She’s the reel deal The Utah Film Commission director puts her state in the spotlight

Utah Film Commission director Leigh von der Esch and filmmaker Tim Nelson were in Los Angeles last January, trying to hammer out a Utah movie production. Von der Esch said she could cinch the deal with a phone call.

"Give me your cell phone and I’ll make the call," von der Esch told a startled Nelson.

By Glen Warchol
The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_2475507

"I knew her budget wasn’t opulent, and she had a cell phone, but she asked to use mine," says Nelson, executive producer with Salt Lake City-based New Movie Corp. "That’s when I realized she is only going to do the film industry’s business on our dime. Leigh has always made do with what she has."

The story speaks volumes about Utah’s film industry, the state’s lowball approach to attracting productions and a film commissioner who has probably done as much as anybody or anything – including Robert Redford and geologic forces – to make Utah a famous shooting location.

But Utah’s film industry is at a crucial point. Competition, fueled by lush film incentives from other states and nations has put Utah’s favored filming status in jeopardy.

Von der Esch’s challenge is straightforward, even if the solutions are not. Utah’s assets are obvious: fantastic natural settings, quick commutes from the West Coast, 2,000 on-site film professionals and few union entanglements.

Unfortunately, other states and nations increasingly are offering rich cash and tax incentives and even investment capital to producers. In just two years, Utah has seen its film production days drop by 55 percent.

At the industry’s pleading last spring, the Utah Legislature finally approved sales tax exemptions for film productions. And lawmakers have identified a $3 million annual film incentive package as a key issue when they convene in January.

A Motion Picture Task Force created last session – on which von der Esch served – proposed creation of a $3 million incentive fund administered by the Department of Community and Economic Development. Analysts predict the state will quadruple the return on its investment. However, even supporters are not willing to bet on its passage, which means Utah’s film industry will have to make a case to legislators for a larger share of the state’s tight budget. Von der Esch will be in the background, orchestrating the pitch.

Von der Esch’s close friend Suzy Kellett, director of the Washington State Film Office, says von der Esch – who has been Utah film’s leading lady since 1985 – is without peer in simultaneously pleasing the Los Angeles-based film industry and tight-fisted government officials.

"Film commissions are the conduit between production in L.A. and making it happen on location," Kellett says. "Over the years, L.A. has come to trust Leigh impeccably. She delivers on what producers need."

Blame Canada: Breathtaking scenery, blue skies and hard-working natives are still in demand, but filmmaking is about the bottom line. Even New Movie Corp.’s Nelson admits he has taken productions north of the border because Canadian incentives were just too good to pass up. The low point came last year for Utah’s film industry, when the television movie about Elizabeth Smart’s kidnapping was lured away by Nova Scotia. To von der Esch’s frustration, Halifax was made over as Salt Lake City.

Last spring, von der Esch, according to just about everybody involved, pushed the state’s film industry up Capitol Hill to lobby the Legislature to give her, as she puts it, "the tools to compete."

"Leigh is fundamentally central to the industry," says Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, co-chairwoman of the Film Task Force. "Last session, she was remarkable in getting a sales tax exemption and the task force bill through the Legislature. She got 100 to 200 people from the film industry to Capitol Hill to answer questions. The bills were written in the last days – any other legislation written that late would not be passed."

If film commissioners awarded Oscars, von der Esch would have won "Best Performance in a Supporting Role."

"She had to educate her film community to step up and get this legislation passed," says Washington state’s Kellett. "Legislators snap when they read about the industry in People magazine. Leigh put a Utah face on the L.A. industry. She knows this isn’t about L.A. – it’s about Utah crews who make their living like anyone else in the state."

Bryan Clifton, owner of Redman Movies and Stories, which rents cameras and equipment to film companies, faced layoffs last year when von der Esch started prodding the local industry. "At first, nobody really seriously got involved," Clifton says. "Finally, come December, she sent out the call again and we realized we better get something going."

Nelson says von der Esch took all the industry people that she knew were articulate, and sent them to the committee meetings.

"It was an activist role," says Clifton, who is a Film Task Force member. "She has to be careful with that. She stuck her neck out."

