Filming in Colorado

Filming for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight has proven a big boost for Colorado. The filmmaker’s second Western after Django Unchained filmed for several weeks in the state in 2015. Location filming was originally planned for Utah as the state has a more comprehensive production industry.

However, Location Manager John Minor decided Schmid Ranch in Telluride would be a better option and he was able to persuade Tarantino and his creative team after a low-key scouting trip.

Colorado is not known as a US filming hub. It does, however, offer a 20% filming incentive, although this comes with a very small annual film fund and has the condition that at least half the workforce is made up of Colorado residents.

The state arranged a deal to allocate the full USD 5 million filming incentive to The Hateful Eight. Production spending from the movie has since had a big impact locally at a time of year when the region is often in a downturn.

Despite the boost from Tarantino’s presence, the future of the filming incentive is not certain.

Climate

Colorado’s climate is intensely affected by its diverse topography. The Eastern Plains are the lowland parts of the state and have temperatures as low as -23C in the winter to as high as 38C in the summer, which is among America’s most dramatic temperature contrast.

Winter temperatures normally reach between -1C and -12C, while the maximum summer temperature is about 13C. Most of the rain in this region falls between April and September, with April the wettest month of the year. West of the foothills conditions get much more erratic with a semi-arid climate becoming alpine as the elevations grow.