Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Sales and Events Manager Joyce Kelly told St. George News the time is fitting since the first silent western movie”Ramona” was filmed in the area in 1927 in Zion National Park, Springdale and Cedar Breaks National Monument.

“Washington County has a rich film history, and I am so thrilled to see it growing and reaching new heights of success,” Kelly said. “Bringing films like Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ to Washington County and constructing film-related infrastructure like Territory Film Studios elevates our entire film industry, allowing us to retain and provide jobs for the over 4,000 Utah-born and raised students who are pursuing film careers. In Greater Zion alone, there are over 200 students enrolled in Utah Tech University’s film program.”

The movie celebration will feature the following:

• April 17 at 7 p.m. — “The Car” at the Electric Theater.
• June 14 at 8:56 p.m. — “The Flyboys” at Town Square.
• June 8:30 p.m. — “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” at the O.C. Tanner Amphitheater.
• July 13 at 7 p.m. — “The Electric Horseman” at the Bumbleberry Theatre.

Kelly added that Washington County has been a contributor to the film industry for years, including many westerns filmed in Zion National Park, including “The Vanishing Pioneer” (1928), “The Dude Ranger” (1934), “The Arizona Kid” (1939) and others.

More than 40 years later, 20th Century Fox landed in St. George to begin filming “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” starring Paul Newman, Robert Redford and Katharine Ross. Kelly said that Redford’s great appreciation for Utah led him to film several other films here, including “Jeremiah Johnson” (1972) and “The Electric Horsemen.”

Redford’s movies inspired other filmmakers to come to Washington County. Movies include “The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing” (1973) and “The Eiger Sanction” (1975).

One of the last movies filmed in Zion National Park was “The Car” in 1977. Kelly said. “The Fly Boys” and High School Musical 2 (2007) were also produced in Washington County. Since then, many short films, documentaries, music videos, commercials and Hallmark movies have chosen Washington County as their film location.

Decades after filming the first silent western “Ramona” in Washington County, Academy Award-winning actor and director Kevin Costner chose the area for his four-chapter full-length feature western “Horizon: An American Saga.” Kelly said Chapter 1 features shots of Washington County and Chapter 2 began filming in various locations throughout the county in 2023.

Kelly noted that Costner’s western Saga will film Chapters 3 and 4 in Southern Utah this year. Community members and students from Utah Tech University were hired as crew, creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to add Horizon to their resumes.

“The town was giddy with excitement when the call for hiring extras was announced,” Kelly said. “As we continue to grow, our county leaders have recognized the need for an additional industry.”

Utah has over 4,000 students in higher education majoring in and taking film courses.

“All of our universities, our applied technology and even our high schools offer film classes. When students graduate, they leave Utah unable to find work in their chosen profession,” Kelly said. “Utah is where they were raised and educated and Washington County is encouraging that growth.”

Kelly added that young people have shown great interest in the film industry. When one adds Southern Utah’s beautiful landscapes, “Film was the obvious answer.”

Kelly said in 1979, Redford addressed a group of college students, stating he would like to see a soundstage constructed in St. George.

Like Redford, Costner also recognized the beauty and importance of a soundstage in Washington County. This year, preparations are underway for the groundbreaking of Territory Film Studios, a joint venture with Kevin Costner and Brett Burgess.

“Our history shows us that filmmaking has always been desired in Washington County. With the filming of Horizon and the new studio, we anticipate Washington County will become a hub for making films in the southwest,” Kelly said.

Sweetening the pot, the Utah Legislature updated the motion picture incentives amendment bill, also known as the rural tax rebate program. This bill repeals the sunset date for specific motion picture incentives that are available only for rural productions.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

“I’ve been staring at Southern Utah since I was a little boy, first in the images and images in movies, and then on my traveling,” Costner said. “For some reason, those big open spaces, those big red spaces, those flat top mesas just drew me in, and it defined America for me.”

Horizon’s Chapter 2 is part of a four-film series about the settlement of the American West starring Costner, who is also the director, producer and cowriter.

Many fans and celebrities attended California’s Santa Barbara Film Festival to support Costner. The film had its world premiere at the 81st Venice Film Festival in September.

Costner added that he is eager to return to film in Utah, mainly to make a third film, and is actively working toward that goal.

“I’m desperate to make the third Horizon film and bring it to everyone,” Costner said. “I’d like to get back there this year. I’m working every day for that to happen.”

