Thanks to a new incentive program, Orange County looks to position itself as a hub for TV and film production

As John Peros drives around Central Florida, his home for the past three decades, his imagination takes him all over the country. Where others just see Orange County, for instance, he suddenly finds himself in a New England hamlet, a Midwest farming community or even a small town in the Southwest.

With a little movie magic, the same scenes can be set for anyone.

“You have to detach yourself from the theme parks, because that’s not what Central Florida is about,” says Peros, a casting director who has worked in the film, television and commercial industries for the past 30 years. “Florida, especially Central Florida, can be Anywhere, USA. … The lighting is brilliant too, so you add that to the production personnel, the talent and the infrastructure that we have, and you’ve got a great place to shoot that historically has been less expensive than if you were to shoot the same thing in LA, New York or Chicago.”

Why, then, have movie, TV and commercial shoots not been as prevalent over the past decade? Projects were once so common, starting in the 1990s and continuing in the 2000s, that Orlando was known as the “Hollywood of the East.” But when Florida ended its statewide film and entertainment incentive tax in 2016, the number of productions sharply decreased, to the benefit of places like Georgia, Texas and the Carolinas, where incentive programs flourished.

A recent push is looking to reverse that trend. Following the lead of other counties in the state such as Broward, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Duval, the Orange County Commission unanimously approved its own Film Incentive Program this past November, committing $25 million over five years for qualifying productions. Using Tourist Development Tax (TDT) funds, the goal is to attract filmmakers to the region, to keep homegrown talent here instead of fleeing to other states and to showcase the many destinations and amenities the county has to offer.

“For all the talented people in our community, I hope this gives you a light to know that we’re with you,” says Commissioner Maya Uribe, an early proponent of the program. “We want to see this become successful just like you, not only for you but also for our community.”

Putting the wheels in motion

While professionals in the industry and organizations like Film Florida have long sought legislative support to spur more productions in the Orlando area, it was difficult to build any kind of momentum until Emily Bonilla, a commissioner at the time, expressed interest a few years ago. She brought the idea to the Orange County Commission in 2024, and a Film Incentive Working Group was formed under the direction of Roseann Harrington, chief of staff for Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings.

“It had nine people on it, all subject matter experts from the industry, and we worked for a year and a half, meeting with all the other film programs in Florida, particularly the ones that use TDT, which are Hillsborough and Pinellas,” Harrington says. “We came up with the structure, the standard operating procedures, and then got the board to approve the actual funding for the program. So it was a lot of work in a short amount of time.

“We wish we had a state incentive, but short of that, cobbling together programs in different counties, we hope that it’s enough to entice somebody to come and do a lot of filming in Florida—some here in Orange County, some in other parts. It’s a start.”

Eligible projects include feature films, television series, streaming productions and commercials that are filmed partly or entirely in the county. Among the requirements are promoting tourism, using county hotel rooms, providing documentation proving an effort to hire local cast and crew, and hiring qualified students or qualified graduates from film-related programs in the county.

Commercials require a $250,000 minimum spend with a 10% rebate capped at $50,000. TV and film productions have a $400,000 minimum spend with a 20% rebate capped at $1 million.

The incentive is meaningful to Uribe, who once dreamed of becoming a famous actress and was involved in series like Thunder in Paradise and The Mickey Mouse Club when she was younger. Her 8-year-old son is now taking acting classes and recently filmed his first commercial. Because her daughter loves Stranger Things and her husband is a big fan of The Walking Dead, the family has taken multiple trips to Georgia to see places where those shows filmed, and she envisions the same thing happening in Central Florida.

“I’m hoping that we can use this in two ways,” Uribe says. “One, it is a rebate, and it will be great for the [productions] to know that whatever they’re investing, they’re getting back. But then we’re also going to be developing relationships. For example, if we know a production company already did something here, what can we do to encourage them to come back? Let’s look at how much economics they drove here, and then do more.”

Harrington agrees with Peros that the county’s “diversity of location” can be a major draw. Jen Pennypacker, who was recently announced as the first Film Incentive Program Administrator, highlights other reasons to film in Central Florida.

“Obviously, the weather is also very conducive to productions,” she says. “We have a world-class airport that is easy to get in and out of, we’ve got great accommodations. So the overall package makes this a very desirable location.”

Because the funding comes from TDT dollars, no essential services that the county provides are affected, and the county will track local spending such as hotel room nights, catering services and job creation to ensure the return on investment.

Pennypacker’s background in the industry includes 12 years as business development director for the Metro Orlando Film & Television Commission, a stint as president of Film Florida and working for Showtime Networks. She started accepting applications for the incentive program in March and was encouraged by the early interest.

“I’ll be the one responsible for taking the applications, studying them within the selection committee, making sure that the productions hold true to their end of what they need to produce for the incentive, and marketing the project and the new incentive to the film community,” she says. “I have a long background in the film community, so I’m excited to see it come back around and to put us back on the map for that.”

Cautiously optimistic

John Lux, a Central Florida resident for 28 years and the executive director of Film Florida since 2016, has heard nothing but positive feedback from his friends in the industry about the program. Members of his organization have recently traveled to renowned film festivals like Sundance and TIFF in Toronto, and there was even buzz there.

It pained Lux to see a lack of productions in the area for the past decade and he is eager to see their return.

“I’m really excited that the support has been so overwhelming from the county commissioners,” he says. “None of the local programs in the state of Florida are going to allow the industry here to compete with the $50-100 million movies that are elsewhere with the big incentive programs. But I think what this program will do is get Orange County and Central Florida back in the conversation for the $2-10 million budget projects, which are really great, bread-and-butter type projects for people here to work on. Those are consistent, so I’m excited for the opportunity and hopeful that the Central Florida residents will see a nice increase in jobs and money spent, and after that will see Orange County on the screen.”

