Qualified TV commercial and filmmakers can now apply to receive a partial rebate on productions filmed in Orange County — home to the so-called “Most Magical Place on Earth” — by applying for a new film incentive program launched by the county on Tuesday.
The local program, a five-year pilot initiative approved by county commissioners last fall, was designed by a working group of film industry professionals, including union representatives. The goal is to attract film and TV commercial projects to Central Florida, support industry jobs, and help graduates of local film programs through schools like UCF and Full Sail University find gainful employment locally.
Currently, it’s more common for actors and other film industry professionals to have to travel outside of Florida for work, due to more established (and attractive) incentive programs offered in states such as Georgia and Louisiana. Rosann Harrington, chief of staff for Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, previously said the county is losing half of the roughly 3,000 people who graduate from local film programs each year.
“This is a way to provide enough work so that people can make a living, so it’s not like, ‘Oh, I get one project every three months,’” Harrington told Orlando Weekly in an interview last year. “We’re trying to bring film back, to create that ecosystem so somebody can continue to work.”
Similar to incentive programs offered on a local and state level elsewhere, Orange County’s will offer limited tax rebates for qualified productions. This rebate will range from up to 10 percent for TV commercials, capped at $50,000 per project, to 20 percent for film productions in Orange County, capped at $1 million per project.
To qualify, commercial productions must spend at least $250,000 locally on hotels, labor, and other goods and services, while film productions must spend at least $400,000. The program, overseen by a county film incentive administrator in coordination with the Orlando Economic Partnership, is capped at $5 million in funding for these rebates annually.
“Between our competitive incentive offering, diverse filming locations, experienced local workforce and world-class infrastructure, we have everything a production needs to succeed — and we look forward to proving it,” program administrator Jenn Pennypacker, a former business development director for the Metro Orlando Film & Television Commission, said in a statement.
Notably, the program is performance-based, meaning no rebate will be provided by the county until after production is completed and documentation is provided to demonstrate the project’s local economic impact. To help promote accountability, all qualified applicants must sign a funding agreement, subject to approval by the board of county commissioners.
“The Film Incentive Program reflects Orange County’s commitment to growing our creative economy and positioning our region as a premier destination for the entertainment industry,” said outgoing Mayor Demings, who’s term-limited from seeking re-election this year, in a statement. “We look forward to welcoming productions that will showcase everything Orange County has to offer.”
Local actor and acting coach Chris Greene — known for roles in TV shows like Atlanta and Queen of the South — told Orlando Weekly he thinks the program “is a step in the right direction,” but admitted he has concerns. The program, for instance, requires qualifying productions to use at least five students or graduates from local film schools on the crew side — but there is no such stipulation for hiring local actors.
“Speaking as an actor, you know, a union actor, these incentives benefit actors in zero way,” Greene, a member of SAG-AFTRA and founder of the local acting studio Life of an Actor, argued candidly, referring specifically to Orlando-based actors like himself. Because the program requires a minimum spend on local hotels, he said the program effectively encourages productions to bring actors from out of state.
“It doesn’t say anywhere where there’s a must guarantee, like it is for crew, that they have to hire local cast,” he explained. The program requires productions to make “best efforts” to hire local talent, but Greene said this could be demonstrated by something as simple as putting out a casting call, but then subsequently flying in a non-local actor from Los Angeles or New York with the same “look.”
Separately, pointing to programs elsewhere that don’t have caps on rebates, or that offer tax incentives upfront instead of providing a rebate post-production, Greene also worries the funding committed to the initiative by the county won’t be competitive enough.
Orange County has committed $25 million over the next five years in tourist tax development funds to fund the new incentive program, or $5 million in TDT funds annually. The TDT, also known as the hotel tax, generates hundreds of millions of dollars for the county each year, collected through a 6 percent tax levied on hotel stays and short-term lodging.
“I just think that they structured it more in mind based on commercials,” Green said of the program, arguing that the rebate for commercial productions will be much more attractive than the rebate offered for films.
Once dubbed “Hollywood East,” Florida used to have a statewide film incentive program, but the right-wing, Koch-founded lobbying group Americans for Prosperity successfully worked to kill that program a decade ago, arguing it was a waste of taxpayer money.
Since then, at least five other Florida counties — Broward, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Palm Beach and Duval — have established their own local incentive programs, competing for productions that want to showcase Florida’s beaches or other cultural landmarks “in the flesh,” rather than recreating an imitation on a set in another state. Each program differs in its funding commitment, how the program is funded, and other eligibility requirements for qualified productions.
Production companies can find more information about Orange County’s new program online here, or find answers to frequently asked questions about the program here.
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