There it was in black and white. I was on LinkedIn, and the article read that Georgia was the "Top Filming Location in the World." Of course, I knew that already but it never really sank in until that moment. But like the quote says, “Denying the truth doesn’t change the facts”.
When I was about to graduate from Valencia's Film Program in 1994, there was this expectation that Florida was going to be "Hollywood East". It indeed appeared to look that way with Disney building the DISNEY/MGM STUDIOS and UNIVERSAL STUDIOS completing their facility soon after. After all, both companies claimed their studios would not just be theme parks but also working Film/TV production studios.
When our state government decided to cut the tax incentives for FILM/TV productions shooting in Florida, the producers of those projects yelled,
"Cut!” and “Moving on!" for bringing any more work to Florida.
One thing that didn't change was Hollywood's quest to cut costs on production. Eventually, Hollywood filmmaking landed in Georgia. The difference in this destination was Georgia studied the potential revenue for its state with Film/TV and ran with it. The result of their decision is now front page news.
Florida could've been the state in that headline. I believe it still can.
We have the people, locations, and facilities. Can Florida's film industry
rise again?
What are your thoughts on this question?
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