May 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Lori Hogan
Tourism Marketing Director
lori@glenwoodchamber.com
970-945-6589

 

Roaring Fork Valley promotes film industry with official commission, new film board

Glenwood Springs, CO - The Roaring Fork Valley in Western Colorado is not only a beautiful, diverse and popular tourist area, but the Valley boasts a wide variety of scenic filming locations, from majestic mountain and forest scenery to quaint, small towns.

In the past, the area has been home to several feature films ranging from Kevin Costner's "For the Love of the Game" and "Aspen Extreme" with scenes shot in Aspen, to Disney's "Tall Tale" with Patrick Swayze in 1995, to Keifer Sutherland and Dennis Hopper's "Flashback" in 1989 with many scenes from Glenwood Springs. The history of filming in the Glenwood Springs area dates back to 1902 when "Runaway Stage Coach" was filmed in Glenwood Canyon. Silent film star cowboy Tom Mix filmed "The Great K&A Train Robbery" in Glenwood Canyon in 1926.

The greater Aspen area has been a prime location for hundreds of national commercials plus several feature films and music videos and many documentaries. The area has attracted productions with a wide range of beautiful locations since filming started in the ski town more than 50 years ago, dating back to when Gary Cooper starred in theatrical shorts.

For example, from April 2001 to April 2002 companies in the Roaring Fork Valley area produced three spots for the VISA campaign for the Winter Olympics, filmed one spot for the Partnership for Drug Free America Olympic campaign, and filmed for the Winter X-Games on the slopes of Buttermilk. Annual productions are shot for national cable stations each year, including: HBO Comedy Festival, taping for Aspen Food and Wine Festival for national cable television, and Vogue Takes Aspen television show for Style network.

Other projects from the past year have included, for example: a documentary for National Geographic television, interviews for several episodes of the Charlie Rose show, an interview with Whoopi Goldberg used as part of the Oscars presentation this year, a marketing production for international company Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Winter Olympic profiles shot for ESPN, race across America segments for the Rosie O'Donnell Show, segments for the Cleo Awards presentation ceremony, and producing the "Be Heard" television series for PBS.

Production managers note that the economic downturn following the tragedies of 9-11 has helped reduce the amount of high-end commercials across the county, and people are working more with tighter budgets.
Colorado also suffers from the same plight as the rest of United States with film productions going outside the country, so production personnel are working to create incentives and to maintain higher quality productions continue to encourage producers to come to Colorado.

Other video production managers report that since the economic downturn, major companies are discovering that they need to focus their marketing and continue their advertising efforts to maintain awareness of their products. Companies realize they can't wait until the economy improves to bolster their company marketing images and strategies. Some local video production companies in the Roaring Fork Valley actually report increased business in company marketing productions.

The Roaring Fork Valley welcomes film crews and offers discounted hotel rates and crew rates and makes financial concessions for filming. Despite the high-end tourism image of Aspen, filming in the beautiful ski town and surrounding areas does have not have to break the budget. Spending has been cut, but that's where the Roaring Fork Valley can accommodate.

Production and film companies scouting or shooting projects in the Roaring Fork Valley will welcome the very recent addition of the Roaring Fork Valley Film Board, comprised of a wide range of film and community individuals intent on improving networking efforts and assisting filming projects. In addition, the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association, a longtime partner in local filming efforts, is in the process of making the Glenwood Springs Film Commission truly official and has created a new Web site with a variety of information at www.glenwoodfilmcommission.com.

For more information on the Glenwood Springs Film Commission or the Roaring Fork Valley Film Board, contact Executive Director Marianne Virgili at 970-945-6589, e-mail marianne@glenwoodchamber.com or log on to www.glenwoodfilmcommission.com.

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