Florida losing film, television productions to other states

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Florida is a hotspot for movies, but in recent years, Hollywood has begun to look elsewhere.

Florida’s film incentive program ran out of money several years ago and was not replenished.

Since then, the Sunshine State has lost more than 70 films and television shows, according to film association Film Florida.

“In the last several years, we’ve lost out on more than $1.3 billion worth of business that wanted to come here to film in Florida, and we just haven’t been able to compete,” said John Lux, executive director at Film Florida.

Production companies are going to other states, where monetary incentives are being offered.

Rafael Ventura is a local film and television location scout. He’s noticed a drop in business.

“A lot of stuff has been going to Georgia and Louisiana because they opened the flood gates for more incentives for the movie companies,” Ventura said.

Ventura says a few years ago he worked on several projects a month. Now, he’s lucky to get several a year.

“There’s been a decline. There’s not that many projects and it’s slim pickings,” Ventura said.

But several Florida lawmakers are trying to get the incentives back.

Senator Linda Stewart, who represents Orlando, has proposed a bill that would allow local governments to use tourism development tax dollars to incentivize production companies.

Currently, the tax revenue is designated for tourism-related projects.

“TDT is often used primarily for the promotion and advertisement of tourism to Florida. I wanted to give local Tourist Development Councils the option to use these dollars to promote film production here in the State. This would not be a new tax, but a tool that local communities could use to promote tourism through the big screen,” Sen. Stewart said.

Lux says the goal is attracting business and bringing money to Florida.

“We are literally handing those jobs and that state revenue and tax dollars to other states,” Lux said.

“Florida severely lags behind our neighboring states in film production, and it’s proven that people are more likely to visit destinations featured in media productions. By opening up the use of TDT as a voluntary funding source to promote tourism through film, we can book 220,000 more hotel rooms, hire 110,000 Floridian cast and crew members and pump $1.3 billion back into our local economies”, Stewart said. 

“State bills like this one have been filed before and have not gained any traction in the legislature. Businesses who would be directly involved and/or impacted here in Central Florida are those in the tourism industry, like Disney and Universal. Right now, in Orange County, our TDT dollars are all spoken for,” said Orange County Spokeswoman Despina McLaughlin.

Stewart's Bill SB334, along with several others that would reinstate incentives are making their way through committees.