May 25, 2012

Location of the Week: Wyoming

by MovieMaker Staff | Published April 10, 2007

Wyoming might not have a musical celebrating it like Chicago or play host to any renowned film landmarks like Philadelphia, but it can claim a long list of movies that have shot upon its soil. As part of the Rocky Mountain range, Wyoming offers movies of every color and stripe its peaks and valleys, canyons and grasslands. Best of all, it is now less expensive to shoot that dream Chuck Norris western with entire towns already dressed for scenes at the old bank or Broken Wheel saloon. This is the state where John Ford filmed Cheyenne Autumn and Brad Pitt fished the rivers of Jackson in A River Runs Through It.

More than the locations Wyoming provides all moviemakers, the Equality State gives up to 15 percent cash back through its Film Industry Financial Incentive program. A minimum budget of $500,000 must be met, but the benefits are great. There are also additional incentives for a Wyoming-based storyline and behind-the-scenes Wyoming footage.

Join the group of moviemakers who chose this High Plains state, but first visit www.filmwyoming.com.

Other movies from big, wonderful Wyoming include:

Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Dances with Wolves
Rocky IV
Starship Troopers
Rollerball
Flicka

Sound Off: Yellowstone National Park, partially situated in Wyoming, has been the setting on many a film frame. On which is it depicted best?

--Mallory Potosky