EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – The El Dorado County Film Commission is safe for another year after a vote by the county supervisors Tuesday approved a one-year memorandum of understanding (MOU).
Making movies in El Dorado County has a long history. The long list of movies filmed in the county stretches from Lake Tahoe to El Dorado Hills, and includes Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy in 1936’s Rose Marie filmed at Emerald Bay to Tom Cruise in Top Gun: Maverick, to this year’s Gold Mountain being filmed by Academy Award Winner Ang Lee in the southern part of the county. That movie is based on the bestseller, How Much of These Hills Is Gold, and is getting a lot of buzz in Hollywood.
Looking at how to fund the film commission came up during the last two county budget discussions, starting in 2025 when they faced a $15M shortfall. Some funds collected through Tourist Occupancy Tax (TOT) went to fund agencies tasked with promoting tourism, including the Highway 50 Wagon Train, Arts & Culture El Dorado, Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce, El Dorado County Chamber, and the Film Commission (officially known as El Dorado Lake Tahoe Film & Media Office).
Even though the Film Commission brings in dollars to the county through permit fees and a large economic benefit to the communities the movies are filmed in, the one-person operation was on the chopping block.
The county doesn’t get money directly for things at state parks or in the cities of Placerville and South Lake Tahoe, but the area does earn money from per diem expenses by those involved in the movie or production, purchased building supplies, locals having parts as extras, food, and other contracted services. The county earns sales taxes from everything purchased.
Ang’s new movie has an estimated $30,000,000 economic benefit to the county. 2026 will have the biggest impact in the county, says Kathleen Dodge, who has led the El Dorado Lake Tahoe Film & Media Office since it began in 1993. In an average year, productions in the county result in the procurement of goods (food, paint, clothing, equipment) and services (carpenters, caterers, electricians, camera crews, hair and makeup), with an estimated return on investment of $7.1 million.
Dodge is also able to connect the production companies with the right locations for their movies, commercials, and television shows. She knows the necessary permits and works as a liaison.
Now, her position is paid through the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce with a one-year MOU. So far, over the past two years, the County Supervisors have not been willing to make it more than a year, and Dodge’s position must be approved annually.
Besides Gold Mountain, an episode of the next season of Prime’s Mr. & Mrs. Smith is currently wrapping up in South Lake Tahoe. That production, even though one episode, costs one-half of a full-length movie. During shooting, South Lake Tahoe benefited from 2,700 room nights.
“This is the biggest year as far as economic impact, while the rest of California is struggling,” said Dodge.
Nearby Placer County administers its film office through the Economic Development Division of the Placer County Executive Office, with a base salary of $103,000, and Sacramento County pays a bit more.
El Dorado Supervisors want Dodge to create a succession plan, but she fears many won’t want to come to the county for the job due to a lack of job security. There is actually a state resolution the supervisors signed 30 years ago that requires the position.
While Mr. & Mrs. Smith was filming, they gave the Hellman-Ehrman, a state park, a large donation.
Dodge acts as the liaison between the public, rules and regulations, and the production, with much behind-the-scenes work required.
The commissioner got her start as a page at NBC, working her way up, and is responsible for bringing actor Nicholas Cage into his first movie as a high school student. Dodge was able to connect again with him when he was in South Lake Tahoe filming City of Angels.
“It is an honor to serve the community for one more year,” Dodge told South Tahoe Now.