Hollywood studios are finding better incentives elsewhere
By Sarah Talalay - South Florida Sun-Sentines
December 24,2008
When Marley & Me, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston, opens in theaters across the country on Christmas Day, South Florida moviegoers can enjoy picking out local landmarks from Las Olas Boulevard to Dolphin Stadium.
South Florida is as much a character in the film as Marley, the story's unruly Labrador. The two months spent shooting the film in the region this spring pumped more than $10 million into area businesses and paid wages for nearly 1,400 local film industry workers.
But Florida is beginning to fall off studios' radar. A fund the state provides to attract big film productions was slashed from $25 million last year to $5 million as the state struggled with its fiscal crisis.
Now in its fifth year, Florida's budget for incentives is being dwarfed by other states, such as Louisiana, New Mexico and Michigan.
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