Fla. hustles to get past storm flags
Fla. shores up image
Aug 8, 2006
MIAMI -- Skyrocketing insurance rates and perceptions that Florida is a storm-battered, difficult place to work are the likely causes of a television and film production slowdown -- a trend state officials hope to quickly reverse with new financial incentives and an extensive educational campaign aimed squarely at filmmakers.
Fueled by historically low costs, a deep pool of production talent, exotic scenery and plenty of sunshine, Florida's lucrative location shooting business, valued at about $3.9 billion a year at its peak, has boomed right along with the state itself for much of the past three decades -- seemingly immune to the few rough storms that passed through.
But two unusually active hurricane seasons, which brought eight major storms to the state during a 15-month period in 2004 and '05, have resulted in a new crisis: insurance increases of 500% to 2,000% for some businesses and residents.
While angry locals have been flooding Gov. Jeb Bush's Tallahassee office with tales of five- and six-figure payments, soaring deductibles and scant coverage, some film and television producers are finding that if they choose to shoot during hurricane season -- June 1-Nov. 30 -- they can now no longer purchase certain kinds of insurance (like coverage for wind damage) because carriers simply aren't selling it at any price.
"This is a very large and difficult problem that is affecting many aspects of business and life in Florida, and we are just one small part of it," said Jeff Peel, director of Miami's Office of Film & Entertainment. "What we're going to be stressing to the filmmaking community is that having a practical plan in place that will allow you to get back into production sooner rather than later will go a long way in reducing premiums and deductibles."
The governor's film office does not yet have specific figures but said the number of productions statewide has decreased, as have applications for permits and incentives. Given last year's wall-to-wall media coverage of several storms and lingering images of New Orleans under water, another chief concern of state and regional film offices is that perceptions about life in Florida might now be skewed.
"There has been this hysteria about hurricanes that I think is over and above what's warranted," Peel said. "Yes, they are potentially very dangerous, and you have to pay attention and you have to be careful and you have to have a plan -- but I think if you have all those things and you don't happen to live below sea level, you'll do just fine.
"No one ever likes to lose a (production) day, but that could happen to you anywhere with a big rain storm or a tornado, wherever you happen to be in this country. Hurricanes are unique in that you have several days' warning that you can use to mitigate any damage that would occur."
While CBS' "CSI: Miami," which shoots periodically in South Florida, has no plans to limit location production, Showtime's upcoming cop series "Dexter" -- which originally was slated to be shot entirely on location -- has left town, Peel said.
A Showtime spokesperson said the network did not want to comment for this story, but Showtime president Robert Greenblatt told the Miami Herald that escalating costs and the threat of weather-related shutdowns sent the show back to Los Angeles.
"The deductible is really, really, really high -- it's in the millions," Greenblatt said during last month's Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Pasadena.
While disruptions have historically been rare here, dozens of productions and still-photo shoots were thrown off course last year, among them MTV's Video Music Awards on Aug. 28. Just hours after MTV had erected several elaborate outdoor sets, local officials ordered them dismantled amid warnings of the approaching Hurricane Katrina. Although the show ultimately did go on (one day before the storm reached New Orleans), the network forfeited virtually all of its valuable four-day run-up and racked up millions in cost overruns.
UPN's "South Beach," Universal Pictures' "Miami Vice" and Walt Disney Pictures' "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (which shot nearby in the Bahamas) also weathered evacuations, shutdowns and storm damage.
"Today, insurance companies are looking for specifics, like where are you going to put that equipment, how are you going to secure it and how will you exit your cast and crew?" said Carol Bressi-Cilona, a veteran broker of entertainment industry insurance.
She also thinks Florida residents deserve a cost break, pointing out that during the first quarter "weather catastrophes caused an estimated $3.7 billion in insured property damage in the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic and in states such as Kansas, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky, but none has been in Florida."
She and Peel are now members of a state task force that is drawing up a location insurance guide for studios and filmmakers. The group might also recommend that the state offer more creative financial incentives -- "sunshine guarantees" that could ostensibly cover lost production days.
Frank Lepore, public affairs director at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the '04 and '05 storm seasons were "off the charts" anomalies and that the actual threat to commerce in South Florida is generally low.
The NHC is predicting an "active" season this year of about 13-16 named storms, with four to six of them expected to be "intense."
"But remember, that distribution is for the entire Atlantic basin," Lepore said. "It is not point specific. They could go anywhere from here to New England, or the Gulf of Mexico."
Ann Donahue, executive producer of "CSI: Miami," said she remains generally unfazed by the past two storm seasons. In fact, an extensive Miami location shoot is planned in the coming days, just as the potential for intense weather becomes most likely (mid-August through September).
