So you want to make a movie and you’re thinking about location. Most people will tell you to head north, into Canada’s fair fields and civic hallows. It’s cheap and has everything the Bostonian filmmaker needs to jump-start a new project. Or you might be advised to cross the ocean, where such fair cities as Prague will welcome you with open arms and large crews.

Well, there is another option out there, right here in the USA. I’m not talking about the east coast Mecca of New York; I’m motioning towards our southern neighbor that in recent years, along with its Governor, has opened its mind and wallets to the filmmaking community. 

So where is this oasis of movie manufacturing bliss?  

Think palm trees. Think beaches and blazing suns. Think cool tides, fresh drinks and Spanish-speaking locals. Think millions in rebates for filmmakers. Think Miami and Florida.

As I am working on a film, called “Marta,” set in late 1970s Miami, I have started to explore locations and production incentives in South Florida. The more I researched the possibilities for heading south, the more I liked what I learned. As winter has settled in on the Hub, I am contemplating palm trees, tropical drinks, and a roaring nightlife. I am planning how to capture the potential tax incentives and production subsidies available to filmmakers who work in South Florida. 

Boston film producers are all too aware of the trials and hardships they must surmount to film a movie around this colonial city that is great in so many ways – other than in its film friendliness. My goodness, within 50 miles of South Florida there are film commissioners and film offices galore - in Miami Beach proper, in the city of Miami and in Dade County. Each of these offices greets you with open arms and opens doors, literally, to hotels and city production venues, which makes your job so much easier than you ever thought possible.

Allow me to tell you why I’m so excited about Miami, and why filmmakers all over the world are discovering Florida.  

First there are the colors: flamingo pink, lime green, Caribbean blue. The landscape is punctuated with marzipan hues, predominant in the tropical deco of hip Miami Beach.  And it is surely the orange Miami sun, green palms and azure waters that draw some 13 million vacationers annually to this new Casablanca.

Miami Beach, almost exclusively tourist-oriented, consists mostly of condos and hotels.  In fact, squeezed into an area of only 7.5 square miles sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay is a dazzling array of hotels that can accommodate three times the city’s usual population.

But let’s get to the dollars and sense of working in Miami.

Last year, Florida’s legislators approved a film incentives program for the entertainment industry that reimburses production for 15 percent of what it spends locally.  That can mean up to $2 million for feature films, $450,000 to assist television movies and pilots, $150,000 for individual episodes, $25,000 for commercials and music videos and $15,000 for industrial and educational films.  The money is issued on a first-come, first served bases until the allocation is exhausted.  The kitty for 2004 started at $2.5 million and the first to tap into it was the action flick, TRANSPORTER 2.

That means Florida is no longer just a pretty backdrop for certain film scenes. It’s now a backdrop edged in production incentives.

While the state developed a reputation for fashion shoots and a strong Hispanic TV industry, its film production languished in the 1990s. Happily, a beefed-up state Film Commission and a renewed emphasis on attracting producers have seen results.  Florida now offers a sales tax exemption to many production-related costs, an aversion to charging fees for film permits or public facilities and that nice little kitty of cash.

“This new incentive is one more tool the Sunshine State will use to expand our already vibrant film and entertainment industry," Gov. Jeb Bush announced when he unveiled the new funds.

Indeed.

One drawback to the new incentives program is that appropriations are made annually, meaning each year’s funding total is subject to budget priorities. On the plus side, though is the fact that Florida is a place where a producer can form an entire crew. More than 3,500 vendors work in the Florida entertainment industry, and the state has 54 local film offices eager to assist productions. Florida was the No. 3 production center in the nation even before it launched its new incentives program.

As Jeff Peel of the Mayor’s Office of Film & Entertainment in Miami explained to me during an email exchange, his fair city has plenty of advantages beyond year-round good weather.

“(His office) works closely with producers to give them every advantage of working in our market,” Peel explained. “We can introduce them to crews and vendors, hotel accommodations, and the perfect location. We will break down scripts for the local area, arrange scouting trips, and provide inter-governmental liaison services to cut through any red tape that productions may encounter. We also arrange for all permits – which are free – as well as for access to the Miami International Airport and the Port of Miami, and for police and fire support when necessary.”

On a location trip to Miami, I received fabulous treatment at two hotels in South Beach that are related to each other: The Hotel of South Beach and the Park Central Hotel.  The same management company, a New York firm, owns these hotels; they are very film-friendly. They know what producers need and they can be very accommodating. I will probably use the Park Central Hotel as a production base for “Marta.”

Going over all these incentives and opportunities beckoning from South Florida, I soon found myself searching out what Miami had to naturally offer a filmmaker -- whether it’s the flavorful and wild nightlife that surrounds the city, the heavy influence of Cuban and Latino culture, or the locations. The latter are too innumerable to mention. Be it beaches and bars or jungle thickets and wetlands, Miami has the ability to mimic or modify its terrain to reflect any and all filmmakers’ locale needs.

Miami draws some 13 million tourists to its sandy shores and swinging palms every year.  The rush of so many tourists could make it difficult to film in the summer months.  However, this can be overcome. Including and between the months of January and March, the summer and holiday tourist explosions have dwindled to only a minor spark, creating a great three month opening when tourism is not so predominant.  

The most direct and provocative way to demonstrate Miami’s filmmaking industry and production values is to look no further than what has already been created amongst Miami’s beautiful everglades and roaring lifeline and what is now in production.

Going as far back as 1947’s BAHAMA PASSAGE to the popular, on-going CBS program “CSI: Miami,” there have been hundreds of films, televisions shows and commercials, photo shoots, music videos, and even non-entertainment productions created in the Miami heat. There is a deep production infrastructure and additional crew can be brought in from North Florida and from the Carolinas if needed.  If you’re looking for a film, as I am with “Marta,” that carries a tropical beat, Miami should be seriously considered as your destination.

Are you ready to join me in Miami? 

 

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Paul Boghosian is President of Boston based Harborside Films. A producer with several projects in development, he frequently contributes to IMAGINE and is IMAGINE’s Business Analyst.