The next SB2 panel, on "How to Create a Thriving Sarasota Bayfront," is scheduled for March 19.

With year-round sunshine, a college with a nationally recognized film program and a community of filmmakers anxious to project their visions on the big screen, Sarasota for years has seemed on the brink of becoming a major film hub. What will it take to reach the next level? SRQ Media Group hosted a panel of experts on the topic at the most recent installment of its SB2 symposium series, this one on Regional Film Development, hosted last week at the Powel Crosley Estate. 

Larry Thompson, president of Ringling College of Art and Design, said great efforts in the last four years have gone toward developing strong relationships between the school’s filmmaking program and Hollywood talent from actors to producers. “We want to get them engaged with us and have them learn what we are doing and what our film program is all about,” he said. He noted the creation of a new soundstage, which will be available for student and commercial projects.

Debbie Meihls, executive manager and film commissioner for the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, said tax incentives at the local level are available for minor and major productions, and that local political leadership is behind growth in the film industry. “We have a great Board of County Commissioners that has got vision and sees how this can stimulate the economy,” she said. The incentive program in Manatee County is still in its early stages, but Jeanne Corcoran, director for the Sarasota County Film and Entertainment Office, noted a successful local incentive program for films in Saraosta County has been in place for years.

But that program has limits. “You have to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer money or you will destroy the whole program,” Corcoran said. County officials, in awarding incentives, cannot discriminate and must follow strict guidelines. A big question mark right now, though, is whether Florida lawmakers in session this year will restore state incentives for film.

Filmmaker Tony Stopperan, who recently wrapped shooting for Paradise, FL, said there already exists some solid cooperation between the film commissions and the various providers of infrastructure in the region, including the facilities at Ringling College. “I’ve benefited from this total synergy so far,” he said.

And Joe Restaino, who is working with the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau to launch the Skyway Film Festival, said the mindset about film in this area is more attractive in many ways than the environment in Los Angeles. It’s important for filmmakers, he said, to have a solid foundation and trustworthy partners who want to ensure a film gets completed. “If you say something is going to cost this much to film, it has to cost that or less because you have a budget,” he said. Film officials in this region provide a reliability that can prove important to major or minor film productions, Restaino said.

The next SB2 panel, on "How to Create a Thriving Sarasota Bayfront," is scheduled for March 19.

SRQ SB2