The Park County Travel Council is making a push to attract more filmmakers to the area — and the council’s leader says the effort is already paying off.

At a mid-December Park County Commission meeting, Travel Council Executive Director Ryan Hauck said an upcoming film production is set to use 1,400 room nights in the county between January and March. He described it as a Hallmark movie, but not of the classic Christmas variety.

“It gets heads in beds,” Hauck said.

In a report to the Powell City Council last fall, Hauck said the county has recently seen “huge interest” from the film industry — from commercials to TV shows to movies.

“It has been crazy this last year,” Hauck said. 

Celebrity chef Guy Fieri and the crew of his Food Network show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” made waves when they stopped in Cody last summer, sampling the cuisine at Sitti’s Table and 307Pizza. However, Hauck called Fieri’s visit “just the tip of the iceberg.”

“At one point in time I had seven different film things in my lap trying to juggle around. And we don’t try for that stuff, to be honest with you,” Hauck told Powell officials in October.

However, he and the travel council have been developing a more deliberate approach. That has included hiring a consultant and setting up a webpage on the council’s site to promote Park County as a filming location.

“The rugged landscape and historic charm of Cody Yellowstone offers a setting in the real American West unlike any other,” says a portion of the page.

Most recently, the Powell, Cody and Meeteetse councils and the Park County Commission agreed to formally establish a film office within the travel council.

“We’re already working as the film commission. This just makes it official,” Hauck told commissioners. The designation will also give the council an opportunity to join the Association of Film Commissioners International, he said, and “gives us bigger exposure.”

The resolution approved last month by the Powell City Council encourages companies to film in Powell and Park County — noting the economic benefits of film productions and the potential benefits “of showcasing Park County to the nation and the world.”

The Travel Council website notes that a number of prominent projects have been filmed in the county, such as Jeep and Nike ads, scenes from the TV show Longmire and a portion of the 1980 Clint Eastwood comedy “Any Which Way You Can.”