Costner is continuing to build a studio for his venture, Territory Pictures in St. George, which he believes will be advantageous for local filmmakers and those aspiring to enter the business.

“To have that studio available. It’s great for filmmakers, and it’s great for the people who want to enter that movie business while living in Utah,” Costner said. “I like the whole circle of how it can work.”

After the film’s screening, Roger Durling, executive director of the Santa Barbara Film Festival, moderated a panel featuring questions posed to Costner, Lisa Lovaas, costume designer and John Debney, composer.

Costner started the panel by reflecting on the Western myth, stating that immigrants were told if they could get across the Atlantic Ocean, there was a place like the Garden of Eden.

“If you were mean enough and tough enough, you can make it yours,” Costner said. “And that dream that brought people across the Atlantic was a nightmare for people who had been here for fifteen thousand years.”

Women are prominent in Costner’s movies, and he stated that he was always bothered that more women were not featured in Westerns, “because there was no Western without women.”

He also said he was proud of the film’s production crew and the location’s “sheer beauty.”

“It’s the little things in life that catch us,” Costner said. “Movies are about details you never ever forget.”

Lovaas told the audience she researched heavily for inspiration for the show’s clothing and costumes. Plus, Costner is very knowledgeable about the West from past research.

“I think it was very important to stay true to what the White Mountain Apaches, what we see in the research and what we see in books and paintings what they wore and it was influenced by the Spanish,” Lovaas said. “And we did a lot of the cottons. I think what was really nice, filmically, was that the Apaches were in this cream color against the red rock. And I think it looked really beautiful on film and was accurate for those Apaches.”

Lovaas added that she tried to show the characters’ lives through their clothing.

“We did try to make a point that anytime the wagon train was by water, we would put the effort into clotheslines and showing that they just had one or two options,” Lovaas said. “So they would try to wash and try to clean and try to respect what they were wearing because it wasn’t like today; they had just a couple of things, so they would keep it nice and try to keep it clean.”

The music in the Horizon films is woven carefully throughout by composer John Debney. He spoke about his inspirations for the film. Horizon Chapters 1 and 2 were indeed the first films where he didn’t realize till midway through the process that he was inspired by not only the incredible scenery, but also what Costner put on screen.

“Not only the incredible acting, but I realized that the costumes were speaking to me,” Debney said. “And that doesn’t happen often. I think it was the care that Kevin and Lisa took.”

Debney discussed his approach to his work and shared the focus on the main themes in the movie.

“One of the things that Kevin and I spoke about early was the idea of a beautiful voice, the inner voice of these incredible women that just take over the screen. There is a Hayes theme, an Ellison Hayes theme that I quite enjoy whenever Kevin comes on the screen,” Debney said. “And then there’s an overall noble theme that I hope exemplifies all sides — our Native Americans, our settlers — the incredible story of all these people. This cacophony of life that they brutally, steadfastly pushed on to try and create.”

Debney added he pursued the right blend of sound and music for the time period.

“And tonight, I really noticed during the wagon train, the fire. There’s music throughout, yet the effects play on top, and it’s just such a beautiful marriage,” Debney said. “I would say it’s always a marriage between sound and music. And I think, guided by Kevin, both films exhibit real artistry in sound. And I couldn’t be more proud of it.”

“The studio will be working! It’s really one of the great things Utah offers so much, and now, to have that studio available, it’s just great for filmmakers; it’s great for the people who want to enter that business living in Utah. I like the whole circle of how it can work,” Costner said. “I’m desperate to make the third movie and bring it to everyone. I’d like to get back to it this year. I’m working every day for that to happen.”

Brett Burgess, Costner’s partner in Territory Pictures, told St. George News that the 45-acre studio location will also feature a soundstage. Burgess is also president of Development Solutions Group, Inc.

Territory Studios is being built close to the Southern Parkway near Exit 7, which leads to the airport. One large building is already constructed and ready for use.

“The views out here are incredible,” Burgess said. “It’s about a mile and a half from the airport. The area we’re at now is phase one. So, as you can see behind me, we have our steel building. Part of the reason we went with steel on this was because of the speed of construction. We wanted to get something up quickly so we can continue filming Horizon in Southern Utah.”

Burgess said the production company is in discussions with four other film companies considering filming on the property. He explained that all the roads, sewer and water lines were nearby on the property, so they could connect easily to future facilities.

