Disney Fled the State, Now Florida Wants To Pay Them To Come Back

Georgia has found a way to lure the Walt Disney Company to the state, and it is coming at the expense of Florida. Florida has been powerless to stop Disney from leaving the state since 2016, but if a Florida lawmaker has her way, all of that is about to change.

Florida has been a destination for filming studios for decades, but in 2016, it eliminated its tax incentives to film in the state. And just last year, the state legislature removed the Florida State Film Office, whose job was to promote the state in Hollywood and convince producers and directors to use the state for big-budget films.

Related: Disney Flees Florida For Greener Pastures in Neighboring State

The Florida State Film Office was folded in Florida Commerce, so while it still technically exists, it lacks the proactive nature of an actual film office. Florida now joins Alaska, Delaware, Vermont, and Wisconsin as the only states in America without a film office.

The Walt Disney Studios and other major production companies have found greener pastures, literally, in neighboring states, especially Georgia. And, of course, those greener pastures were lined with money. Since 2008, Georgia has offered 30% back through tax credits. There is neither a cap on what a production can receive nor what the state can dole out. And that has brought filming to a state that never had it before.

Disney has taken advantage of this incentive by filming many of its Marvel films in Georgia rather than Florida. Captain America: Civil War (2016), X-Men: First Class (2011), Ant-Man (2015), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 (2017), Spiderman: Homecoming (2019), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018) were all filmed in Georgia. These films have budgets of hundreds of millions that are spent in the state, and that doesn’t include what the cast and crew spend locally on food and lodging.

Trying to Reverse the Trend

State Sen. Linda Stewart has proposed legislation that will return the tax incentives to studios who decide to film in Florida. Senate Bill 872 would allow counties to use tourist development tax to lure film productions to their county.

Currently, there is a six percent sales tax added to all rooms at the Walt Disney World Resort, that is the tourist development tax. That money can only be used for promoting tourism or reserving convention centers or arenas. Stewart’s bill would expand the usage of that tax to bring back the 30 percent tax credit for anyone who films in Florida. However, it would be up to each county to decide if they wanted to use the tax for that purpose.

Related: Florida is Willing to Pay $100 Million To Get You To Travel to Disney World

Stewart also proposed a bill that would preserve the funding for Visit Orlando. The Orange County Commissioners proposed cutting Visit Orlando’s budget from 30 percent of the tourist development tax to 25 percent. When she proposed the bill, Stewart said that Visit Orlando is crucial for bringing tourists to the area and is essential for smaller businesses. However, most of the tourist destinations featured in Visit Orlando’s commercials are Disney World, Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld, which all have their own public relations firms.

If Stewart’s bill passes the Florida Senate, it is unlikely to pass the House, as House Speaker Paul Renner has already said he is against this use of funds.

We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.