CLEARWATER, Fla. — Movie units are a daily sight round Tampa Bay, however one native producer stated he would not anticipate the SAG-AFTRA strike, coupled with the two-month-old writers’ union strike, to have a serious influence on productions across the area.
“Most of what happens in the Tampa Bay area is non-union. So, the impact, short-term will be pretty nominal,” stated filmmaker David Yates. “Now, the longer that goes, it can be more of a problem because there are some bigger films we want to bring in from time to time.”
Yates has govt produced and co-produced a number of movies and made-for-TV films in Tampa Bay throughout the previous 15 years, beginning with the “Dolphin Tale” films. They have been filmed on the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the place Yates was additionally CEO for 14 years.
He stated he’s made 16 movies within the area previously 19 months, and solely two of these tasks, “Pet Detective” and “The Plus One”, have been union. In keeping with Yates, that’s as a result of Florida doesn’t supply monetary incentives to movie right here.
“When you’re in a state that doesn’t have a lot of state incentive funding behind that, you do less union work. You have to do non-union work, a little bit more low budget,” Yates stated.
Yates stated the “Dolphin Tale” films have been among the many final to get incentives from the state and a examine confirmed it introduced a giant financial increase to the realm.
“That’s half a billion dollars per year on the local Pinellas economic industries — that’s tourism, that’s individuals coming around the world to see Clearwater Marine Aquarium, see the beaches. So, when you promote an area in a film, people want to come see it,” Yates stated.
He instructed Spectrum News incentives provided by Hillsborough and Pinellas counties have been useful for his movies, and smaller productions can even have a big influence.
“The reason we did the films we did — we did 16 films in 19 months — was we wanted to make sure the crew, most of those crew members were traveling around the country at that time, going from film to film, trying to get work. We said, ‘Let’s set up a plan where we can do basically one film a month, and they can sleep in their own beds and live a normal life.’ So, it creates jobs, consistent jobs,” Yates stated.
Whereas Yates stated the SAG-AFTRA strike wasn’t a shock, the query now could be how lengthy it should final and the way a lot harm it should do.
“We’re okay in this area right now. Generally speaking, there won’t be a lot that stops, but as time goes on, it could be an impact,” stated Yates. “Hopefully, you’ve got the writers on strike, you’ve got the actors on strike, the studios will eventually recognize they need to solve this problem.”
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