Legislative analysts review Utah motion picture incentives; program returns vary by measure

Motion Picture Incentive Program review highlights three funding buckets and measured returns

The Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Office and the Utah Film Commission told the Economic and Community Development Appropriation Subcommittee on Oct. 14, 2025, that Utah’s Motion Picture Incentive Program currently operates in three funding buckets and returns different measures of value depending on how return is calculated.

The program matters because it is funded by ongoing and one‑time appropriations and because legislators have cited competing policy goals — economic development, direct benefit to rural communities and support for a state cultural brand — when deciding whether to continue or change the incentives.

Jared Gibbs, a staff economist with the Legislative Fiscal Analyst’s Office, opened the presentation with a brief legislative history and a summary of the program’s structure. He said the program now consists of: (1) a cash rebate account funded by an ongoing $1.5 million appropriation to the motion picture incentive restricted account; (2) a general refundable income tax credit line fixed in statute at $6.8 million annually; and (3) a rural refundable income tax credit program whose funding is subject to appropriation. Gibbs said the rural program most recently had a $1 million ongoing authorization plus $11 million one‑time authorizations for fiscal years 2025 and 2026, producing a combined program of roughly $20 million.

Gibbs explained how analysts evaluate incentives by estimating “additionality” — the share of activity that would not have occurred without the…