Advertisement
Miami-Dade is set to be the backdrop to upcoming film and video productions as incentives lure more projects into the community.
Last December, said Marco Giron, chief of film and entertainment at the Miami-Dade County Office of Film and Entertainment, “the board of county commissioners passed a resolution to incentivize production with the creation of the High Impact Film Fund program, and in today’s market, we understand that any project before it gets greenlit, the first question is, ‘What is the incentive where the project is set to take place?’.”
As Miami Today reported, the resolution passed by commissioners called for annual incentives of up to $10 million with the creation of the program.
The incentive has propelled the filming industry in the area.
“I think what’s very important and very impactful is that the perception and the reality have now finally joined forces,” said Bruce Orosz, CEO of ACT productions. “Now that we have a county-wide incentive, its uniqueness and the size of it has brought a lot of attention to the media and to all the studios that we are now really open for business again. It’s never stopped, but this really puts a spotlight on opportunities for big players to come into our community and benefit by shooting their film here.”
The High Impact Film Fund Program was launched in April, said Mr. Giron, “and since April up until now we’ve had several applications that have come in, and it is working and has been an incredible success in bringing productions back to Miami-Dade County at a bigger scale, with a greater economic impact.”
The list of well-known movies and shows featuring scenes from the county continues to grow alongside films of the past such as Marley and Me, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, and Scarface starring Al Pacino.
“This particular incentive program was able to attract two projects that have already taken place,” said Mr. Giron. “One was with Netflix. They filmed earlier this year for a project called ‘Pulse’… that’s going to be airing sometime next year on Netflix.”
As Netflix’s landing page for the show showcases, ‘Pulse’ falls under the genre of medical TV shows and TV dramas. According to Tudum, “the official companion site to Netflix,” the drama show is the streaming service’s “first-ever procedural medical drama series.” Additionally, the show “will follow the staff of Miami’s busiest Level 1 trauma center as they navigate medical emergencies and their equally complex personal lives.”
The project brought in with the incentive program said, Mr. Giron, “employed hundreds of Miami-Dade County residents. It infused millions into our economy, and we’re very grateful, and worked very well with Netflix.”
The second project was with Paramount Global, said Mr. Giron. “It’s called ‘Dexter: Origins,’ which Dexter was a big hit many years ago, and now they’re reprising ‘Dexter: Origins.’ It’s sort of a prequel to the original TV series. We have a great relationship with Paramount, and this incentive was able to bring that project here.”
The original series “Dexter” aired from 2006-2013.
This large-scale project pumped millions into the county’s economy, said Mr. Giron, and employed many residents. The project will showcase Miami-Dade at a global scale when it airs in December on Paramount.
Several other productions are in the pipeline and set to begin production next year, said Mr. Giron, “very large-scale projects that are going to infuse millions into our economy.”
The incentive program has helped lure in more projects and employ numerous residents.
“Two of the projects [in the pipeline] are independent productions,” said Mr. Giron. “Both are over $10 million… Those are the budget, and one is a major TV series, which we are finalizing the incentive program with them, and it is a large episodic TV series that would be taking place for all of next year. We have not seen anything that large in a very long time, and I think that’s a key indicator that the incentive program is working in attracting these bigger projects. Sometime next year, there’ll be an announcement as to that TV series, the name of it and the production company tied to it, and that is going to employ thousands of residents.”
However, the interest to filmmakers in the county has not always been present.
“The importance of the film incentive,” said Mr. Orosz, “is that we were kind of passed over for all projects, because all the studios and independents felt that they just couldn’t get enough support from the local community through the incentives. Florida became, kind of, nonexistent. This incentive has put a lot of information out into the film world and television world, and… it’s a magnet for generating productions here, which is terrific.”
Not only does the county have the incentive, said Mr. Orosz, but many municipalities have much smaller incentives. “You can bundle them and you can package them and group them together to achieve even greater financial success through the incentives by shooting in various places around Dade County and making good use of the local municipal incentives.”
Asked if one municipality has benefitted more than another, Mr. Orosz explained he believes it cuts across all municipalities. However, he knows certainly Miami Beach and North Miami have benefitted.
“The name of the game today,” said Mr. Giron, “and the film market requires that any production before it gets greenlit has to have what is the incentive on location? We believe this is a step in the right direction. Obviously, we are in competition with states, and I believe there’s 44 states across the US and almost every major nation in the world that has some sort of incentive. This is a step in the right direction, and it’s such a great investment for Miami-Dade County.”
There are many jobs and small businesses that a production can benefit, said Mr. Giron. Industries such as carpentry, catering and lighting are tied to the film industry and benefit from productions coming to the county.
“We continue to move forward in building relationships with international markets,” said Mr. Giron. “We are having conversations with Spain, we are having conversations with the United Kingdom and really looking into international co-production is something that we’re really spearheading. I think there’s a big shift in the market in terms of where Hollywood ultimately chooses to film, and having conversations with these other nations really opens the opportunity of co-production deals.”
Because of where the county is positioned geographically in terms of the connection to Europe, Central and South America, he said, it gives the county the opportunity “to take the investment of attracting these productions to our area. Co-productions are a big one for us, and having these conversations with other countries and Miami-Dade is key and critical to the economic impact to our area.”
Asked if he believes the new incentive will put the county on the map and compete with well-known filming locations in Georgia and California, he explained that Miami-Dade is a brand that is known globally, “and our locations are very specific, so it does give us the opportunity, with an incentive, to bring those projects here.”
Georgia and other locations “have a different look in terms of on location filming, but we believe that we’re on the right track,” Mr. Giron said. “It’s slow and steady. It’s not going to happen overnight, but it is a great opportunity to have a massive impact on our economy and a global audience seeing Miami-Dade County on the big screen.”
This post was originally published on here
