Film/Digital Media

Colorado is a magnet for creative talent, ranking 5th among all states for concentration of artists. Only New York, California, Massachusetts and Vermont have a higher concentration of creative talent. Colorado ranks 2nd in concentration of architects, 7th in concentration of writers, designers, entertainers and performers and 8th in concentration of photographers.

Colorado’s strengths are design and film and media, which represent 73% of all creative industry jobs.

With approximately 34,000 jobs, the design sector is the largest among the state’s creative sectors. Growth in number of jobs also was among the highest in the creative economy, adding 4,675 jobs between 2002 and 2007. It is estimated that about 36 percent of the growth was due to the state’s unique regional attributes. An area of particular design strength is in environmental design, the architects, design firms, interior designers and landscape architects. Many design companies in Colorado offer integrated services that include multiple disciplines. In addition, the state has particular strength in sustainable or “green” design, an area of rapid growth across the nation.

In Colorado, the largest segment of the design sub-group is architectural services. Advertising, interior and specialty design services also are quite strong.

In 2006, Colorado had 887 architectural firms in the state employing approximately 5,000 individuals, a concentration that puts Colorado third among all states. An additional 1,300 individuals are self-employed architects. On a per capita basis, Colorado ranks second in the U.S. in the number of licensed architects living in the state. The state is not only strong in architecture, but also in many related areas. Colorado also ranks 2nd in the nation in the interior design industry and 3rd in landscape architecture.

While most of Colorado’s design firms are small and work in state, a large number of architecture and design firms are engaged in large national and even international projects.

The film and media sector is fueled partially by Colorado’s historic strengths in the telecommunications industry. The Colorado cable industry was a pioneer in the development of cable services and has been called the “cable capital of the U.S.” Companies such as EchoStar, Starz Entertainment, the DISH Network and the family-owned Jones International are all headquartered in the Denver area. The location of these national headquarters and the long history of cable in the state have also generated a number of ancillary companies and industries relevant to the creative economy.

Colorado's film, television and media companies provide jobs for 54,000 Coloradans and an astonishing $20 billion in annual revenue. The majority of these industries typically pay higher than average Colorado wages, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of the second quarter of 2009. The broadcasting, telecommunications, motion picture and sound recording industries alone now produce revenues of $14 billion annually. This represents 9.6% of the total private GDP of the state.