When most people picture Utah film production, they picture Salt Lake City soundstages or the ski-town backdrops around Park City. That’s changing fast. Drone videography in St. George, Utah is quickly becoming one of the more interesting growth stories in the state’s production economy, driven largely by Kevin Costner’s Territory Pictures studio, which has completed the first phase of a planned 70,000-square-foot soundstage and backlot spread across roughly 3,000 acres of Washington County desert. A second building, with 20,000 square feet of soundstage space and 10,000 square feet of offices, is already under construction, and long-term plans reportedly include a restaurant and public studio tours.
For producers scouting locations, that’s a signal worth paying attention to: a major studio is betting on southern Utah’s red-rock terrain as a long-term production base, not a one-off location shoot.
Why St. George’s Terrain Rewards Aerial Cinematography Over Helicopters
Washington County’s landscape — mesas, canyon rims, slot terrain, wide desert flats — is exactly the kind of geography that looks spectacular from the air and is a logistical headache for a traditional helicopter unit. Chopper crews need cleared landing zones, fuel staging, and airspace coordination that can eat a full production day before a single shot is in the can. A drone crew can launch from a truck bed at the edge of a canyon, cover a studio backlot from multiple angles in an afternoon, and reposition in minutes rather than hours.
That cost and time advantage matters even more on incentive-driven productions, where every shoot day is budgeted tightly against the production’s approved spend.
Utah’s Incentive Engine Keeps Feeding the Pipeline
St. George’s momentum isn’t happening in isolation. Utah’s legislature approved ongoing funding for the state’s rural film incentive program in 2026, backing a refundable tax credit of roughly 20-25% on in-state spend, and the Utah Film Commission has approved new rounds of productions in counties across the state throughout the year — including a spring batch of seven projects tied to an estimated $12.6 million in economic impact and a later round that included Season 2 of “Marshals,” from the producers behind “Yellowstone.” Rural counties like Washington are exactly where that incentive money is designed to land, which is why Utah’s film tax incentive is fueling more aerial production well beyond the Salt Lake City core.
For producers weighing a southern Utah shoot, it’s worth reviewing what to vet before booking a Utah drone company — FAA licensing, insurance limits, and airspace familiarity vary a lot between operators, and a studio-scale production can’t afford to find that out mid-shoot.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a St. George production need a Utah-based drone crew, or can any FAA-licensed pilot fly there? Any Part 107-certified pilot can legally fly in the area, but proximity to St. George Regional Airport’s controlled airspace means a crew needs current airspace authorizations and real familiarity with local air traffic procedures — not just a license. A crew that’s flown the area before will move faster and hit fewer delays.
Can drone footage really replace a helicopter unit for feature work? For most establishing shots, backlot coverage, and moving reveals, yes — modern cinema-grade drones deliver comparable image quality at a fraction of the cost and setup time, particularly on desert terrain where helicopter logistics are hardest.
As Territory Studios and Utah’s incentive program pull more productions into St. George, aerial coverage is getting planned into prep schedules earlier, not bolted on as an afterthought. That’s the conversation worth having with CineDrones before your shoot date — our pilots hold current FAA authorizations across Utah’s growing production markets and know how to get cinema-grade aerial coverage without slowing down a tight shoot day.