A respected player: The role of a double agent between Hollywood and the Legislature is a plot line fraught with danger. But so far, von der Esch has managed a happy ending, Kellett says. "Leigh has no enemies on either side."

Von der Esch is widely respected on the Hill, Allen says, "To pull that off is remarkable. Her secret is she has the facts and the connections. Her approach is one of open honesty. People respect that."

Even more remarkable, local film workers say, is that the Utah bureaucrat has woven a worldwide network of personal connections that are absolutely vital to doing business in the industry.

Lisa Rollins, vice president of studio and production affairs at Warner Brothers, which produces the Utah-based television show "Everwood," says von der Esch has a reputation for getting things done. "Leigh understands the business and she knows how to speak our language."

Nelson remembers her influence at shoots in Bordeaux, France, and Jamaica. The film commissions in both places immediately made the connection between his small Utah company and von der Esch (a three-term president of the Association of Film Commissioners International). "They rolled the red carpet out for me," Nelson says. "I got invited to tea with the Jamaican Film Commission."

Utah transplant: Though industry people often comment on von der Esch’s deep Utah roots – she is known as an expert on early Westerns filmed in the state – she is a transplant. Albert von der Esch moved his wife Ruth and two daughters to Utah in the early 1960s when he took a job as an engineer at rocket booster manufacturer Thiokol.

"I was an aerospace orphan," von der Esch says. "When I say my father was a rocket scientist – I’m not joking."

Her life in Brigham City was an "Eastman Kodak childhood," she says. One of her fondest childhood recollections, however, is monochrome: "The first film I remember is ‘Shane’ in black and white. It had such an impact on me."

Von der Esch graduated from the University of Utah in political science, and began a series of administrative jobs, including business and production coordinator in the Utah film industry. In the 1980s, she served as an administrator in the state Department of Economic Development, executive director for the Salt Lake City Council and later a congressional assistant.

Her government career and love for cinema and Utah’s back roads collided in 1985, when she was appointed state film commissioner. The budget when she got the job was $184,000. Today it’s $653,000.

"From the day I walked into this office, I knew about realistic locations," she says. "It was such a thrill to be able to use my government experience and my education. If you can turn an avocation into a vocation, you’re the happiest person in the world."

A Utahn to the core: Kathy Garmezy, a vice president at the Directors Guild of America, says von der Esch knows how to present her state to filmmakers. "This is an industry about drama. It’s a storytelling business. Leigh is a person who can tell a story about Utah."

Von der Esch, who made her name in the industry by working to simplify the red tape involved in shooting on federal lands, admits government inertia and politics "can wear you down."

"You can’t be discouraged in this job. The basic attitude I carry with me is, ‘How can we do this? How do we get to yes.’ "

Von der Esch, who friends say is a bibliophile, avid golfer, skier and camper, has adopted three dogs, two cats and counting. "I’ve rescued far too many animals," she says. "I have to give that up."

One of the mysteries about von der Esch, industry people say, is why she has not taken her renowned people skills, connections and organizational talents to Los Angeles to work in the industry.

Von der Esch acknowledges she has had offers, including the possibility of being film commissioner for California.

"I’ve got the Rubik’s cube I always keep turning around," she says of the offers. "But I love what I do . . . and life has to have a sense of place for me. That could be because my family moved so much."

But Garmezy, who is based in Los Angeles, is not surprised her friend has not moved on. "She loves Utah and she has very deep roots there. If you love your state and you are drawn to the entertainment industry, being film commissioner can be the best of all possible jobs."

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Favorite director: David Lean

Films that influenced her:
Shane"The first movie I consciously remember seeing."
Dr. Zhivago"What locations and location work."
West Side Story"I was 11, my first musical."
Man for All Seasons"What an important story, the language of law."
Cinema Paridiso"A film lovers must."

Favorite film shot in Utah: "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" "Saw it in Palm Springs on a first date."

Favorite Utah shooting location. Grafton. Paul Newman and Katherine Ross on the bicycle in "Butch Cassidy."

Boosting Utah’s film industry

What the industry got: The Legislature this year approved tax exemptions for film movers and created a task force to recommend additional incentives.

What the industry still wants: The task force has recommended $3 million in incentives it would like the 2005 Legislature to approve.