Picture Perfect Scenery Draws Filmmakers to Northern Arizona

Economic impact in the millions.

One need not be a cinephile to know Hollywood loves Arizona.

Producers, directors, actors and film crews have traveled a well-worn path to Arizona for a century to capture the natural beauty of the state’s spectacular landscapes.

The film productions spotlight familiar Northern Arizona scenery with a healthy spinoff, bringing jobs and significant spending to Flagstaff.

“Flagstaff rolls out the red carpet,” said P.J. Connolly, founder of Flagstaff-based Locations Southwest and Production Services. “They want to bring films here.”

Connolly, a 35-year veteran of working on film shoots, said production crews on feature films have broad impacts all over town.

“They’re building sets, buying lumber, renting vehicles. They’re eating at our restaurants, staying at our hotels, hiring local people, using our airport. So, it’s huge.”

During the filming in 1988 of “Midnight Run,” starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, the production company booked a large block of rooms at Little America for three weeks, Connolly said.

The company also arranged to let De Niro work out in off hours at Flagstaff Athletic Club, he added.

Flagstaff has long been a hub of movie-making for locations all over Northern Arizona and it has generated millions of dollars over the years for the local economy.

That’s everything from John Ford’s “Stagecoach” (1939) with John Wayne to Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump” (1994) and “Frontier Crucible,” an independent Western starring Armie Hammer and William H. Macy that wrapped in November. All three films include scenes from the iconic buttes scattered across Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation. Hanks also shot scenes in downtown Flagstaff and at Twin Arrows, east of town.   

Let’s look at how the film business got started here, why Hollywood relies on Arizona for locations and just how much money films, TV shows, commercials and advertising photo shoots bring to Northern Arizona.

The Arizona Film and Digital Media Program, an arm of Arizona Commerce Authority, estimated that close to 400 statewide film and media projects were completed since 2017, with a combined budget value of $418 million.

Coconino County and four other Northern Arizona counties tallied about 200 projects since 2017, with a budget value of $205 million, according to Matthew Earl Jones, director of Arizona’s film office.

In February, the Phoenix Film Office reported that 777 film and media projects in metro Phoenix generated $29 million in economic output in 2024, up from $18 million a year earlier.

Arizona’s proximity to Hollywood, sunny weather, four seasons in parts of the state and diverse topography are factors in attracting film productions. “It’s also one of the most beautiful places on the planet,” Jones said of Northern Arizona. “The topography sells itself and not only do we have amazing locations, but we have a growing base of crew, talent and vendor support.”

The production crews boost spending in the towns where they set up shop and hire locals as extras. But there’s also an intangible benefit to Northern Arizona tourism, Jones said. “A lot of people see a beautiful location in a movie they didn’t know about, and they want to go there.”

Filming movies in Northern Arizona got started in spectacular fashion in 1911 with Ellsworth and Emery Kolb capturing their grueling Grand Canyon boating adventure crashing and splashing through Colorado River rapids. That black-and-white film was one of the longest playing movies ever made. Emery Kolb showed it daily at Kolb Studio on the South Rim from 1915 to 1976, when he died at age 91.

Since then, Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Lake Powell and other locales – Sedona, Verde Valley and Prescott – have provided eye-catching landscapes and street-
scapes for hundreds of films.

Consider the good – “Easy Rider” and “Midnight Run” – the bad – “Stay Away Joe” with Elvis Presley – and the ugly – “Natural Born Killers,” filmed in Winslow, Holbrook and Gallup, New Mexico.

Prescott locations on films include “Billy Jack,” “Wanda Nevada,” with Peter Fonda and Brooke Shields, and “Junior Bonner,” starring Steve McQueen.

Sedona, known for its red rock buttes, was the setting for dozens of Westerns – “Angel and the Badman,” “3:10 to Yuma” (1957) and “The Rounders.”

“You know our red rocks are just stunning,” said Connolly, who has worked on a number of shoots in Sedona. “It’s such a popular spot for commercials that Sedona restricts filming to weekdays so as not to disrupt weekend visitors.”

In Flagstaff, some fairly recent productions include “Forever Home,” a haunted-house comedy largely filmed indoors for Apple TV. Also, the TV series “Sister Wives” has filmed in Flagstaff for the TLC cable network, said Ryan Randazzo, the city’s film commissioner and marketing project manager for Discover Flagstaff.

Nike came to town last spring to film a commercial with its Olympic athletes. The two-day shoot with more than 200 people involved was staged at Flagstaff High School’s track and soccer field.

Last May, Some Such Productions paid the Flagstaff Unified School District $10,495 for use of the high school’s facilities and made an additional donation of $15,500, said FUSD spokeswoman Madison Pompeo.

The city does not charge production companies to use municipal property. Production companies must file for a city permit, show proof of insurance and hire off-duty police officers to control access if a road closure is involved, according to Randazzo.

He said he serves as a kind of concierge for production companies, helping them with permits and providing referrals for local providers like hair and makeup artists, caterers and other vendors.

Jones said the outlook for future productions has improved after a downturn in the wake of COVID-19 and strikes in 2023 by Hollywood writers’ and actors’ unions.

Arizona is also hoping to lure more productions with a refundable tax credit program announced in 2023 to compete with nearly 40 other states that offer incentives. Arizona’s program offered $100 million in incentives for projects in 2024.

In January, however, the Goldwater Institute filed a lawsuit against Arizona Commerce Authority, claiming the tax credits are an illegal subsidy giving taxpayer money to film companies.

Jones declined to comment on the pending lawsuit. FBN

By Peter Corbett, FBN

Photo courtesy of Discover Flagstaff: Former Miss Universe Australia Kimberly Busteed stops along Route 66 with Mike Sargent in his red Mustang during filming in March for Australian TV series “The Great Outdoors.”