Traci Danielle of Brevard Talent Group has served as an agent representing actors in Florida for close to 40 years, and when she first started out she recalls the state ranking third in the nation for filming. She is optimistic about local programs like Orange County’s starting a return to that kind of success.

“I think everyone is excited,” she says. “Time will tell how the program works out, but I was actually at the Board of Commissioners meeting when it was approved, and there was so much excitement in the room. Between everyone who was there to support it, the commissioners and Mayor Demings himself, the energy was so positive. They worked a long time to get this done, and hopefully it’s the beginning of a much longer and more funded program. But there was just joy in the room and it was wonderful to be there. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

Tom Nowicki’s acting career has taken him all over the world, but he continues to live in Winter Garden, which he has called home since he was 13. His credits include notable roles in the film Remember the Titans and the streaming series Bad Monkey, soon to release its second season on Apple TV.

While he believes the Orange County program shows promise, what he really wants is a statewide incentive program.

“It’s absolutely a step in the right direction, and I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings because I know you have to take the wins when you can get them, but it’s just not enough,” he says. “I’m just completely baffled about what prevents the state from reengaging in a program that was so productive for the people who live here and for the state itself and its image. It made so much sense and so much money for so many people.”

Nowicki points to Bad Monkey, which is set in Florida and filmed most of its first season here before moving a majority of the second season to California.

“That’s because we don’t have a film incentive, we don’t have a film industry, so 75% of the people working on that show—excluding actors—had to come from somewhere other than Florida,” he says. “Which meant they had to be transported, they had to be housed, they had be given per diem. When they’re in Los Angeles, they just go home to their families and beds every night and that cost goes away. Between that and the incentive they have in Los Angeles, the show probably saved between $40 and $50 million. That’s an amount of money that even Apple will notice. To me, it’s heartbreaking that hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for the people who live in this state just goes away because we can’t get the legislature to wake up.”

Peros explains that for a creative group, the entertainment industry has a PR problem of getting across the message to legislators and the general public that there are many benefits to hosting productions.

“It’s a clean industry that doesn’t leave any toxicity behind other than questionable taste,” he says with a laugh. “It’s also inextricably tied to tourism. What’s great in the new incentive that Orange County did is that it comes from the Tourism Tax. The two are inextricably linked together. Film, commercials and television serve as a de facto travelogue, which helps every industry.

“Film incentives, particularly film and television tax credits, help everything: restaurants, retail, rental car companies, hotels and Airbnbs, clubs, bars—you name it. They’re all positively affected, and I think the numbers show it. That’s why you have so many localities jumping on it now when the state has missed the boat, and why so many other states are really going full throttle. It’s a clean industry and it pays very, very well, even at its base rates.”

People like Peros and Nowicki have been happy to stay in Florida for many years while still working steadily, and Nowicki points to technology helping with auditions. But other professionals have either had to move or spend a large portion of the year elsewhere.

“I love developing new actors, that’s my passion, and I love especially when they book a job and I can tell them it shoots here and they get to sleep in their own bed,” Danielle says. “They don’t have to be in Atlanta tomorrow, they can work right here. I’m hoping to see more of that.”

Impact for local students

Along those same lines, the program’s requirement for hiring local students or recent qualified graduates is a welcome development for those involved in education. The state, particularly Central Florida, has several renowned film programs that expect to benefit.

Lisa Mills, a film professor at the University of Central Florida and also a documentarian, was part of the Film Incentive Working Group and helped to enact those guidelines.

“This is really important for us because I think it’s a conservative estimate that there are at least 5,000 film students learning this craft in the state of Florida, and that doesn’t even include digital media students, art students, television production students and game design students,” she says. “All of these are the kinds of students that can find work on film productions. Up until this point, we’ve been sending these students up I-75 to Atlanta or out I-10 to Los Angeles. We have research that indicates a lot of these students would prefer to stay in Florida and work. Now we have this network of local rebates and incentives that can provide film students in Florida with these opportunities to find paid, professional work. That’s really exciting to me.”

Anne Russell, program director, film production MFA at Full Sail University, explains that the school has always valued “hands-on, industry-aligned learning,” and this program will only help in that regard.

“Incentive programs are one of the most effective tools a region can offer to attract and sustain a local production industry, and Orange County’s commitment signals a strong and meaningful investment in building a stronger creative economy here in Central Florida,” she says. “From an education standpoint, a healthy production ecosystem directly benefits workforce development, [and] productions bring jobs, mentorship and real-world learning opportunities. This step helps position the region as production friendly and competitive with other markets that have long leveraged incentives to grow their industries.”

Looking ahead

While nobody is expecting Orange County to suddenly become like Georgia, where Marvel movies and popular Netflix series have filmed, there is hope that the success of local programs like this one can inspire the next governor or other lawmakers to once again consider a statewide incentive. 

For now, those involved are stressing patience.

“I think that every program has to start somewhere,” Mills says. “We may not attract the larger-budget, full production at the beginning, but we might attract portions of large productions that want to shoot in Central Florida or Orange County particularly because we have a lot to offer. I think we’ll have to see how this first year goes, how popular it is and how many productions come in here, and then those productions, if successful and happy, will spread the word in the film production community.

“We’ll just have to see where we are three to five years from now. You have to start somewhere, and I wouldn’t say we’re starting small. There’s a commitment from the county for $25 million over five years, and that’s a pretty big commitment for a startup.”