Projects must spend between $500,000 and $999,999 in Utah and hire at least 75% Utah cast and crew, excluding extras and five principal cast members. Alternatively, projects can qualify without the cast and crew requirement having over $1,000,000 in qualified Utah spend.

**Projects spending between $100,000 and $500,000 in qualified Utah spend can be eligible for a 20% cash rebate through the Community Film Incentive Program as long as a director, writer, or producer is a Utah resident, and at least 85% of the cast and crew (excluding extras and three principal cast members) are Utah residents earning at least the hourly federal minimum wage.

Local Hire/Rural Production Bonus: a 5% bump (from 20% to 25%) if the production company spends $1,000,000 in Utah AND hires 75% in-state cast and crew (excluding extras and five principal cast members), OR if the production company has $1,000,000 in qualified Utah spend and 75% of production days occur in rural areas.

Production companies should reach out to the Utah Film Commission with their Single Purpose Vehicle/Entity for the production. The Commission will then open a digital application for the production. This must still be done before principal photography begins.

The motion picture company must have proof that 100% of financing of the anticipated Utah spend is in place.

If a production has initiated principal photography prior to the office's receipt of a completed application or will not commence principal photography for more than 90 days from date of application, the application for incentive may be denied.

Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis by the 10th of each month.

Utah offers both a fully refundable tax credit and a cash rebate. 

The Utah Motion Picture Incentive Program is a fully refundable film tax credit of up to 25% for productions that spend at least $500,000 in the state. 

The Utah Community Film Incentive Program is a 20% post-performance cash rebate for productions spending between $100,000 and $500,000.

*$12,000,000 of the incentive program’s total annual funding pool is reserved for productions filming in rural areas.

Unscripted programs, including reality television and documentaries, qualify for a base incentive of 10% with a potential uplift if additional criteria are met, not to exceed 20%.

Under special circumstances, a production may start preproduction during the MPIP application process. However, if a company starts filming a production in Utah prior to submitting a MPIP application, an incentive cannot be approved.

Utah is a right-to-work state.