Orange County leaders consider offering incentives to attract filmmakers to Central Florida

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County officials say Central Florida has lost more than $150 million in film and television productions in recent years.

On Tuesday, Orange County commissioners advanced a plan to bring productions back to the area.

County leaders are considering offering a new incentive to filmmakers to attract more.

About 25 years ago, Central Florida billed itself as the Hollywood of the East, but the state hasn’t invested in film incentives in about a decade.

While states like Georgia have boomed, Florida has phased out film incentives, citing low return on investment.

However, the county now has a new plan that should bring productions back.

“We have so many big studios behind Universal right now, and we need those decision-makers to step up for us,” said local actress Franny Titus.

Orange County commissioners voted Tuesday to move forward with their Central Florida Film Incentive Program, intended to attract talent, promote local businesses and showcase the county as a whole.

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“What we’re doing now and seeing how the community came together and filled this room and expressed their thoughts… it just shows me that we could bring it back,” said local actor Christopher Charlestin.

The plan aims to fill a void left when the state removed movie incentives in 2016. Currently, counties like Hillsborough, Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade already have similar initiatives in place.

“It’s perfect timing,” said Kimberly DiPersia, artistic director of All the Lines Studio and Incubator LLC.

The program is performance based and will be allocated to a particular project once all expenditures have been verified.

Some of the requirements include that the company spend at least $400,000, that 60 percent of production days take place in Central Florida and that 55 percent of the cast and crew be local residents.

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The plan is similar to one proposed several years ago by a Florida Senate Republican. This plan was never adopted.

As for Orange County, their plan is in its early stages and will be discussed again later this summer.

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