Orlando hopes cash incentives will boost film industry

[pheneix]

>>>Orlando hopes cash incentives will boost film industry

By Susan Strother Clarke | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 10, 2002

The city of Orlando is offering for the first time incentives for the area's struggling film and TV industry, pledging more than $1 million to the company that brings a steady stream of production to the area.

Tanja Gerhartz, the city's director of economic development, said Monday the cash-back plan is based on how much money is spent within city limits. To obtain the maximum benefit, a production company would have to spend $21 million over three years.

"What we are trying to do is create a level playing field and make Orlando a little more appealing for film and television producers," Gerhartz said.

City officials hope that any production that qualifies for the incentives will go to Universal Studios Florida, which operates nine sound stages in southwest Orlando. City leaders are concerned that Universal will convert its stages for other uses if more work isn't found.

A decade ago, Central Florida was creating a name for itself in the movie industry after the opening of Universal Studios and the Disney-MGM Studios. Lower-budget television programs, such as Swamp Thing and Superboy, as well as full-length feature movies were regularly produced here.

But in recent years, film and TV production has stalled as foreign countries -- particularly Canada -- have begun offering lucrative incentives to draw producers. The city estimates production companies save 15 percent to 20 percent producing shows outside the United States.

The Orlando City Council approved the local incentives last week. To qualify, a network or production studio must produce a regular slate of programming -- not just a single pilot, but a television series or made-for-TV movies, for instance.

The city's payment escalates based on the company's spending. The program will pay a maximum of $1.05 million over three years, or $150,000 in the first year, $300,000 in the second and $600,000 in the third.

As part of the package, Universal will offer companies as much as a 50 percent discount on the cost of using its sound stages. Along with the city incentive and other discounts from vendors, a production company could save as much as 20 percent overall, said Paul Meena, general manager of Universal's production group.

"It's our step to try to combat Canadian incentives," Meena said.

Meena said Universal is in negotiations with Studios USA, the production arm of the USA Network and the SciFi Channel, to bring in work that might qualify for the incentives. A regular TV show could employ 60 to 80 people during production, Meena said.

The new Orlando program is among the larger business incentives offered by the city. It is available only for work done within city limits, so production at Disney-MGM Studios would not qualify.

It is difficult to gauge how successful the incentives will be. The state of Florida already offers sales-tax waivers and exemptions for qualified productions, and that hasn't provided the industry with the jump-start it has needed.

Moreover, Universal has offered discounts on sound stages in the past to no avail.

A program announced in January significantly reduced fees for independent producers to use its facilities. No producer has yet taken advantage of the program, but Meena said a likely prospect could start work next year.<<<

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi...10,0,472641.story?coll=orl-business-headlines

So much for Orlando becoming the next Hollywood. I wouldn't be surprised if North Carolina starts offering incentives like this as well as the decent sized chunk of film production we did have up here (for a while Wilmington was actually being nicknamed Hollywood East a few years ago) has long since moved out.

 

[MrPromey]

Sounds like city subsidized spending on Universal to me. If I was a local tax payer, I'd be more than a little peeved about this regardless of weather it was Universal, Disney or anyone else...

In any event, I think we can just about hang up our dreams of being Hollywood East. The only consistent stuff that we have ever been able to keep in the area has been the bottom of the barrel in terms of low budget programming.

None of the big names in Hollywood see any reason to want to come here and with such an established structure and system over there, I can't say I blame them...

Personally, I think Universal should scrap the whole idea and put those sound stages to good use as something other than haunted houses for 11 or more months out of the year. I can just about guarantee that the real estate will make them more money as a highly publicized attraction than it ever will as a discount sound stage.

I can understand them wanting to keep up the front of being a real working studio but they sort of blew that idea with the creation of permanent back lots which the industry had pretty much stoped using a decade before the park opened.

Those sound stages look like sound stages from the outside so they fit the park perfectly but inside they could put any number of large attractions. MIB could probably have been stuck inside one of those with a sound stage/studio front instead of a realistic one which, while less spectacular, would probably have actually better fit the outdoor theme of the park.

 

[DanStat]

MrPromey, I didn't know you were from NC!:lol:

 

[pheneix]

I think "we" in that context was referring to Orlando, and not NC, although the same comment could be said about my home state as well.

>>>Sounds like city subsidized spending on Universal to me.<<<

That's pretty much it. I highly doubt Orlando would even bother with the film industry if Universal had not set up such a mammoth movie studio in the town (they sure wouldn't care about MGM Studios).

>>>I can understand them wanting to keep up the front of being a real working studio but they sort of blew that idea with the creation of permanent back lots which the industry had pretty much stoped using a decade before the park opened.<<<

Despite the publicity, those "backlots" are pretty much there to provide themed environments for the guests to wander around in, and not there for the sole purpose of filming.

>>>Personally, I think Universal should scrap the whole idea and put those sound stages to good use as something other than haunted houses for 11 or more months out of the year.<<<

Me too. These cash incentives are a waste of money and a waste of time on the part of the city.

 

[MrPromey]

Originally posted by pheneix

Despite the publicity, those "backlots" are pretty much there to provide themed environments for the guests to wander around in, and not there for the sole purpose of filming.

You know, it is sort of funny because I read a book titled “Why things are” that had an entire chapter devoted to things like the studio theme parks that pretend to be behind the scenes but aren’t and Tollhouse cookies made by a special expensive machine that would make them imperfect so that they would look like they were made by hand and so on. Kind of interesting stuff!

Without going into great details of how or why, I spent most of one summer wandering around inside that park one year when I was younger (BTTF had just opened) and I used to crack a little smile when the tram tour would drive by and they would tell people how their special effects team had made the cobble stone streets by stamping wet cement and then going in and painting it when it was dry to make it resemble stone. A friend of the family who worked for a company in Tampa Florida that specializes in artificial stone and textured patio surfaces managed that project. It was considered a really big account since they mostly did things like large patios and elaborate looking pools for hotels and people with lots of cash – Hollywood magic indeed.

Disney isn’t really any better though. When MGM first opened. They had a group of real camera guys who’s sole job was to set up and tear down camera equipment all day long in an area of Disney’s back lot where their trams went so that it would look like guests were witnessing something from an actual production. This lasted for a month or two till someone got smart and realized they were paying professionals way to much to do nothing – then again, they were probably union so I doubt it made much difference (no offense to anyone in a union but if you have any idea of how it works in film and television production, you know what I’m talking about)