April 25, 2022

Report: ‘Yellowstone’ TV Series Meant $70M for Montana Economy in One Year

(billingsgazette.com)

 

Fake Hollywood cowboys have translated into piles of very real cash for western Montana.

A single season of the hit television series “Yellowstone,” starring Kevin Costner and filmed in and around Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley, brought in over $70 million in additional spending to Montana.

That’s according to a study conducted by the University of Montana’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research. The series filmed its first three seasons mostly in Utah, but the Paramount Network decided in 2020 to move the show’s filming to Montana to take advantage of a new $10 million film tax credit made available by the Montana Legislature.

According to the study, during five months of filming in western Montana, the production added 527 permanent jobs in the state, not including the 624 Montana residents who found jobs as extras on set and made a combined total of about $300,000. Last week, the show put out a call for extras for the filming of another season in and around Missoula.

“The production activities of ‘Yellowstone’ season four in Montana supported jobs and income well in excess of its own economic footprint, making Montana’s economy larger and more prosperous than it otherwise would have been,” said Patrick Barkey, the director of the Bureau. “The high-paying nature of the production-related jobs, and the considerable demand for locally produced goods and services, are the main reasons why the economic impacts were so sizable.”

The economic impact included $25.3 million in annual personal income for Montana households and $85.8 million in additional gross receipts for Montana businesses and organizations. The state government’s revenue was $10.6 million higher than it would have been without the show, Barkey said.

He said his researchers had access to an extraordinary amount of financial documentation from Paramount. He noted that many tourists visited Montana specifically because they’d seen the show.

“The numbers are pretty astonishing,” he said. “It’s a fairly sizable impact. The implication is this level of economic output would continue as long as the production continues in Montana.”

The 116 Montana residents who worked on the show, not including extras, made a combined $3.1 million in wages. Those jobs paid an average of about $66 per hour, but they were not year-round jobs.

By: David Erickson

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