"Miami is worth it to us," Donahue said. "There's no other place on Earth with that kind of light. Even if the insurance goes up, there is so much other value there. We never put out crew in harm's way -- but there's also something exciting about producing in a place where the weather can change in a moment."
Fueled by historically low costs, a deep pool of production talent, exotic scenery and plenty of sunshine, Florida's lucrative location shooting business, valued at about $3.9 billion a year at its peak, has boomed right along with the state itself for much of the past three decades -- seemingly immune to the few rough storms that passed through.
But two unusually active hurricane seasons, which brought eight major storms to the state during a 15-month period in 2004 and '05, have resulted in a new crisis: insurance increases of 500% to 2,000% for some businesses and residents.
While angry locals have been flooding Gov. Jeb Bush's Tallahassee office with tales of five- and six-figure payments, soaring deductibles and scant coverage, some film and television producers are finding that if they choose to shoot during hurricane season -- June 1-Nov. 30 -- they can now no longer purchase certain kinds of insurance (like coverage for wind damage) because carriers simply aren't selling it at any price.
"This is a very large and difficult problem that is affecting many aspects of business and life in Florida, and we are just one small part of it," said Jeff Peel, director of Miami's Office of Film & Entertainment. "What we're going to be stressing to the filmmaking community is that having a practical plan in place that will allow you to get back into production sooner rather than later will go a long way in reducing premiums and deductibles."
The governor's film office does not yet have specific figures but said the number of productions statewide has decreased, as have applications for permits and incentives. Given last year's wall-to-wall media coverage of several storms and lingering images of New Orleans under water, another chief concern of state and regional film offices is that perceptions about life in Florida might now be skewed.
"There has been this hysteria about hurricanes that I think is over and above what's warranted," Peel said. "Yes, they are potentially very dangerous, and you have to pay attention and you have to be careful and you have to have a plan -- but I think if you have all those things and you don't happen to live below sea level, you'll do just fine.
"No one ever likes to lose a (production) day, but that could happen to you anywhere with a big rain storm or a tornado, wherever you happen to be in this country. Hurricanes are unique in that you have several days' warning that you can use to mitigate any damage that would occur."
While CBS' "CSI: Miami," which shoots periodically in South Florida, has no plans to limit location production, Showtime's upcoming cop series "Dexter" -- which originally was slated to be shot entirely on location -- has left town, Peel said.
A Showtime spokesperson said the network did not want to comment for this story, but Showtime president Robert Greenblatt told the Miami Herald that escalating costs and the threat of weather-related shutdowns sent the show back to Los Angeles.
"The deductible is really, really, really high -- it's in the millions," Greenblatt said during last month's Television Critics Assn. summer press tour in Pasadena.
While disruptions have historically been rare here, dozens of productions and still-photo shoots were thrown off course last year, among them MTV's Video Music Awards on Aug. 28. Just hours after MTV had erected several elaborate outdoor sets, local officials ordered them dismantled amid warnings of the approaching Hurricane Katrina. Although the show ultimately did go on (one day before the storm reached New Orleans), the network forfeited virtually all of its valuable four-day run-up and racked up millions in cost overruns.
UPN's "South Beach," Universal Pictures' "Miami Vice" and Walt Disney Pictures' "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (which shot nearby in the Bahamas) also weathered evacuations, shutdowns and storm damage.
"Today, insurance companies are looking for specifics, like where are you going to put that equipment, how are you going to secure it and how will you exit your cast and crew?" said Carol Bressi-Cilona, a veteran broker of entertainment industry insurance.
She also thinks Florida residents deserve a cost break, pointing out that during the first quarter "weather catastrophes caused an estimated $3.7 billion in insured property damage in the Northeast, the mid-Atlantic and in states such as Kansas, Texas, Tennessee and Kentucky, but none has been in Florida."
She and Peel are now members of a state task force that is drawing up a location insurance guide for studios and filmmakers. The group might also recommend that the state offer more creative financial incentives -- "sunshine guarantees" that could ostensibly cover lost production days.
Frank Lepore, public affairs director at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the '04 and '05 storm seasons were "off the charts" anomalies and that the actual threat to commerce in South Florida is generally low.
The NHC is predicting an "active" season this year of about 13-16 named storms, with four to six of them expected to be "intense."
"But remember, that distribution is for the entire Atlantic basin," Lepore said. "It is not point specific. They could go anywhere from here to New England, or the Gulf of Mexico."
Ann Donahue, executive producer of "CSI: Miami," said she remains generally unfazed by the past two storm seasons. In fact, an extensive Miami location shoot is planned in the coming days, just as the potential for intense weather becomes most likely (mid-August through September).
"Miami is worth it to us," Donahue said. "There's no other place on Earth with that kind of light. Even if the insurance goes up, there is so much other value there. We never put out crew in harm's way -- but there's also something exciting about producing in a place where the weather can change in a moment."
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