Leigh von der Esch, who’s held the title of executive director of the Utah Film Commission since 1985, has worked at all levels of government. She has been a personal assistant and legislative analyst for congressmen, executive director for the Salt Lake City Council and, prior her current position, she was chief administrative officer for the state’s Department of Community and Economic Development. She also has experience working in the film and television industry as a postproduction coordinator and as a business coordinator on location. As executive director of the film commission, she is able to act as a bridge between these two worlds. “I was really lucky,” she said, “because I had not just an understanding of how government works on all three levels but also what it’s like to live in a motel for six months and work on a series.”
The former president of the Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) (from ’90-’96) took time to speak with SHOOT about the state of spot filming in Utah, the use of public lands for filming and the upcoming AFCI Locations Trade Show in Santa Monica, Calif.
SHOOT: How have you seen the commission change over the years?
von der Esch: Technology … We didn’t have fax machines then, fax machines were just barely starting, obviously e-mail, cell phones. Time has always meant money to this industry and now, with the ability to convey the information the way we can, it accelerates the time [frame]. I’m very proud that our office was one of the first film commissions that had its resource guide online. Our clients tell us we have one of the most comprehensive location libraries online. So it’s been exciting to take the new technology and use it effectively and efficiently to service the needs of our clients, which are the motion picture and certainly the commercial industries.
SHOOT: What would you say are the most helpful resources for spotmakers on your Web site?
von der Esch: Our online resource guide, the location library, and we’ve got online permitting that’s occurring now.
SHOOT: Is the commission facing any kind of challenge right now?
von der Esch: Well I think we are trying to create incentives that make us more competitive. Commercials, I know, are just as concerned about the bottom line as features. We have a sales and use tax exemption, which benefits the commercial producer; it’s not just for feature/television people. We’re trying to broaden that a little to make it inclusive of other expenditures.
SHOOT: It seems to me that over the past several years, commissions across the U.S. have experienced trying times and some have faced closure. How has the Utah Film Commission managed to get through that unscathed?
von der Esch: We’ve been very fortunate, the legislature and the governors that we’ve had have been very supportive of our program and we’ve not had the major reductions that some of our compatriots have seen.
SHOOT: Can you tell me about your involvement with the public lands issue?
von der Esch: I’ve always had an interest in the public lands issue. It goes back to the late ’80s when we had some regulation changes contemplated for filming on public lands. I have worked with the Forest Service, the National Park Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management] to make certain that they understand that time is money to this industry and what may look like bad planning to them is not. What may look to them like a production or commercial company coming in at the last minute to ask for something is not–it’s the nature of the way the product is made, it’s the time frame that commercial producers work under.
At the beginning of March, we had a Forest Service Region Four meeting and actually brought in–in addition to my office participating–the Idaho film commissioner and the Nevada film commissioner to deal with the district rangers and the managers of the forest service in our area, respective of areas of Utah, Idaho and Nevada, and explain how the production industry works. … For example, if the Forest Service is saying it is four weeks to get a permit and a commercial goes from concept to air date in four weeks, you can see that there is a disconnect there.
And then also working on legislation that was passed by the House and Senate a number of years ago with the support of AICP — to support new filming on national parks legislation which allowed national parks to collect money for location fees–and they were not able to prior to that with any kind of consistency. And it’s not exorbitant. It’s appropriate for the use of national parks lands, which of course are a treasure, and that’s made for a better cooperative working relationship. So that’s been my interest in public lands, making certain that the production community talks to the government and the government understands where the production community is coming from.
SHOOT: Is this something that you initiated?
von der Esch: Yes, because of some problems we were having filming on public lands in Utah.
SHOOT: The Locations Trade Show is approaching. What are you expecting from it? What are you looking forward to?
von der Esch: It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to reach out to our clients and see them face to face. This business is about relationships and it’s always nice to see people that we worked with, see what they are working on. Maybe they are looking at something for the future, maybe they got a corporate campaign they may be involved in which gives them perhaps a little more lead time. [Also,] to get their opinion, “Hey have you gone online and used our location library, is it working for you? What else would you like to see added to it? What other information would you like to have online?” So it’s a combination of getting new business and visiting with those who have given us business in the past, as well as talking to our clients about what else can we do to make their jobs easier and [have] their next visits be in our state.