SPL SPOTLIGHT
Hollywood Comes to Town St. Pete is a hot destination for bigtime filmmakers PHOTO/ROD MILLINGTON
The film crew sets up at Fort DeSoto Park Beach in April for four long days of shooting Hallmark’s Love in the Sun. BY CINDY COCKBURN Who hasn’t heard the buzz? Our Sunshine City is suddenly a serious competitor as producers from New York to LA scout our idyllic tropical setting and check out our cool downtown vibe. Many are deciding that it’s pure perfection for some of the most demanding of directors. From Hallmark to Hollywood, St. Pete is on “FILM FIRE.” Our city is being showcased on the big screen to national audiences. The economic impact locally is very positive. Job opportunities for our residents plus an increase in revenue for local businesses when cast and crew are in town are a terrific bonus. Just last week, we were looking for a parking space and then we saw it: a huge bumper
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sticker on a very large van reminding us: “Florida Films = Florida Job.” We have a variety of people to thank for this glam city spotlight, starting with producer Elayne Schmidt who reports: “It’s the pure LOVE we received here. We found an easy-going, friendly community with a “hands on” mayor and his staff helping us accomplish what we needed. We found knockout locations, local talent to fill crew and production jobs and an amazing variety of visual settings for spectacular shoots.”
