Lights, camera, incentives! Could tax money make Orlando “Hollywood East”?

They didn't walk the red carpet, but a roster of aspiring actors, directors and stagehands gave cinematic speeches to Orange County commissioners Tuesday, urging the board to resurrect a program dormant film incentive in hopes of transforming Orlando into “Hollywood East.”

Three dozen people who star in or help make films, TV shows or documentaries said the region has a skilled cadre of creative and technical talent but has lost much of it to productions elsewhere, notably in Georgia, where the hit AMC series “The Walking Dead” is broadcast. was done.

Some have left the state because there are few jobs here. Providing financial incentives to those who film here could change that, advocates said.

“Florida is probably the only state in the Southeast and one of 13 in the country that does not have a statewide incentive program,” said John Lux, executive director of Film Florida, a nonprofit organization that represents 50,000 working people. in the screen production industry. “Currently, Orange County is the only major metropolitan area in the state without a movie theater incentive program.”

He said the incentives can help attract productions that often hire 1,000 local workers.

“The average feature film or television series spends more than $20 million in the community where it is filmed,” Lux said. “Then when the movie or series comes out, the world sees that place on the big, small or mobile screen” and they are motivated to visit.

A troupe of passionate characters took turns at the microphone for more than an hour.

“I am here to implore and encourage you to help unleash the beast of creativity in the Orlando area,” said Jimmy McDowell, a cosmetic dentist, film production company owner and professional wrestler with long white locks . “Please be a visionary.”

He wrestles under the name “The Golden Boy” and can fix an enemy's smile if they knock out a tooth, Mayor Jerry Demings joked.

Winter Garden mom Frances “Franny” Titus, 37, an independent film actress, tried to sway the board with a little flattery.

“I just have to say, there’s a really nice panel here,” she said, buttering the commissioners like a bucket of popcorn. “I could see you all in the movies.”

In the end, maybe it worked.

Commissioners unanimously approved the creation of a panel to study the idea.

If an incentive fund is created, Film Florida recommends an initial investment of $5 million.

Tuesday's discussion did not focus on the details of how incentive funds are distributed, but similar programs tend to use rebates to reimburse a production company after it provides proof that it has met minimum requirements for local spending, local hiring and production days.

Some counties operate their main budget accounts fueled by property taxes, but an alternative source could be revenue from the tourism development tax, which Hillsborough and Palm Beach counties use, according to a memo from Commissioner Emily Bonilla, who proposed the idea.

Bonilla, who previously worked at Full Sail University, said an incentive program would provide the county with an opportunity to collaborate with Visit Orlando, the destination marketing organization that has received more than $100 million in tourist taxes last year.

At their Tuesday meeting, commissioners also placed on the November ballot a request from Orange County Public Schools to extend the half-cent sales tax for 10 years to continue a construction program of schools that renovated or replaced 136 older campuses and built 65 new campuses. those.

The school board voted unanimously last month to put the referendum before voters in the fall, but state law also requires a majority vote from county commissioners. This will be the last question of the long presidential election.

Commissioners who voted last month to drop a proposed transportation sales tax increase hope the move will increase the school district's chances of passing the tax. County and school officials feared two sales tax measures on the same ballot would doom them both.

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