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The first study came back saying a film and media center, hooked up with Utah Theatre, is feasible in downtown Salt Lake City.
That wasn't enough to convince some skeptical Salt Lake County Council members that building a facility for independent film production and exhibition would be the best use of limited county tax dollars.
It was enough last week to sway the council to agree to provide $50,000 for an architectural study of a proposed center at 148 S. Main St., but only after a coalition of three nonprofit groups pushing the project comes up with its matching $50,000 share of study expenses.
The coalition is made up of the Utah Film Center, the Salt Lake Film Society and Spy Hop Productions. The film center would be across Main Street from Salt Lake City's planned Broadway-style playhouse.
"Let's keep the studies going forward so we can make a good, educated decision" about whether to create a Film & Media Arts Center, said Democratic Councilwoman Jani Iwamoto, noting the architectural study should detail the center's projected cost.
Her argument apparently persuaded two Republican councilmen who had reservations about the project — David Wilde and Max Burdick — to support county funding for the architectural research.
But it was not convincing enough to keep GOP Councilman Michael Jensen from voting against more funding. While pleased that coalition members must raise their funds before the county pays up, Jensen doubted he could support the project.
Winning him over, he added, would be like "climbing Mount Everest."
The best way of doing that is to do the architectural study and a second report looking at creating an independent film archive at the center, said Erin Litvack, the county's community services director who oversees the Center for the Arts that would include the facility. The county and coalition also would split the archival study's $150,000 price tag.
Litvack said the initial feasibility study determined the three nonprofits could work together and that the center would provide services not available now to the public.
Consolidating the nonprofits' operations with the Utah Theater would benefit both, said Center for the Arts Director Phil Jordan. Filmmaking classes, independent film showings, a half dozen small theaters and other digital media endeavors would attract people to the facility seven days a week, he said, and the theater's 800 seats would be helpful for popular events.
The study also determined the film center would supplement arts curriculum in area schools, Litvack said, and would fit with state economic development efforts built around "cluster industries," in this case film.
Also being explored, she added, are prospects of making the center a site for Sundance Film Festival showings and a repository of its independent projects.
Sundance Institute spokesman Elizabeth Latenser applauded the coalition for its efforts to "champion independent film and revitalize downtown Salt Lake City." The institute, she added, is open to further talks on the possibility of an archive at the center.
Wilde, the council chairman, said he did not want downtown Salt Lake City projects funded at the expense of projects in the suburbs.
"It's a matter of fairness," he said.
Burdick asked council financial manager David Delquadro to prepare a list of all big-ticket requests submitted to the council "so we can make sure we are clearly aware of what's coming at us."
Twitter: @sltribmikeg —
Utah Film & Media Arts Coalition
The coalition of nonprofit organizations promoting a center for creating and exhibiting independent film and new media includes the following:
Spy Hop Productions • Provides youth ages 6 to 19 with hands-on training in various aspects of the film industry
Salt Lake Film Society • Shows independent and first-run films at the Broadway Centre and Tower Theatre
Utah Film Center • Provides free community screenings of films and organizes discussions and outreach programs