Florida Film and TV Production

Florida's private motion picture and video production industry averaged 5,894 jobs at 1,398 establishments in 2025, with average annual pay of $99,465, in federal QCEW payroll data.

The Florida count for NAICS 512110 fell by 635 jobs, or 9.7 percent, from 2024, and the number of establishments fell by 78 (BLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 512110). The 2024 file shows 1,476 establishments, 6,529 jobs and average pay of $91,723 (BLS QCEW 2024, NAICS 512110).

State spending records come from a different source: production companies applying for the sales tax exemption reported estimated Florida spending of $1,106,641,855 in FY 2013-14, $1,150,226,231 in FY 2014-15 and $1,143,739,614 in FY 2015-16, according to the Legislature's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) (OPPAGA report 17-13).

Last verified: October 18, 2026, by fetching the 2024 and 2025 BLS QCEW production files, OPPAGA report 17-13, sections 288.1258 (2025) and 288.1251 (2022) of the Florida Statutes, and the FloridaCommerce film site's exemption, permitting, history and regional commission pages.

Miami-Dade County had 1,094 film and video production jobs in 2025 and Palm Beach County 1,090, ahead of Orange County at 866 and Broward County at 657.

Miami-Dade has the most establishments at 308, while Palm Beach County reaches nearly the same job count with 97 (BLS QCEW 2025, county rows). The file also lists 1,092 jobs that BLS could not assign to a county. In the earlier tax credit era, OPPAGA found that Orlando and Miami accounted for 71 percent of the projects and 83 percent of the tax credits awarded from FY 2013-14 through FY 2015-16 (OPPAGA).

Florida's Entertainment Industry Financial Incentive Program, a transferable tax credit, ran from July 1, 2010 until it sunset on June 30, 2016.

OPPAGA's 2017 review describes the program: the 2010 Legislature allocated $296 million in tax credits over six fiscal years, and no production could receive credits above 30 percent of qualified expenditures or $8 million per project (OPPAGA report 17-13). Non-resident wages and spending with non-Florida companies did not qualify. The Office of Film and Entertainment had awarded $277,524,704 in credits for 293 projects, and six production companies were awaiting $8.8 million in credits while their audits were reviewed or outstanding.

Industry stakeholders told OPPAGA the loss of the tax credit program had a significant negative effect on the industry (OPPAGA). Companies could carry unused credits forward for up to five years or transfer them to another company with a tax liability; Department of Revenue data showed $277.1 million in awarded credits had been transferred. Some local programs offer their own incentives: the state film site's county feature notes that St. Pete-Clearwater in Pinellas County adopted a regional 10 to 20 percent cash rebate program and charges no film permit fees (FloridaCommerce Film in Florida).

The statewide incentive on the FloridaCommerce film site is the Entertainment Industry Sales Tax Exemption, which lets qualified production companies skip sales tax at the point of sale on production purchases, a saving of up to 7.5 percent by FloridaCommerce's estimate.

Qualified companies producing films, television series, commercials, music videos or sound recordings in Florida may apply; still photography does not qualify (FloridaCommerce sales tax exemption program). Qualifying items include production equipment, set design and construction, props and wardrobe, and production computers and software. The site's examples of non-qualified items are lodging, vehicle rentals, travel costs, food and catering, office supplies, makeup, film and videotape, and real estate rental. The state film office's services page gives a different figure, inviting productions to save 6 percent on production-related expenditures in Florida (FloridaCommerce film office services).

Under section 288.1258 of the Florida Statutes, a company that has operated at a permanent Florida address for 12 consecutive months can receive a 1-year certificate of exemption, while any production company can receive a 90-day certificate, with extensions subject to approval (section 288.1258, Florida Statutes). The exemption dates to January 1, 2001 (OPPAGA). Two newer rules matter to applicants: since July 1, 2023, a notarized affidavit that the applicant is not a foreign entity of concern must be filed before any Florida incentive is approved, and since October 1, 2025 Florida no longer charges sales tax on rental of real property, a change the exemption application now reflects (FloridaCommerce).

Florida does not require a blanket statewide film permit; permitting is done through local film commissions and other entities, and state-owned locations go through the state agency with jurisdiction.

FloridaCommerce's permitting page says a production using a road, park, beach or building owned or maintained by the state may need a permit from the agency with jurisdiction, and lists the Departments of Corrections, Environmental Protection, Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Juvenile Justice and Transportation and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, including separate FWC contacts for sea turtles and manatees (FloridaCommerce permitting). Federal property has its own link.

The same page covers trucking. It warns that Florida is not a port-of-entry state, so transport permits for equipment and materials must be completed before crossing the state line, and points to the Florida Department of Transportation and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FloridaCommerce permitting).

The state's list names local film commissions and contact offices by county in six districts, and the FloridaCommerce film office in Tallahassee is the statewide contact.

The state's regional list names offices such as the Jacksonville Film Office in Duval County, Film Tampa Bay in Hillsborough, the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Commission in Pinellas, the Emerald Coast Film Commission in Okaloosa, the Capital Region Film Commission in Leon and the Sarasota County Film and Entertainment Office; in several counties, such as Calhoun and Holmes, the listed contact is a chamber of commerce or the board of county commissioners (Florida local film commissions by region). The statewide office is at 107 East Madison Street, MSC 80, Tallahassee, phone 850-717-8990 (FloridaCommerce film office).

The state office dates to section 288.1251 of the Florida Statutes, which in its 2022 edition created the Office of Film and Entertainment to develop, market, promote and provide services to the entertainment industry, led by a Commissioner of Film and Entertainment; the section's history begins with a 1999 law (section 288.1251, Florida Statutes (2022)). The office's history page traces the industry to Jacksonville, which drew more than 30 movie studios in the early 20th century, and to Norman Studios, founded in 1916 as Eagle Film City and later among the first studios to make race films with African American characters in positive roles (Film in Florida history).