In phase one, the first steel building named The Barn, is currently 37,500 square feet and can be used for filming. A second structure with a concrete soundstage and offices is being built, with 20,000 square feet of soundstage space and 10,000 square feet of office space attached. When the second structure is complete, The Barn will convert to a multipurpose building for set design, construction and storage. 

Burgess stated companies can build and construct production sets and staff hope to have everything finished by the end of the year, adding that he likes the location of the property for privacy.

“It was kind of nice to be tucked down here because nobody knew where it was, but obviously, the word’s getting out, and we’re having people here,” Burgess said.

Burgess added that the film studio would be a boon to the area’s economy, which historically has been primarily dependent on tourism.

“We can see with Yellowstone, with Horizon, and all of the films Kevin has brought here, he obviously loves Utah,” Burgess said. “He’s mentioned it’s treated him very well through the years. He loves the story of the American West. So with him bringing his production here, he brings an avenue for Hollywood to come into Southern Utah. He has the connections to bring people here. He really wants to see film grow in Southern Utah.”

The Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office stated the economic impact of the studio and filming has brought around $90 million into Washington County from Costner’s first installment of the “Horizon: An American Saga” film series. The movies cover the settlement of the American West during 15 years before and after the Civil War.

“The filming of Horizon lays the groundwork for the Greater Zion region to diversify its tourism economy,” said Joyce Kelly, sales manager for Greater Zion. “Our distinct landscape has been the setting for several film and commercial shoots over the years but nothing of the magnitude of Horizon. This is a multiyear partnership with great economic benefit to the community, but little impact to residents.”

Burgess said the experience has been an exciting challenge outside his regular world. He is a contractor by trade, so building a studio was easy. Still, there was a learning curve in building a movie sound studio.

“If anybody comes here, I think Southern Utah sells itself, but we also need to let people know that there’s a soundstage here,” Burgess said.

Historically, Southern Utah has been a place to film. Burgess said the missing link was to have a soundstage.

“I don’t think people outside the industry understand how important the soundstage is,” Burgess added. “And I know that’s what motivated him to step in and build one because we didn’t have what he needed for that big of a production.”

Burgess said residents of The Beehive State are known for being industrious, building and scaling projects, noting that partnering with Kevin Costner is “anybody’s dream.”

“It’s very surreal to be partners with him, but to talk to him, he makes you feel right at home,” he said. “If you get to know him, for me, it feels like he grew up in Southern Utah. Costner loves the American West, he loves our story. He knows more history about Utah than anybody I’ve ever met. So it feels right at home. He makes you feel very comfortable.”

Burgess said he still has to pinch himself when he thinks about working with Costner to revive the movie industry in Southern Utah, which has historically been a film hub.

“I think that’s part of the reason he loves Southern Utah,” Burgess said. “It’s very much what he loves, and he has researched and built a career on the settlement of the American West and the story of the Western expansion. That is his passion, is the development of the American West. So, for me, being a part of that is surreal. He makes you feel so comfortable in any setting that it’s like I’m talking to my neighbor.”

As far as plans past the second stage, the final phase of the project will include a Costner-themed restaurant.

“After exploring locations across the country, we found that Southern Utah is the perfect fit for our Old Testament series. The stunning red rocks and red sand in St. George provide the ideal setting we’ve been searching for,” Johns said. “We are excited to be following Kevin Costner’s  ‘Horizon: An American Saga’ to Washington County, choosing this incredible location for our production.”

Mitch Hudson, the director of “The Promised Land,” told St. George News that they had a great reaction to their YouTube pilot and he is excited to start filming the rest of this season in Southern Utah. The pilot was shot in the fall of 2022 in Carlsbad, New Mexico.

“People seem to really like the pilot,” Hudson said. “Our goal with the show is to make a fresh new take on a very ancient story and try to find a way to make some of these characters and these stories relatable to a modern-day audience, especially a younger audience.”

The show uses a mockumentary style popular with audiences, similar to shows like “The Office” and “Parks and Recs.” In “The Promised Land,” Moses and his family struggle to manage the hardest part of their journey, the people. The comedy TV series will offer the story of Exodus through a mockumentary lens.

“I grew up on this style of show. Making the Bible, Exodus and the story of Moses in this style is really fun. I hope a lot of people watch it,” Hudson said. “The style of the show is a framework that makes the characters feel real, like people that I could meet and that’s the goal with the show to make a biblical story feel relatable.”

