hear each episode. The score is a perfect fit for a unique storyline. More than anything else, Lost is a show that will make you feel. Is every plotline perfect? No. Do the final seasons get a bit complex? Absolutely. But on balance, Lost is one of the most ambitious, strange, beautiful things ever put on television, and it is emotionally satisfying from start to finish. Lost opened the door for serialized sci-fi and genre storytelling on TV, especially character-first narratives with weird, metaphysical themes. What I'm saying is that without Lost, it's hard to imagine Severance, Stranger Things or other TV sci-fi faves. So if you haven't watched it since 2010 -- or if you've never watched it at all -- now's the time. The entire series is available to stream on Hulu, Netflix, Disney Plus and Prime Video for rent. Skip the Reddit threads. Forget the hot takes. Just hit play. And maybe, just maybe, you'll find that Lost didn't lose its way. We just didn't know how to watch it yet. For more, you can explore the 13 best sci-fi shows on Apple TV Plus and the 18 best sci-fi shows on Prime Video.
