The Coeur d’Alene Arts Commission has established a new subcommittee in support of filmmaking and related industries in North Idaho. 

The Filmmaking & Support of North Idaho Film Festival Subcommittee will focus on promoting North Idaho as a film-friendly destination. 

Jackie Butera, who is a part of local film studio Paradox Studios, said Idaho should share in the rewards that states like Washington acquire when working with film studios.  

“'Train Dreams,' for instance, was an Oscar-nominated movie and it was an Idaho story that they filmed in Washington,” she said. “We should be making our own stories.”

Butera said the money, jobs and education that communities receive from locally made films can help shape an area.

City Council president Amy Evans echoes a similar statement. 

“Film is both an art form and an economic driver. By creating this subcommittee within the Arts Commission, we are recognizing the importance of film to our cultural landscape while ensuring North Idaho is included in statewide conversations about film policy and incentives,” she said in a press release Wednesday.   

A major priority of the subcommittee will be supporting the proposed Idaho Film and Television Incentive, which looks to attract productions to the state, encourage local hiring, increase regional spending and build a sustainable film industry.

They will serve in an advisory capacity by gathering feedback, sharing best practices and elevating North Idaho’s place in the conversation. 

Butera believes Idaho’s place in filmmaking is behind many other states and the subcommittee can reduce that gap.   

One of the last major motion pictures shot in North Idaho was "Dante's Peak," which was primarily filmed in the Silver Valley and released in 1997.

It was reported the movie added $5 million to Wallace's economy through wages, construction and services.

“(Idaho is) the wild west of filmmaking. There are not a lot of rules, not a lot of permitting and there are not a lot of permissions that need to be gathered,” she said. “We need continuity, we need some consistency with standards of filmmaking.”  

The group will also promote the North Idaho Film Festival, or NoID, a grassroots nonprofit event celebrating filmmaking, local talent and storytelling. 

This year’s festival is scheduled Sept. 24-26 at Regal Cinemas Riverstone and will feature screenings, panels and workshops.

Cal Habayeb, director of operations for NoID, said the festival's mission is in line with the subcommittee’s. 

“Ultimately, I think we can bring a lot of heads and beds, interest in the film industry, people visiting the area, economic development and cover a space that is not really covered here,” he said.  

Habayeb said North Idaho’s blue-collar roots and unfamiliarity with the film industry is actually a strength.

“We can extract stories from that community in ways that other areas can’t,” he said. “I think we have the ability to cover a market that is underserved.”   

The effort to bring filmmaking to Idaho is statewide, with Butera acting as the North Idaho liaison to a southern Idaho group working to get the Idaho Film and Television Incentive passed. 

“If we included everyone and we were really clear about what this infrastructure looks like, then we could all work together,” she said.

Butera said the collaborative nature of filmmaking is the core of its importance.

“Film is the most collaborative art form there is and because of that it’s not really just an art form. We are talking economic development and stimulation, we are talking jobs, we are talking real tangible things for our citizens,” she said.