{"id":1126,"date":"2014-09-26T10:49:27","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T16:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.parkrag.com\/?p=1126"},"modified":"2014-09-26T10:49:27","modified_gmt":"2014-09-26T16:49:27","slug":"is-the-film-studio-hiring-of-mayor-williams-anything-more-than-a-political-stunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/2014\/09\/26\/is-the-film-studio-hiring-of-mayor-williams-anything-more-than-a-political-stunt\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Film Studio Hiring of ex-Mayor Dana Williams Anything More Than a Political Stunt?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Wednesday’s Park Record, Jay Hamburger reported<\/a>\u00a0that former Park City Mayor Dana Williams may be hired by Park City Film Studios as a consultant. According to the article, Williams said he could assist the studio with “the anticipated Chinese presence at the site” or “also aid the music aspects of the film studios.” \u00a0It seems like\u00a0National Film Capital, the Chinese firm often spoke of, is more of a financing group than a production group. \u00a0It’s \u00a0more likely that Warren Buffet will set up shop\u00a0at the local Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate office than having a strong, consistent Chinese presence\u00a0at the film studio. As for music, unless the studio’s target is focused on filming\u00a0documentaries like the fabulous Sundance Film Festival entry\u00a0Muscle Shoals<\/a>, it’s likely that the music component will generally be handled elsewhere.<\/p>\n

So, as a consultant, what would Williams really do? \u00a0Three things come to mind:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Utah has a film problem — at least for getting films filmed here.<\/strong> \u00a0The amount of incentives the state provides for films is about $6.8MM per year (for all films). \u00a0That’s not much when other states offer much more and often in the $30MM-$40MM range (each) for big films. \u00a0There is no way Utah competes with that. \u00a0Williams perhaps could lobby the State of Utah Legislature to get that changed. \u00a0That could benefit the studio if the amount is raised. \u00a0Whether you want your taxes dollars used on that is another matter.<\/li>\n
  2. The Film Studio has an image problem.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0As you speak with people around town, you’ll be hard pressed to find a lot of support for the studio from regular people living here. \u00a0Sure, the people on the Park City City Council that supported it in 2012 are excited and a few business owners think it may bring in more people in the summer are hopeful but past that, support for the project is slim. \u00a0What better way to up public support than bring in Park city’s favorite son. If this was Mayberry, Dana Williams would be our Sheriff\u00a0Andy Griffith. \u00a0Need more\u00a0support from\u00a0the public? Get Andy Griffith on the KPCW\u00a0talking it up.<\/li>\n
  3. The Film Studio\u00a0is\u00a0Dead on Arrival and it’s next life must be planned.<\/strong>\u00a0 Granted, this is a little bit of a leap. However, if the writing is on the wall and the film studio can’t get funding a developer will want to use or sell the land. The best way to ensure the ability to do either is to make sure that the zoning is as flexible for any sort of commercial activity. \u00a0This is going to take some political finagling. \u00a0We can\u00a0hear it now… “Do you want that carcass\u00a0of a half-finished building in the entry corridor or should we find someone like, Simon Property Group<\/a>\u00a0to come in, tear down the structure and build something fitting of Park City like Salt Lake’s City Creek. \u00a0It would be so convenient for the people living in the new Park City Heights to be able to bike and walk to the location. \u00a0With Vail coming in, we need this. \u00a0It will be an upscale Tanger!” \u00a0In order for that to happen, \u00a0it will need the Bill Clinton of local politicians to get involved. \u00a0It appears there may just be one available for hire.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, is hiring Williams a political stunt in order to woo the people of Park City into looking more favorably on the studio? Does the Film Studio developer want Williams to lobby for him on the hill in SLC to bring in more films? \u00a0Is the developer playing the long game and looking forward to life after the studio?<\/p>\n

    Or perhaps it’s all three. \u00a0Would you rather have a 50 foot tall studio at the location or a Restoration Hardware? \u00a0At this point, we at the Park Rag aren’t sure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In Wednesday’s Park Record, Jay Hamburger reported that former Park City Mayor Dana Williams may be hired by Park City Film Studios as a consultant. We can think of three reasons for hiring Williams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1126\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.parkrag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}