Business is going well for Florida. And pending the outcome of proposed tax credit legislation that would benefit local production, business stands to get even better for the Sunshine State. At press time, the state Senate was set to vote on legislation that would provide a 15 percent tax credit.
Filming is good, says Jeff Peel, director of the Miami-Dade Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment, who reports there are currently quite a few pilots in addition to TV shows and smaller features shooting in town. The high season for filming is Oct.-March, which mirrors the tourist season. In that time from ’05-’06, 96 commercials were shot in Dade County with a reported $12.3 million in direct spending. This is slightly down from the peak ’04-’05 season, in which 111 spots were shot with $14.5 million spent.
“Spot production is cyclical with the overall economy,” Peel comments, adding that spots represent about 20 percent of the ’05-’06 film/entertainment production totals. “My sense is we’re having a plus year. We’re seeing a lot of variety of work shooting here, from the East Coast, L.A., Chicago and Toronto.”
Currently, Florida has a $10 million entertainment financial incentive which reimburses up to 15 percent of a production company’s expenditures incurred in the state. However, that mechanism is “not conducive” for spot companies to take advantage of the funds. “To be considered you have to spend a minimum of $850,000,” says Peel, “and it’s the rare commercial that’s budgeted [at that figure].” If passed, the bill would reduce that minimum threshold to $625,000. It would also allow commercials to be bundled together to apply for the incentive, according to Peel.
PRODUCTION HOUSE PERSPECTIVE Massimo Martinotti, president/director of Mia Films/The Mia Network, which is headquartered in Miami, is also president of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers’ (AICP) Florida chapter. “All the local production companies here are very busy,” says Martinotti. “I’d say, at least within the past two years, we’ve all been busy.”
Several factors account for the heightened activity in the local production community, according to Martinotti. First, the advertising market in general is healthy. In addition, the Hispanic ad market –which provides most of the local production houses with much of their business–is booming. “It’s growing much more than the general market [advertising],” notes Martinotti.
Aside from Miami, Mia Films has offices in Mexico, Costa Rica and Argentina as well as two affiliated offices in Spain and Italy. It represents 20 directors in the U.S. and markets a few additional directors in Latin America. Much of Mia’s work is produced for the U.S. Hispanic market, which includes recent spots for Allstate via La Agencia de Orci, Los Angeles; Kia Spectra via Al Punto, Los Angeles; and McDonald’s via dRM DDB, Miami. Mia’s Hispanic spot assignments come from agencies around the country — primarily the West Coast, says Martinotti, who estimates that 20 percent of jobs come from Florida agencies, and another 20 percent from foreign countries.
Mia Films is beginning to find another revenue source in new media, and has an interactive division. “We are specifically devoting a lot of time in creating and developing new media,” Martinotti relates, mentioning I-pods, video podcasts, video-on-demand and cellular phones as new platforms they are exploring. Notably, his company has developed a system, titled BrainyFrog, which is an application service to create blogs and online presentations.
Martinotti adds he foresees a reorganization of production companies in order to produce work in different formats. “We have a lot of Internet-based business here in Florida–there are many programmers, game developers.”
As a location, Florida has historically attracted productions due to its warm climate and its sun-drenched beaches. However, several local film commissions and the AICP Florida are taking action to broaden people’s perceptions of the area. “It’s not just beaches and palm trees,” says Martinotti. “We want to communicate the message that Florida has a wide range of locations–forests, lakes, buildings. Beyond locations, Florida offers production infrastructure: there are creative, talented people here. We’ve got very good crews, post houses. Shooting here is easy.”
To get the word out, Martinotti and delegates from several local film commissions have traveled to New York and Los Angeles hosting receptions for the ad and production communities. Similar events are planned for Spain and the U.K this fall, and Germany and Italy are being considered as possible sites next year, relates Martinotti.
ORLANDO In Orlando, Universal Studios’ Florida Production Group has also targeted its diverse offerings to commercial clients. “We’re here to service all types of productions, says Pamela Tuscany-Warren, senior director and general manager of Universal’s Florida Production Group (UFPG). “But without a doubt, we’ve become very focused on our spot business.” She estimates that, along with cable television programs, spots comprise 50 percent of the company’s total business.
