Working with the Native Americans in Southern Utah to protect their land is a priority for the Kevin Costner production “Horizon: An American Saga 2.” The four-part film series that covers 15 years around the American Civil War and the expansion of the West, is currently being shot in the Greater Zion area in St. George.
The soothing sound of the Santa Clara River and soft red dirt on the Shivwits Band of Paiutes Indian reservation was the background for some movie scenes. The tribal land spans 28,000 acres in southwestern Washington County, 12 miles northwest of St. George, near Ivins, Utah.
Shivwits Reservation Land Resources Manager Travis Duran was quoted saying that the Oscar-winning director and crew treated the land and its people respectfully. “The best thing was working with Kevin’s crew. We’re all working together and they were more active in asking what they should be careful of,” Duran said.
Duran appreciated Costner and his crew for respecting the Native American land. The production team put up signs cautioning if a plant or specific area needed protection on the set. This helped people from accidentally stepping on them. Costner’s production company also upgraded the area, which include improving & widening of the roads, clearing overgrown brush and more. The improvements on the land will benefit the tribal members in the future and would allow Native American families more access to picnic in the area.
The first part of the movie was shot in and around Moab, Utah, in 2022 after the State Legislature passed Utah’s State Film Production Amendments bill, which excepted rural productions from the state’s annual tax incentive program limits. The program requires production companies to use local actors and vendors as much as possible.
“Horizon: An American Saga 2” will bring an estimated USD 90 million into the economy of Washington County, according to Sales Manager Joyce Kelly of the Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office.
Costner is producing the film through his Territory Pictures. Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute a New Line Cinema presentation of a Territory Pictures production, the “Horizon: An American Saga 2” films in the United States of America. This is the first of a three-part series on the production “Horizon: An American Saga 2” in Utah.