Although “The Promised Land” will be humorous, Hudson said they will stay true to the history of the Bible stories. He noted plans to give the audience a genuine feel for what life was like in that time period, but “it also has a lot of heart.”

Hudson said St. George sets the stage since it is in the desert, like what the biblical family endured. The location is also appealing since the city has an airport, television and film production infrastructure already in place.

“And obviously, you look around, it’s just such an incredible, beautiful area,” Hudson said. “It’s definitely exciting that St. George seems to be very open to filmmaking. They seem to have a very strong local creative arts community.”

Hudson advises people who want to get into the film business to be prepared for a long entry process. About 10 years ago, he was a student at a film school, and when he was able to get onto a film set, he “worked my tail off. “

Then, in that film, Justin Talley saw his work ethic and hired him for another project.

“The way to be successful as a crew member, especially in film, is to be ready to work hard and to make connections on set,” Hudson said. “Because every job I’ve ever gotten, I got because of a phone call because someone I already knew called me or recommended me to someone else who called me. And so it really is a relationship business.”

Hudson splits his time between Atlanta, Salt Lake City, and Provo, since he is working on “The Chosen” TV series, currently on Amazon and other platforms. Hudson is the second assistant director for the series, which is filmed in northern Utah. Hudson directs all the backgrounds on the set.

Johns added that when they filmed the pilot, they didn’t have much money: “It was very guerrilla.”

Yet, they had a lot of support from Dallas Jenkins creator, director, co-writer and executive producer of “The Chosen,” which is the first multi-season series about the life of Jesus of Nazareth.

Johns said many of the same crews helped with the pilot and will be involved in “The Promised Land” season one. The two TV series are different; “The Chosen” is a drama, and “The Promised Land” a comedy.

“I think what a lot of people will be surprised with about our show is yes, it’s a comedy, but there is also a lot of heart with our show,” Johns said. “And that’s one of the things that, especially diving into season one by the finale, you’ll see a lot of growth in our characters. And hopefully, it also causes some people to want to dive into the Old Testament.”

Johns hopes the audience will view the characters as real people. And relate to the idea of not feeling qualified to do a job.

“Moses, on paper, wasn’t qualified at all. God was able to use him to lead the Exodus,” Johns said. “So I think there are a lot of stories that people can relate to.”

Johns said he appreciates Costner’s productions, which has seen two movies filmed in Washington County. He said thoe films paved the way for them and others by setting up film vendors in St. George.

Residents of Southern Utah are invited to try out as extras for “The Promised Land.” Season one will be focused on the building of the tabernacle. Johns said the TV series will need hundreds and he wants to use real humans and not computer generated animations.

“We’re building a full-scale tabernacle out in Warner Valley,” Johns said. “And so ideally we need hundreds of people to come. Because in the Bible it says 600,000 fighting men, which most scholars anticipate when you count women and children and non-fighting men to be closer to a million.”

To learn about ways to get involved, sign up for the newsletter at the film production website.

The soothing sound of the Santa Clara River and soft red dirt on the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Indian reservation was the background for some movie scenes. The tribal land spans 28,000 acres in southwestern Washington County, 12 miles northwest of St. George, near Ivins, Utah.

Shivwits Reservation Land Resources Manager Travis Duran told St George News that the Oscar-winning director and crew treated the land and its people respectfully.

“The best thing was working with Kevin’s crew. We’re all working together and they were more active in asking what they should be careful of,” Duran said. “We’re in cultural sites in a couple of the areas, which I pointed out, and they respected everything.”

Costner told St. George News his first choice of location on the reservation didn’t pan out, even though he kept trying to make it work.

“Every day, my dream was to film at this other place. We even built a suspension bridge,” Costner said. “And we were going to crane our wagons 50 feet in the air over the river, drop them down on that location. So I had it on my head, we built it, we had the cranes out there. And then the big snowpack came. And everybody said, ‘The water’s gonna come up’.”

Costner said he made “a snap decision” about what to do when the Santa Clara River rose about 12 feet higher than expected. The mountains nearby had a record snowfall. He said at the original location, the river came up over the suspension bridge they had built and flooded.

“It broke my heart because losing my location turns me into a baby a little bit because I have my mind set on what it’s going to look like and how people will enjoy it,” Costner said.

Costner had to let go of the first location choice when he didn’t want to. He and his production company crew, Territory Pictures, looked at a backup spot on the reservation up higher, and it was really beautiful.

But that was the problem with that second location, it was stunning and Costner needed a more lonely place for the scene in the film.

