High School Musical 2 to be filmed in Utah

From the Salt Lake Tribune

The cast and crew who made "High School Musical," the tween sensation of the year, are returning to Utah to film the sequel.

The producers of "High School Musical 2" and officials from the Disney Channel confirmed Friday that the sequel will begin filming in March in St. George and Salt Lake City.

"I'm very excited about it because, among other things, our director again is Kenny Ortega, and Kenny loves Utah," said the sequel's producer, Don Schain, who runs Salt Lake City-based Salty Pictures, which also made the first film.

"I think the crew here is as good as you can get," Schain added. "They played a big part in the success of that movie."

The original film boasted catchy songs and energetic choreography by Emmy winners Ortega and Salt Lake City's Bonnie Story, and told the story of high school jock Troy (Zach Efron) and brainiac Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), who join forces to star in the school musical.

The movie garnered two Emmys including one for Schain for Outstanding Children's Program. It also became the highest-rated program for the Disney Channel, and the soundtrack so far is the biggest-selling album this year. The movie, in addition to being a sensation in countries like India and Japan, has spawned theatrical productions and a touring concert.

To boost Utah's chances of getting the sequel made here, the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board (GOED) on Friday offered Salty Pictures a cash incentive of up to $500,000.

"At least 26 other states offer incentives for motion pictures," Schain said. "So it [the $500,000 incentive] helps enormously."

For months while the movie's screenwriter, Peter Barscocchini, worked on the sequel's script, executive producers Barry Rosenbush, Bill Borden and Ortega looked at a number of cities, including San Diego and Palm Springs.

But Aaron Syrett, director of the Utah Film Commission, said the state pushed hard.
"Since the first one was filmed in Utah, we wanted to make sure we got the sequel, too," he said.

Salty Pictures applied for the state incentive long after Utah had exhausted the money in a fund designed to lure films to the state. But the movie stands to benefit Utah so much that the GOED temporarily "loaned" money to the film incentive fund from the Industrial Assistance Fund, typically used to provide cash incentives to lure new companies to the state.

GOED plans to "pay back" the corporate incentive fund after they receive money from the legislature next year.

The proposal to the governor's office states filming will take two months, and the film is budgeted at about $7 million. Up to 95 percent of the crew will be from Utah, according to the documents.