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Show A-19 I www.parki-ecprd.com SAT/SUN/MON/TUES, JANUARY 23-26, 2010 Utah and film industry are a good match j F or almost a century, Utah has enjoyed hosting an industry that provides thousands of jobs, puts money in tax coffers and brings it international fame. This industry doesn't have to dig holes, cut down trees or emit anything into the air. All it wants is to take pictures of our beautiful landscape, towns and people. According to the Governor's Office of Economic Development, Utah's film industry created 3,000 new jobs and had an economic impact of $115 million between 2005 and 2009 alone. According to one industry expert who testified to the state Legislature, 90 percent of people working on a typical movie set in Utah are residents. Last year, the Sundance Film Festival alone was estimated to have had an overall economic impact of $92.1 million, supported close to 2,000 jobs, generated over $18 million worth of media exposure and provided millions in tax revenue, according to the Sundance Institute. Since 1994? the festival has brought in more than $550 million in economic activity to the state. Two-thirds of the festival's 40,000 attendees came from out of state last year and spent millions on food, lodging and transportation. Historically, Utah has been the third most popular place to film a movie or television show after New York City and Los Angeles. According to the Utah Film Commission, more than 800 films and TV movies have been filmed here from the 1939 "Stagecoach" to the recent "'High School Musical" films. Recently, the Governor's Office of Economic Development further recognized the value of supporting the film and television industry. For example, it calculated that every dollar committed by the state to support the industry generates two and a half dollars in return. New incentives are currently promoted by the not-for-profit FilmUtah at international film festivals. Introduced last spring, the new Motion Picture Incentive Fund will bring an additional 4,500 jobs, says the state, while other production industries like construction and manufacturing are continuing to shrink their workforces. Even though local governments decry plans to build a movie studio at Quinn's Junction, numerous other professionals in Summit County salivate at the prospect. The film industry has been good to Utah and Park City. It's perhaps the cleanest and most environmentally-responsible industry taking advantage of our community's natural resources. All it requires in return is for us to be good hosts, and anyone who's been to Park City knows that's what we do best. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Wolves' return has benefited wildlife Seeing Sundance in a new light Editor: I would like to assure all Utahns that the wildlife of Montana, Idaho and Wyoming has not disappeared since wolves returned, as Senator Christensen (R-N Ogden) asserts (in Patrick Parkinson's 1/15 article "Senator wants wolves destroyed"). To the contrary, wildlife is flourishing here. According to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, there are 150,000 elk in Montana, compared to 90,000 in the mid 1980s when wolves started to make their way back to the state. Wyoming's elk population is up 35% since then to 95,000, while Idaho's is up 5% to 115,000. Montana has become a top-10 state for deer-auto collisions, testifying to how well our deer are doing. And biologists have confirmed that wildlife from bears to beavers to birds have all benefited from the wolf's return, because wolves cause elk and deer to behave more naturally, moving around the landscape rather than bunching up in river bottoms and destroying the vegetation, for example. Wolves lived alongside elk and every other animal in this region for thousands of years. It makes no sense that the few hundred wolves living here today could suddenly wipe out hundreds of thousands of other animals. Finally, it will be interesting to watch how Senator Christensen will ban native wildlife from Utah, since wildlife eradication went out of favor in the early 1900s and is now prohibited by both federal and state laws, and is generally against the public's wishes. Utah has a long, proud history of wildlife recovery and conservation, including a wolf management plan. Let's hope the Utah legislature doesn't set it back a hundred years or more by banning a native animal from the state. Editor: Sundance has evolved from the simple United States Film Festival of the '80s. where you could easily walk into any movie you wanted and occasionally see a good one, to a major international production where writers, producers, directors, stars and wanna-be stars come to town to see and be seen. It is not just the B grade stars anymore, it's Brangelina, Bono, and even Bob Redford. They dress in black leather from head to toe, habitually sip soy lattes and incessantly chatter on cell phones - a stereotype that makes them almost parodies of themselves, Main Street becomes a place that locals shun for the week, avoid at all cost and clearly dread. It is good for the economy, the skiing is great and uncrowded. but it is a pain in the ass. The night was young and the moon was full so I thought I would check it out, once and for all. I strolled down Main Street and by the time I reached the Brew Pub I was engulfed in a sea of humanity. There were people from LA, NYC, India, China, SLC and even Heber; people of all races and creeds, not just the homogenized family crowd, men's ski trip, frat boys or local lackeys. Sure they were slipping around in silly shoes, triple parking in front of the Egyptian and speaking loudly and demonstrably to each other and their phones, but these people were alive, energetic and dramatic. The vibe and the verve was international, cosmopolitan