Warren notes that UFPG, billed as being the largest working studio on the East Coast, can provide to clients not only use of its facilities (including a 444-acre backlot, three broadcast studios and sound stages), but also partnerships via the 63 companies on the lot offering production services.
These services include casting, production management, animation and postproduction; in the latter sector, for example, there’s high definition post house Communication Concepts Inc. In addition, Universal has three hotels on its property, which is “another tool to bring to production companies as they package a project,” she says. “The hotels have helped my agency commercial business.”
Winter through early spring is UFPG’s peak commercial season; this past January represented the best month for spot production in the company’s 15-year history, according to Warren. She estimates that commercial work was up 25 percent for the first quarter of ’06. Recent credits include spots for Callaway Golf, Stein-Mart and EA Sports.
Suzy Allen, VP of the Metro Orlando Film & Entertainment Commission, estimates that commercials represent 40 percent of Orlando’s film/entertainment revenues. (The total for 2004–the last year for which they have figures–was $586 million in revenue, says Allen.)
“Spots continue to be the bread and butter of our entertainment workforce,” notes Allen, adding that most of the commercial work originates from New York and secondarily from the West Coast. “We took a huge hit after 9/11, as did everyone, but for the last two years, we’ve been busy. We’re about three crews deep here in Orlando, so that contributes to the healthy business. Our busy season is September through May, and up until a week ago, our phone has kept ringing.”
Allen has recently noted a jump in international spot projects shooting in Orlando, primarily from the Toronto and U.K. markets. “We’d lost a lot of that work [in years past] because of the South African incentives,” she relates. “But now it’s coming back; it could be location burnout or the exchange rate.” Allen adds she has also seen a trend toward more national spots, in what has historically been an area known for regional projects. Among the recent spots shot in Orlando are those for Samsung, Chrysler, the PGA, American Express and Home Depot.
POST POV In contrast to his production counterparts, Vinny Hogan, president of Miami-based film lab and post facility Cineworks Digital Studios, has a different assessment of commercial business. “For the most part, spots seem to be down,” says Hogan. “And from what I can gather from talking to people, they’re down across the country.”
Besides spots, the six-year-old facility works on indie films, television shows, music videos and documentaries. Spots–including “quite a bit of Hispanic work”–comprise 60 to 70 percent of Cineworks’ business, Hogan estimates. This includes front-end work all the way through finishing. He notes that since Cineworks operates a film lab, the company provides dailies for most of the national spots that are shot in Miami.
While the spot jobs “ebb and flow,” Hogan says Cineworks has kept busy lately with an upswing of feature projects. These include The Way Back Home, an indie film starring Michael Houston King, Ruby Dee and Julie Harris, and The Reaping, a Warner Bros. release starring Hilary Swank. On both projects, Cineworks used Assimilate’s SCRATCH, which provides an all-in-one data-centric workflow. Cineworks was the first in the Southeast to acquire SCRATCH, as well as first to add HDCAM-SR.
CONSENSUS On one point, everyone surveyed can agree: competition is fierce and now increasingly worldwide. “We’re losing work to the likes of Argentina and Mexico, and it’s all financially driven,” Hogan comments. Martinotti concurs, and cites Argentina, Brazil and Costa Rica as new competitors to the mix.
“Everyone is seeing competition from overseas in all areas: TV, movies, commercials,” adds Peel. “The economies of Latin America [for instance] have become so challenged, so it’s very cheap for companies to shoot there.” Add to that the factors of no SAG residuals to pay in certain foreign markets, and exchange rates, and Florida is not the lowest cost alternative.
However, while clients will continue to seek out the most they can for the money they have, execs in Florida say that quality–of local facilities, talent and production services–makes them a top contender. “A lot of commercial location decisions are made on the basis of where people feel comfortable,” says Peel. “We want to get the message out that we want their business, we’re a creative destination and we’re capable of top-level production.”
