"I hear it every day: Producers want to come here, but they're forced to take projects to other states and, at times, rewrite them to fit those locations because of the dollar-to-dollar values," says Michelle Hillery, president of Film Florida and deputy film commissioner in Palm Beach County. So much so that Edward Stamm, a vice president at ARRI Rentals (which leases cameras and equipment) tried to get Florida politicians to pay attention as he saw ARRI's business in Miami dropping.
Florida created a film-and-entertainment incentive program in 2003, offering relatively modest cash rebates to various productions. The biggest recipients were typically large-budget television shows such as "Burn Notice" and "The Glades," or feature films such as "Marley and Me."
Video-game companies were initially excluded from the program entirely, because Florida officials said the state did not want to provide incentives for projects likely to occur even without government help.
Florida created a film-and-entertainment incentive program in 2003, offering relatively modest cash rebates to various productions. The biggest recipients were typically large-budget television shows such as "Burn Notice" and "The Glades," or feature films such as "Marley and Me."
Video-game companies were initially excluded from the program entirely, because Florida officials said the state did not want to provide incentives for projects likely to occur even without government help.