Production in Florida continues to heat up, with several major features, commercials and television projects traveling to the state for location work. Suzy Allen, managing director of the Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission, describes commercials as “the bread and butter” of filming-generated business in her area. She reported brisk spot lensing over the past 13 months, to the point where volume has exceeded that enjoyed during the ad heyday levels of activity prior to 2001. She acknowledged that the 9/11 tragedy had brought commercialmaking to an immediate standstill in Orlando, with recovery coming slowly from ’02-’03.
But from April ’04-April ’05, Allen said that her office issued more than 300 location filming permits for commercials on public property in Orlando. That figure, she estimated, is eight to 10 percent higher than the annual pre-’01 norm. Furthermore, this improved showing doesn’t take into account extensive spot lensing on private property, including soundstages.
“Commercials have spiked here over the past year,” she relates, noting that the weakened U.S. dollar has translated into a larger influx of international work, particularly from Canada and the U.K.
While local/regional commercials and Latin ad fare remain prevalent, Allen notes that major mainstream U.S. work is on the upswing, citing such top-drawer advertisers as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and American Express that have come to Orlando for spot filming.
Jeff Peel, director of the Miami Dade Mayor’s Office of Film & Entertainment, also reports a significant uptick in spot production in Miami. “Business is good,” he states. “We’re at the end of our traditional season at the moment, so things are winding down on the commercial front, but we’ve had a pretty amazing run. Last year, and first quarter this year were pretty amazing on the commercial production front.”
In ’04, spot production accounted for $45 million, which Peel notes is about 30 percent higher than ’03, which saw about $35 million in commercial production. “A lot of [productions coming to Miami] are from overseas,” explains Peel. “The exchange rate is obviously pumping a lot more money into the production economy, and the U.S. economy has been doing pretty well. Both of those things have combined to help increase commercial production, still photography, television and film.”
In addition to the economy, Peel reasons that Miami has once again become a sought-after locale for advertisers. “These things go in cycles to some degree as well,” he says. “Miami was really hot in the mid-’90s–it was the place to go, a top-of-mind location for people to shoot in.” He noted that things cooled off in 2000 and 2001, in part because the U.S. dollar was much stronger against the Euro, which kept some European productions away from the area. “Now, things have changed a little bit, we’re a little less expensive for Europeans to shoot here, the town has changed a bit–there’s a huge amount of building going on,” says Peel. “And people go, ‘Oh Miami, that’s a cool place. Let’s go check out Miami again.’ All those things combined along with a fairly good economy to account for a really good year.”
Massimo Martinotti, president of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Miami chapter, and president/director at Miami-headquartered Mia Films/The Mia Network, also relates that travel and security concerns in the wake of the 9/11 attacks have receded somewhat. “The concern Europeans had a couple of years ago because of the terrorist threats and all the problems related with traveling [have] faded,” he explains, adding that the Euro’s strength against the dollar has helped bring Europeans back to the area as well. “People are coming again, even if it is a little inconvenient to fly around–people now assume you have to go through long lines, and security checkpoints.” He also notes, “there are more projects around, and on the other side, budgets are again growing bigger, so I think that the situation is pretty good this year,” for production in the area.
Graham Winick, film and event production manager for the City of Miami Beach’s Office of Film and Event Production management, reports that the area, which is home to the ever popular South Beach, is seeing a number of productions, both from the commercial and feature world. Bicoastal shops such as HSI Productions and RSA USA have shot there. This summer, the feature film version of Miami Vice will be shooting there. The film is being directed by Michael Mann (an executive producer on the original series), and stars Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell. Winick also relates that during pilot season, several series shot in the area, and he is hopeful that at least one or two will be picked up by the networks.
COOPERATIVE TRIO
Winick notes that he works closely with his counterparts Peel and Robert Parente, director of the City of Miami Mayor’s Office of Film, Arts & Entertainment. “On a community basis, there are three film commissions that represent the Miami area–there’s my office, which represents Miami Beach, Robert Perenti represents the city of Miami, and Jeff Peel, the county. “Since I’ve been in this office, we’ve all pulled together,” relates Winick. “… We work hand in hand as a unit, along with our Convention and Visitors bureau to promote the whole area for producers. Our goal is to get them here, and once they’re here, we’ll work with them for all aspects of locations, logistical needs, whatever it is.”
The film offices in the Miami area, along with Martinotti and the AICP, as well as the Greater Miami Convention& Visitor’s Bureau, have been doing much to promote the area to commercials and other types of production. The Miami AICP chapter, along with Peel and Winick’s offices recently hosted a “Miami Mojito” party in New York at the offices of Red Car, and there are plans to host similar events in London and Chicago, reports Martinotti.
At that event, a copy of Miami in the Spotlight was distributed. Assembled by the three Miami film offices, and the Convention & Visitors Bureau, the book highlights locations and information about shooting in Miami. “One of things we try to sell is that Miami is not just palm trees and beaches and art deco,” explains Peel. “It’s a much wider diversity. The book is really about illustrating the diversity of the environment here. … Packaged at the back of the book is a DVD shot in high definition video that has a hundred or more other locations that have been indexed and are searchable.”
Those locations include areas that producers might not necessarily associate with Miami. “We suffer from typecasting in a way,” explains Peel. “I’ve talked to creative people in the past, and they say ‘Florida, I guess we can shoot orange juice commercials there.’ But there’s other stuff that can be done as well. It’s a real attempt to get over that mindset that we’re good for certain things, and for everything else we’re really not perfect. With the exception of a mountain and a waterfall, pretty much everything is available, and it’s available with decent weather all year round and good crews, and all the other stuff that we always talk about. We really can provide good production solutions to people, particularly now in a cost-effective way.”
In the fall of ’03, the Miami production community created a series of Internet shorts intended to draw production to the city. The project, called “Outside the Box,” was a joint production of the Miami-Dade County Mayor’s Office of Film & Entertainment, the AICP Florida chapter, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, Film Florida and Mia. The shorts, directed by Martinotti, take a humorous look at producing spots. Both Martinotti and Peel report that the site, www.floridashorts.com, will be re-engineered. “We got a huge bang out of putting [the films out there],” relates Peel, while Martinotti notes that the site received hits from 69 countries. Peel expects that by the fall of this year, a new concept, which he’s keeping under wraps for now, will launch.
INCENTIVES
Last year, Florida passed a production incentive, which set up a $2.4 million fund to reimburse up to 15 percent of qualifying expenditures on a production. The incentive applies to productions that spend a minimum of $850,000 on Florida-based employees, production outfits and production-service companies.
The reimbursement has a variety of caps: $2 million for features; $450,000 for TV movies and pilots; $150,000 for individual episodes; $25,000 for commercials and music videos; and $15,000 for industrial and educational films. Companies that relocated to the state could also receive five percent of their gross annual revenue, up to $200,000. During this year’s legislative session, which ended on May 6, the reimbursement fund increased from $2.4 million to $10 million, and goes into effect in July, when the next fiscal year begins. Yet while commercials are still covered under the incentive fund, it’s unlikely that many will be able to take advantage of it–since the incentive covers a single production–not cumulative productions. Most commercials won’t hit the $850,000 threshold necessary to qualify. However, Florida continues its nearly three-year old sales tax exemption program, for which commercials can qualify.