Oscar-winning director Ang Lee is preparing to bring the California Gold Rush to the big screen – and back to the region where that history unfolded.
Lee is set to film an epic titled “Gold Mountain” in Northern California after the project received a California Film & Television Tax Credit in the latest round of state awards announced in December, according to the governor’s office.
The production is expected to shoot extensively in Sacramento County, making it one of the most significant out-of-zone commitments under the current tax credit cycle.
Lee’s film alone accounts for 50 filming days outside the traditional Los Angeles production zone, a detail highlighted by the Governor Newsom Press Office in a social media post boosting the production.
“California’s film and television industry isn’t just an economic engine – it’s part of who we are,” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement in describing the latest tax credit awards as both an economic and cultural investment. “This latest round of tax credit awards builds on that legacy while delivering real results across the state: good-paying jobs, stronger local economies, and thriving small businesses.”
“Gold Mountain” is expected to take a historically grounded look at the Gold Rush and adds to Lee’s wide-ranging body of work, which spans intimate family dramas and visually ambitious epics.
Lee has won two Academy Awards for best director, for “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) and “Life of Pi” (2012).
Lee’s film is among 28 projects selected through California’s recently expanded Film & Television Tax Credit Program, which state officials say will collectively generate $562 million in economic activity.
State officials estimate the selected projects will employ 4,837 cast and crew members and generate more than 22,000 background performer workdays across 831 shooting days statewide. The productions are projected to spend $337 million in California, including $209 million in wages.
Colleen Bell, director of the California Film Commission, noted awardees reflect a focus on stories rooted in the state.
“These aren’t just movies shooting here, they’re also telling the stories of the places where they’re shooting,” she said in a statement. “By supporting these talented artists’ storytelling, we’re not only keeping entertainment jobs in-state, we’re reinforcing California’s status as the entertainment capital of the world and a larger-than-life character that no fictional one could ever rival.”
This article originally published at Ang Lee set to shoot Gold Rush epic in Northern California.