Cine and be seen: Will Florida reboot its film industry?

See you at the movies.

Just not in Florida. That is, if you are a production company and want to get incentives and rebates for shooting and handling digital media, film and TV shows and programs in the Sunshine State.

All told, according to a new report from trade association Film Florida, the state has missed out on $1.5 billion in film and TV opportunities since 2016 — when Florida’s $242 million transferable tax credit for the film industry expired. In addition, Film Florida reports five years of not having a subsidies program has also cost the state 250,000 in potential lodging/hotel room nights and some 125,000 cast and crew roles for Floridians.

Film Florida highlights the lost opportunities in a recently updated “lost business map.”  From Okaloosa County in the Panhandle to the filming hotbed of Miami-Dade, the association says at least 100 TV shows and films have been moved out of the state. Nearly 20 of those productions were on the west coast of Florida.

The list includes Live by Night, a Ben Affleck-led movie about a post-World War I Ybor City bootlegger and gangster, based on a Dennis Lehane novel. That flick was filmed mostly in Georgia — even though Affleck made headlines locally when he toured potential Tampa area locations. Another gut-punch to Florida’s flailing film sector came last summer, when producers for a Netflix show named, of all things, Florida Man, announced they would be filming in North Carolina. Live by Night was a $35 million blow, Film Florida reports, while Florida Man cost the state $20 million.

Yet the industry’s most ardent backers believe, like any good Hollywood script, not all hope is lost and a comeback could soon be reality. In a New Year’s message on Film Florida’s website, the organization’s president, Gail Morgan, writes that as “Florida’s economy continues to rebound, the film and television industry can and should be a major part of Florida’s economic recovery and diversification.”

The organizations also cites some positive momentum: For one, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida put the industry in their respective 2022 Florida Legislative Session priorities. “Our great state has much to offer and a sound, fiscally responsible program will help us attract the high wage jobs (in the film, television, and the digital media industry) we have lost to Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana and California in recent years,” AIF states, in part, in its 2022 Session Priorities letter.

In addition, State Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, and Rep. Dana Trabulsy, R-Fort Pierce, have filed bills that would create a targeted high-wage production program for the state’s film business.

While efforts to revive the program in the past two Sessions have faltered, the 2022 version, among other features, says Film Florida, would widen the industry’s impact on the state by giving a bonus for underutilized areas; enhance tourism by choosing projects that encourage visitation to the state; and attract more family-friendly productions to Florida. Selection of projects will prioritize those offering the highest return on investment and economic benefit, the association says, adding that “projects receive a tax credit or rebate only after they have spent their budget in the state and have met all of the program’s requirements.”