and sophisticated. It was like Paris's Left Bank, Midtown Manhattan, and even downtown Los Angeles - if there is such a place. I got into it and I was blown away. I had been running from this experience for years, avoiding the crowds and the mayhem, not realizing that despite some minor inconveniences, it was fun, different and a great opportunity for our little town. It is a "happening" that defines us now as a cultural capilol as much as an international destination ski resort. I stood to the side and watched, smiling the Mike Leahy Rocky Mountain Region director Defenders of Wildlife Bozeman, Mont, entire time to myself and to every person I saw, who sometimes smiled back. It was contagious and for a moment I was no longer an invisible middle-aged mountain man. I spotted a long limousine with a sign on it that read, "Say something nice to the next person you see." As I walked up the street with the masses I was so overwhelmed that I could not pick out a single person or think of one thing to say to anyone. At the top of the street, the crowd thinned out and I spied a young 20-something woman floating down the sidewalk towards me, wearing only a gossamer smock over a light sweater, backlit by the moonlight. She smiled genuinely when she acknowledged me and as we passed I told her innocently that she "looked like an absolute angel." She turned, skipped backwards a few steps and beamed, "You just made my day." I was sincerely thankful for this evanescent vision of the night, lent to us like much of this film festival, from the City of Angels. Matt Lindon Park City Voters are tired of the status quo Editor: Tuesday's Massachusetts election should serve as a wake-up to all politicians. The citizens of the U.S. are tired of politics as usual. We are tired of extremists on the right and left hijacking the political process to drive their own agenda. We are tired of infighting and backstabbing and insincerity. We are tired of the lack of focus on the people's agenda. The U.S. is made of people of all walks of life. It is what makes us great. And those with extreme philosophy - be they right or left leaning - can have a voice. But the vast majority of the country is somewhere in the middle. Yet our elected officials don't seem to get it. The parties gravitate to the extreme message in order to amplify their voice. And then they act - virtually all of them - with what seems to be complete indifference to their real constituents, the average Joe - you and me who are somewhere in the middle. There are big problems for a focused electorate to deal with. Instead we get rhetoric. We get party politics. Oh, and we get expanding earmarks. Not that 1 am against the study of pig odor in Iowa for $1.7 million. Or the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii for $2.0 million or even the genetic study of grapes in N.Y. for $2.1 million. OK, maybe I am against all of them. The people are getting tired of business as usual. We want change - not necessarily in the country's direction, but in the business of politics. Most of my friends know that when I retire - if I retire - I have a goal of starting a grassroots campaign to amend the constitution to impose term limits on Congress. This desire comes from the seemingly endless abuses of self-serving, political back-slapping and power mongering that seem to drive our Congress. Massachusetts voters made a statement against the status quo on Tuesday. We should all keep the pressure on. Then maybe -just maybe - change will come and I can do other more enjoyable things if I retire instead of having to go on that crusade. level is being asked to bring certain items to be included in each kit: • Kindergarten - bars of soap 3 ounces and up • First grade - toothbrushes in original wrapper • Second grade - bandages (BandAids) and gallon-sized baggies • Third grade - fingernail clippers (no emery boards or toenail cuppers) • Fourth grade - combs (large and sturdy, not pocket-sized) • Fifth grade - hand towels (15 x 25 inches) and wash cloths We would like to let the community know what we are doing to help the earthquake victims. My phone number is 645-5630 ext. 4299 if there are any questions Johnna Roussos Counselor, McPolin Elementary - v;j*£ Park Record Staffs PUBLISHER Andy Bernhard Editor Nan Chalat-Noaker Staff writer* Jay Hamburger Pat Parkinson J°6 Lair JenWatkins Andrew Kirk . AllshaSelf ^ A Contributing writers Tom Clyde Teri Orr Jay Meehan Lam/Warren Steve Phillips Copy editor David Hampshire Jim Arnold Park City ADVERTISING Classified advertising Ashlee Thomas Office managor Circulation manager Accounting manager Advertising director Advertising sales Health kits for Haiti quake victims Editor: McPolin Elementary Student Council would like to help the earthquake victims of Haiti. We will be putting health kits together to send to the organization called UMCOR. The organization has been researched as a legitimate resource. All items must be new. Each grade ;->!' Kancfilee Snyder Lacy Brundy Kate Fischer .£. Valerie Doming Lori Gull Jennifer Muslal Erin Donnelly Pamela Graves Barbara Yarbenel •- Photographer Grayson West •7 1 *' •:.[ -i Production director Matt Gordon ."-." Production Scott Schianker' Sarah Ely Pat Hamaker V ' ,'.," :•!? .--;---7- photos by Grayson West th© rGCOrd Asked around Park City What do you hope to see this Sundance? Chad Petty It's my first Sundance. I hear about all the celebrities, so I'd like to see one. James Piani To get my job done. I have to put in 40 hours - I'm crowd control - and maybe see some movies. Ryan Smith I hope to see a big paycheck working a bunch at Yuki Arashi. Bianca Beyrouti I'm looking forward to seeing "HitRECord" at the New Frontier. j Justin Neil I'm hoping to see a lot of celebrities so I can get my product to them - the Smoke Stick, |