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Hollywood Location Managers Check Out Sarasota County Sites

11/01/07

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bradenton.com 

Wednesday, Nov 7, 2007

Hollywood in area checking out sites for possible movies

By SARA KENNEDY
skennedy@bradenton.com

SARASOTA

Some of Hollywood's top film location managers Tuesday checked out possible sites for shooting upcoming movies and liked what they saw.

"It's always great to have the opportunity to go somewhere else that isn't on the map," explained Jonathan "J.J." Hook, 31, of Los Angeles, who worked on films like "Black Hawk Down," "Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban," and "Lions for Lambs," with Robert Redford.

Hook was one of seven location managers newly-hired Sarasota Film Commissioner Jeanne Corcoran invited for two days of touring in hopes that a feature film will follow.

Corcoran said films bring big money, generate jobs and help diversify the economy, while triggering media exposure that fortifies tourism and attracts new businesses and residents.

"These are the people who matter to me," she explained. "If they don't know we exist, Hollywood won't know we exist either."

It cost $17,000 to bring the location managers here but 27 sponsors helped defray expenses so Corcoran spent only $4,700 from her budget, she said.

Once a producer settles on a script and lines up money for a movie, among the first hires is a location manager to choose where it will be made. Films can cost as little as $5-10 million or as much as $140-160 million, the location managers said.

"In L.A., I did six days of filming and spent $1.4 million," said Hook.

The group toured downtown on Segways , visited the Ringling College of Art and Design and were feted at a reception later in the day.

"There's lots of opportunities for parking, it's not congested and it's diverse," said Michelle Latham, 41, of Los Angeles, who worked on "CSI Miami" and "The X-Files." "A lot of palm trees, a town that wants filming."

It wasn't always so. Last year, frustrated local filmmakers complained to a task force that they were plagued by red tape and harassed by unfriendly bureaucrats. The task force later recommended changes that led to the hiring of Corcoran, previously film commissioner in Las Vegas, someone the location managers knew well.

Ilt Jones, 48, also of Los Angeles, whose work includes "Transformers," "Hancock" and "The X-Files," enjoyed Sarasota's "nice vibe," its wide variety of offerings and its "great blend of looks" in architecture and flora and fauna.

"Everybody was so nice and welcoming. Everybody was very gracious," he added.

Sara Kennedy, Bradenton Herald business reporter, can be reached at (941) 748-0411, ext. 4500



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