Kevin Costner’s ‘Horizon’ film seen as a boost to Moab locals and its economy

After a full day of shooting the first movie in the proposed four-part “Horizon: An American Saga” in the cold La Sal Mountains during fall 2022, director and star Kevin Costner asked if any of the extras could cry for the camera during an intense scene.

Moab resident Amanda Jo Driesen-Hill stepped up to the plate.

“I’m facing [Costner], he’s holding onto me and he’s coaxing me to cry — I had been ready to cry mentally but then it made it really hard because I’m just thinking ‘Dances with Wolves,’” said Driesen-Hill, referring to Costner’s 1990 directorial debut, which won him Academy Awards for director and Best Picture.

After taking a minute, the assistant director advised her to think about something sad. She thought about when her mom died and was able to bring on tears.

“It was just a surreal, crazy experience and then I had to go up there and just continuously try to cry, even though we had been in the desert since six in the morning,” said Driesen-Hill, who has two sons that were also extras in the movie.

“Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1” is the first of four films Costner has planned, telling a story set in a 15-year-stretch before, during and after the Civil War — a time when people started looking west. The first installment premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and is being released this weekend; “Chapter 2” is scheduled to open in theaters on August 16.

Shot in southern Utah

The first movie was shot primarily in Grand and San Juan counties, as well as other places in Utah, mostly on private property, according to Bega Metzner, director of the Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission.

“This is the largest project here in many years that did a build,” Metzner said.

In all, the movie was filmed more than 70 days in Utah. The estimated total Utah production spend is $45 million, with around 915 jobs created, according to Christina Martin of the Utah Film Commission.

For the casting call in Moab at Star Hall, about 500 people showed up, including people from outside of Utah, according to Yong Yun, the extras casting director for the film. He estimated that around 300 Utahns were extras in the movie.

Metzner said one reason that this area has been such a sought-after location for filming — more 200 movies have been shot in the region — is because the land is a character within itself.

“It has its own living and breathing,” she said. “Every day the light is different, the shadow and contrast on the rocks is different, the weather is extreme – hot, cold, not cloudy, cloudy, monsoon, not monsoon, a windstorm.”

Locals’ experiences

Moab resident Kristin Adams said it was an amazing experience to be an extra, because film is something she’s always been obsessed with but hasn’t been accessible to her living in more rural Utah.

“It was honestly one of the highlights of my life,” Adams said. “It was an opportunity to get to see behind the scenes. … I got to learn all kinds of things about costuming, lighting and special effects.”

Stephen Schultz, who was an extra who played an infantry soldier, recalled his third day of shooting, when 16 infantry soldiers were lined up in the courtyard after a scene was shot. An assistant producer told them there was a “unique opportunity” for a speaking part that they wanted to cast and shoot as soon as possible.

The producer gave everyone a close look and selected three of the soldiers, including Schultz, and gave them a short scenario and line. After they each auditioned the line, Schultz got the part.

He grabbed his gun and was escorted through sound, lights and all the grips into a tent where a guy had his back turned to him. It was Costner.

Costner marched up to Schultz, getting 10 inches from his face and looked “real discerning” at him, and said “give me your line.” Schulz delivered it once.

“He nods and goes, ‘Today, I’m going to change your life. I’m going to make you a [member of the] Screen Actors Guild — when I became a SAG, it changed my life,’” said Schultz, who has lived in Moab since the late 1980s and been an extra in several productions shot locally.

Costner ended up talking Schultz through the scene one-on-one for more than 20 minutes.

“By the time it was over, I was stunned — it was serendipitous, how did this all come together?” Schultz said. “I was never one that had any great aspirations for being an actor, but to be a part of this was just amazing.”

Driesen-Hill said although being an extra was a great experience, it was difficult because of the elements, the hours and having to wear steel corsets and heavy dresses to fit the time period.

“We were dancing a lot, and there was one point where I had to go lay down because I was getting lightheaded,” she said.

One extra in the film, Josh Green, is the great grandson of George White, who’s the founder of Moab to Monument Valley Film Commission, the longest-running film commission in the world.

Green said his family had a really fun time in the movie and were treated super well by the cast and crew. His daughter ended up making the trailer and being featured a couple of times.

“It’s nice to have these big-budget movies in Moab because they do a lot for the economy,” Green said. “I know so many people who benefitted even just from being extras.”

A boost to the economy

To Metzner, who has been in the film industry for 27 years, including in New York and Los Angeles, there are no negatives of bringing a film like this to the area because of the boost to the economy.

“The ‘Horizon’ [movies] has made hundreds and hundreds of people make an incredible impact on this community financially, with [the] transient room tax with hotels, restaurants, gas, lumber — the vet if people brought their pets,” Betzner said.

On top of that, Betzner added that film crews have to adhere to the stipulations of a land use permit or a landowner’s private property and are stewards of the land — unlike some tourists or civilians.

“It’s responsible filmmaking – it’s sustainable,” Metzner said. “One of the old sayings in film is people want to leave a place the same or better than they found it.”

Schultz said the economic advantage for Grand and San Juan may be short-lived, but it’s a “forever stamp.”

“When you see the Moab countryside ... it’s kind of the epitome of what a lot of people think of the American West,” Schultz said. “It definitely sells people on the sense of openness and adventure and that anything’s possible.”

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