Film Liaison of Escambia County

The Film Liaison of Escambia County (also known as the film commission) is a division of the Pensacola Bay Area Convention & Visitors Bureau responsible for promoting the Pensacola area to film and television productions by showcasing potential shooting locations and offering incentives like sales tax exemptions.

The commission operates a website, Film North Florida (filmnorthflorida.com) that features a directory of location photos and area production vendors.

The film office dates back to October 1999, when Denise Daughtry was awarded a $6,000 contract by the Escambia County Commission to conduct the groundwork for such an organization. The contract later grew to more than $50,000 for a one-year interim film commission that expired in 2000. She asked for a $100,000 extension for the next year, but after local production groups complained about their lack of input, the Commission voted 4-1 (with Commissioner Mike Bass dissenting) to cancel plans for a county film commission. Daughtry's husband, former news personality David Daughtry, had recently been granted a $48,000 contract by the County Commission for a six-month study to create a county public information office, a proposal added unexpectedly by Commissioner Bass and similarly criticized by several public relations firms for the lack of an open bidding process.

After the county abandoned plans for a film commission, the idea was picked up by the Arts Council of Northwest Florida before the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce created the liaison office as part of its Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The current film commissioner is Tom Roush, who assisted Daughtry in the initial commission study and also organizes the Pensacola International Film Festival.

See also

• List of film and television productions

External links & references

• www.filmnorthflorida.com – Official site