Central Florida is a filmmaker’s paradise with a variety of locations to choose from. Projects have filmed in our area for decades, using the multitude of available landscapes from dense tropical vegetation and swampland to arid fields and everything in between. One of the Orlando Film Commission’s main goals is to present the Orlando region as a place where productions of all kinds can film projects in “Anywhere USA.”
To maintain the area’s reputation as such a desirable production location, the Orlando Film Commission works with our locally based location scouts, to ensure they are aware of any and all location updates throughout our region. It is these location scouts that present our area to productions that come to town – everything from independent short films to commercials and large features.
The Orlando Film Commission, along with four local location scouts, toured Lake County, one of the area’s most popular film locations. The full day tour was organized by Lake County officials, with the sole purpose of drawing attention to the amazing location opportunities available to the production industry.
“Location scouts have a specific eye for noticing things that may intrigue a producer – anything from an old abandoned barn to beautiful rolling hills, even street design and stop sign layout – nearly everything that the every man passes by on a daily basis has the potential to star in a film production of some kind,” said Sheena Fowler, the Orlando Film Commissioner.
Lake County has hosted permitted film projects including a national commercial for Allegra allergy medication, part of Tommy Hilfiger’s national 2015 print campaign, ESPN2’s BattleFrog College Championship and HGTV’s hit series “Lakefront Bargain Hunt.”
Despite a little rain, the scouts were enthralled with Lake County’s film options including Alexander Springs, the area around Astor on the St. Johns River, the old abandoned Leesburg High School across the street from the gorgeous Saint James Episcopal Church, the sprawling Grand Oaks Resort and equestrian center (pictured above), the beautiful Wooten Park in Tavares and the Historic Mount Dora, just to name a few. The beauty of Lake County continued to unfold itself and keep the location scouts’ heads spinning with possibilities for future productions.
“Once again the film office has taken the time to reach out to surrounding counties to provide a tour of great locations for filming,” said Holly Roark, a Central Florida location scout. “I am always grateful to make new location contacts and see locations that would take a lot of precious time to find on my own.”