by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
A little bit of rain never hurt anybody and members of Northeast Florida’s film and television industry couldn’t agree more.
Despite the gloomy weather, over 200 Jacksonville business people and industry members gathered at PRI Productions in San Marco Wednesday night for the 6th annual Jacksonville Production Industry Reception to mingle and celebrate the city’s success in bringing production companies to town to shoot films and TV ads.
Mayor John Peyton and State Rep. Don Davis also made it out to give the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission’s Film & Television office a pat on the back and recognize the division’s ability to enhance job creation and economic development throughout Northeast Florida.
Todd Roobin, chief of the Jacksonville Film & Television Office, said the division’s job is to make sure that producers, directors, location scouts and production companies understand there is no better place to make a movie or video than in Jacksonville.
Judging by the number of movies filmed in Jacksonville over the past few years, the word is out.
Due to its versatility, Northeast Florida locales have doubled for the jungles of Central and South America, Chicago, New York, South Carolina, New England, small-town USA and military facilities that span the globe in over two dozen TV productions and feature films, including “Lonely Hearts,” “The Devil’s Advocate” and “Safe Harbour.”