“It’s what the ancestors faced, ‘If we go this way, we might not make it,’” Costner said. “So this is a really desolate place. So this is their last stop.”

When the second suggested location didn’t work out, Costner said he sent his crew to search in a helicopter to scout a suitable replacement location.

“I said, ‘Let’s run this river, the Santa Clara, all the way to the Virgin River.’ I was throwing prayers up on what’s going to happen,” Costner said. “I secretly didn’t want to have another place. But I knew the first place wasn’t going to work.”

Later, Costner found a new spot he liked, also on the Shivwits reservation.

“It’s a good lesson for everybody; sometimes you just have to let some things go,” Costner said.

Costner had his location team re-contact Duran, who Costner praised for being flexible on changing locations and being a pleasure to work with.

“Travis Duran, who showed us the first spot, is an amazing man from the tribe, just an amazing individual,” Costner said. “I was sad when we couldn’t use his first place. But he never pouted, he never felt bad about that, he never made me feel guilty.”

Duran said he appreciated that Costner and his crew respected the Native American land. For example, the production team put up signs cautioning if a plant or specific area needed protection on the set. This helped people from accidentally stepping on them.

“Everybody worked together to keep people away from different things, which was pretty great,” Duran said.

He added that although that first location didn’t work for filming, the area was improved by Costner’s production company. The road upgrades and access to the first location considered for the film will benefit the tribal members in the future.

“We already had an old, small gate at that area,” Duran said. “Now there is a bigger gate and they improved and widened the roads.”

Duran added that the improvements on the land would allow Native American families more access to picnic in the area. Duran said some of his Paiute tribal members were excited after seeing the improvements, including clearing overgrown brush and widening and improving the road. Plus, Costner’s company paid for the band to be able to re-seed the land.

“Kevin’s people are great,” Duran said. “So there was nothing that harmed anything; it’s just more of cleaning things up, which was good for the people.”

Another key Native American on the movie set was Shivwits Band member Little Sun. He works with Duran on land resources projects on the reservation and integrated with the production crew and worked closely with their Greens Team throughout their time on the property to clear the invasive tamarisk plants and open the view on the riverbank.

“For Kevin, it was a key element of the location for the many of the scenes that would film there and Little Sun’s skill level and work ethic was a great match for getting the site ready for cameras to roll,” Duran said.

Costner was grateful the final location for a scene for the film by the Santa Clara River worked out, which was 40 miles away from his first choice.

“We were able to come here, work and have this new place transformed in two and a half days,” Costner said.

Supervising Location Manager Andrew Hodge said local business owners Steven and Cindy Gilbert of Gilbert Development Corporation of Hurricane offered their helicopter to save time scouting remote locations in Southern Utah. Hodge is based in Salt Lake City and helps Costner “fulfill his vision” for the film. Hodge also manages logistics and permits for filming in Utah and lives in Salt Lake City. He has been working with Costner’s film company for a year and a half.

Hodge praised the experience working with the area Native American bands of Paiutes on the film.

“Both the Shivwits and the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians have been extremely helpful to let us scout and to take us to different properties that we thought could work either in this film, No. 2 or the future 3 and 4 movies where we want to be doing some filming again around St. George,” Hodge said.

One of the challenges and joys of the four-film series is that the locations are mainly outside versus an indoor sound stage. Production Designer Derek Hill has worked with Costner for 34 years, beginning with the film “JFK.” Hill started as a set decorator, an art director and became a designer. Hill was recently working on the TV series “Jack Ryan” in Europe.

“Kevin and I go way back. And as my agent says, I usually get the tough directors and the tough jobs. That speaks a little for what it is; this show is all outdoors,” Hill said. “It’s not a studio film where you’re inside a sound stage. We have a few stages, but everything is outside in the climate in Utah.”

The first part of the movie was shot in and around Moab, Utah, in 2022 after the State Legislature passed Utah’s State Film Production Amendments bill, which excepted rural productions from the state’s annual tax incentive program limits. The program requires production companies to use local actors and vendors as much as possible.

“Horizon: An American Saga 2” will bring an estimated $90 million into the economy of Washington County, according to Sales Manager Joyce Kelly of the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office.

Costner is producing the film through his Territory Pictures. Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute a New Line Cinema presentation of a Territory Pictures production, the “Horizon: An American Saga 2” films in the United States of America.

This is the first of a three-part series on the production “Horizon: An American Saga 2” in Utah.

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