JACKSONVILLE, FL (March 2012) — Film Florida recently extended the deadline for applications for the Don Davis Film Finishing Fund until April 16. The recipient will be honored at Film Florida’s annual meeting on May 17 in Clearwater.
The fund provides completion funding to aspiring filmmakers in the state. Available cash grants range from $1,500 to $5,000, with the number of grants varying from year to year.
Film Florida created the fund to honor Rep. Davis, a longtime champion of the production industry, who passed away in 2008. In 2007’s session, the state revamped the entire incentive program and renamed it the Don Davis Entertainment Industry Economic Development Act.
The Don Davis Film Finishing Fund annually provides cash and in-kind production services to deserving filmmakers needing help to complete their film projects. The projects submitted have a broad range of subject matter and are judged by a committee of top industry professionals.
The full criteria to apply is posted here.
“Film Florida and the entire production industry lost our best champion, and we created this fund to honor his legacy, and help those films and filmmakers indigenous to our state complete projects to elevate the industry for generations to come,” said Jennifer Pennypacker, President of Film Florida. “Representative Don Davis revived our industry by spearheading legislation that truly took our state into a more level playing field with other states also competing to bring in production business.”
The program funds filmmakers working in both short and long formats in all genres-documentary, dramatic, educational, narrative, animated and experimental-whose films demonstrate advanced and innovative skills and whose works relates to the goals of Film Florida. These goals are to promote the creation of jobs in the film and entertainment production industries; and to promote economic development and tourism for the State of Florida.
In its first year of inception, the Fund kicked off with seed money of $10,000 from Universal Studios Florida Production Group (USFPG) and its parent company NBC Universal.
