Florida lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are pushing to bring the film industry back to the state, as well as thousands of lost jobs and billions in lost revenue that has gone to Georgia.
Three years ago, Florida ended its tax break for feature production companies that shot in the Sunshine State, largely because opponents claimed the return was not there.
In that void, Georgia built a city of soundstages, apartments and warehouses. Now, Florida lawmakers seem to realize there’s a problem.
Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters is pushing for up to $2 million in grants for production companies that do 70 percent of their film in Florida.
According to the Georgia governor’s office, the Peach State’s film business generated more than $9.5 billion in 2017. Compare that to another Florida’s big commodity, oranges, which make the state $8.6 billion a year.
In other words, Florida losing the film industry is like taking the entire Florida citrus industry, every single citrus tree, and moving it all to Georgia.
See more at WFTV.
