Crist Recommends Increase in Florida Film Incentive

Filmmakers looking to work in Florida will have extra incentive to do so if the governor has his way.

Gov. Charlie Crist recently sent a $2.7 billion budget increase recommendation to the Florida State Legislature, including $15 million toward tax incentives for film and television production in Florida, which would increase the production incentive program by almost $5 million.

Film and television production can have an immediate and massive economic impact on an area. Production in Jacksonville accounts for an average of over $14 million per film and $2.8 million per television show.

The Florida Times-Union has a summary of the budget recommendations in full. For more details, visit The People's Budget.

International Filmmakers Visit Jacksonville

L-R: Sandy Ilog (JEDC); Liali Killani (West Bank); Xolani Jamhmil Qubeka (South Africa); Latifa Ngunjiri (Kenya); Tony Ming Martin See (Singapore); Amitabh Chowdhury (Bangladesh); Khit Min (Burma); Cliff Goulet (New York); Todd Roobin (JEDC)

The Jacksonville Film & Television Office, along with The International Visitors Corps of Jacksonville (IVCJax) and local company Digital Video Arts, hosted a familiarization tour for six different international film and television producers and directors here in Jacksonville last Friday.

Film Commissioner Todd Roobin began the tour with a presentation at the JEDC Film Office, then to City Hall and other prominent locations, and ended the tour at Digital Video Arts.

The international film and television producers and directors included director Amitabh Chowdhury from Bangladesh, Burmese director Khit Min, Kenyan Citizens TV head Latifa Ngunjiri, Director Tony Ming Martin See of Singapore, writer/director Xolani Jamhmil Qubeka of South Africa and West Bank reporter Liali Killani.

Doorpost Film Project Extends Deadline

The Doorpost Film Project has extended the deadline for its 2010 Short Film Contest to February 8th at 11:59 EST. Entering its third year, Doorpost is calling for all films of a length of less than seven minutes reflecting one of seven themes (this year’s themes are authenticity, community, sacrifice, commitment, truth, identity and hope). From the first round submissions, twenty filmmakers will be selected to write a screenplay based on one of the six themes they did not select in the first round; five of those will win $40,000 toward the adaptation of their screenplay. For more information, visit http://www.thedoorpost.com/.

Jacksonville Native in Spike Lee Film

When former Jacksonville resident Daniel Breaker took the stage in Broadway’s Passing Strange, he earned more than just a passing glance from legendary director Spike Lee. Lee, impressed by the performance, filmed two productions of the play and edited them together for a film that premiered on the PBS series Great Performances and earned the superlative “one of the best musicals I’ve seen” from critic Roger Ebert.


Breaker attended Jacksonville's Douglas Anderson School for the Arts for his junior and senior year of high school. It was at the encouragement of his teachers there that he applied to the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, where he earned his degree in theatre. Breaker netted a Tony nomination for Passing Strange; he has also played in Broadway productions Cymbeline, Well and as Donkey in the stage adaptation of Shrek.

Passing Strange is currently available on DVD.

International Filmmakers Debut

An Acting Seminar with Casting Director Rita Manyette

Martini Shot Casting Presents...

An Acting Seminar with Casting Director Rita Manyette

This seminar focuses on the business of acting. If you wish to change your passion into a career then this is the seminar for you.

When: March 13, 2010 10am-4pm
Where: Wingate Inn
            4681 Lenoir Ave.
            Jacksonville, FL 32216
Rate: $75 per student
         $75 per child actor and 1 adult

This class is six hours of helpful information that every professional actor must know. Presenting yourself as a professional is important in any business and acting is no exception.

You will learn:

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

Have you recently renovated your
BACKYARD OUTDOOR LIVING SPACE?
Then HGTV is looking for you!

Home & Garden Television’s BANG FOR YOUR BUCK is looking for fun and enthusiastic homeowners in Jacksonville, FL, RIGHT NOW!

Renovations must have taken place within the past 2-3 years.

This episode will tour three remodels at similar price points ($20K-$120K) in Jacksonville, FL. We’ll bring in our HGTV design expert and real estate expert to determine how the renovation impacts each home’s value. We’ll also provide viewers with expert advice, answers on remodeling values, and inspiring ideas for design.

We will be filming February 15-18.
Please send before/after pictures and the final cost of the

Outdoor Living renovation for consideration.

Initial contact must be made

no later than Tuesday, January 12, 2010!

For more info, to send photos and to request an application, please email:

cortiz@highnoontv.com

Or call Cyndi at (303) 712-3177

Learn more at www.hgtv.com/bang

Bang For Your Buck is produced for HGTV by

High Noon Entertainment in Centennial, Colorado.

It airs Friday nights at 9:30/8:30c.