During our 22 years of adapting to various rented spaces for our film exhibitions, media education programming, and artist support efforts, we have developed a keen understanding of what makes a space functional. Now we have turned our focus to crafting a physical aesthetic that truly embodies the Utah Film Center’s (UTFC) mission and vision to reflect who we are and where we’re headed.
Greg Walker, co-founder of WOW Atelier and lead designer of the new Utah Film Center building, has invested countless hours into ensuring that our new home reflects UTFC’s mission while signaling an exciting new chapter in our journey. In his own words, “Utah Film Center has been dreaming of and planning for this space for over a decade. The challenge [for us] as designers is to channel that passion, honor those ideas and dreams, and tell the unique story of this organization—all while creating a functional space and delivering the project on time and on budget.”
Fortunately, Greg’s long standing role as a beloved board member and advocate for Utah Film Center’s programming gave us a head start in defining the identity of our new space.
The first exercise that WOW guided our team through was, If Utah Film Center was a famous person, who would we be, and why? This unique, open-ended prompt allowed our staff to discuss the creative energy we aspired to embody. It also provided valuable insights into how our stakeholders view the Film Center now, and how we collectively envision its growth and evolution in years to come.
The top 5 personas we identified are a wonderful mix of form and function. We saw ourselves as adventurous and determined, like Free Solo director Jimmy Chin. We aspired to be sophisticated yet approachable, and a compassionate advocate much like Audrey Hepburn. Quirky, intelligent, and sleek like Jeff Goldblum, while also being hip, clever, and classy like Zendaya. Finally, to add some edge and innovation, we envisioned ourselves as nonbinary, rock-and-roll: a beacon of creativity and professional longevity like David Bowie.
The staff’s commitment to redesigning the space for future users and looking for ways to engage the community with many intentional touchpoints thoughtfully is always at the heart of these aesthetic designs. We envision a space where filmmakers feel equally comfortable showing up in jeans and t-shirts or pearls and high heels—a place where everyone not only feels welcome but knows they belong. Our goal is to cultivate an environment that is both sophisticated and artistic, inspiring visitors to dream bigger.
As Greg noted, “WOW was built to do projects like this. Our entire existence and passion are supporting and elevating causes that make the world a better place. Our goal is to find the organization’s unique voice. It can’t just be a beautiful space; it needs to tell a story.”
Together, the WOW team and Utah Film Center staff have created a beautiful blueprint for our new home—one we hope will inspire and engage the entire community in meaningful ways. Take a look at these artist renderings for a glimpse of what’s to come!
Yet, what would a beautiful design be without thoughtful and skilled construction? If you’ve been following our building story thus far, you have likely heard us mention (on more than one occasion!) that while our new home was beautiful and move-in ready, it requires industry-specific renovations to transform the space into a true film center. These updates are essential for creating the exhibition, education, and filmmaking spaces that align with our mission and programming needs
We are thrilled to share that the magic of the season granted us an official, city-approved permit to begin construction! With Cowdin Construction and Development at the trusted helm of this operation, we are in excellent and capable hands to officially begin the necessary demolition to begin making our longtime dream a reality. See below for a milestone moment: the lovely inaugural blow to a wall in the garage, which will soon become the state-of-the-art home of our new black box. Cheers!
Thank you for joining us on this journey. If you would like to keep up-to-date with the latest demolition and construction news, continue to follow along with our building stories here.
If you would like more information regarding contributing to the Capital Campaign, please reach out to:
Mariah Mellus, Executive Director | mmellus@utahfilmcenter.org
Meghan Horner, Development Director | mhorner@utahfilmcenter.org
