Is Burn Notice staying or going?
I walked around the Burn Notice studios yesterday. There was set construction going on, but oddly enough, none of the major sets were there. I just walked in, I guess they know me by now, so they didn't say anything as I walked around the massive Expo Center.Did they move the sets to another area of town in anticipation of the Expo Center's demise? A crew was filling up a huge water tank outside in anticipation of a future scene. But the lack of sets got me thinking. Where was Sharon Gless' house and Jeff Donvan's loft?
There still is no word on whether Burn Notice is staying in Coconut Grove or Miami after they vacate the Expo Center in August or September. I ran into Village Council member, Michelle Niemeyer along the waterfront walking her little dog, Hobie, she didn't know anything about the future of the show's location, either.
Sources say they still have not signed an deals with the state of Louisiana. Many fans feel that Coconut Grove and Miami are as much a character in the show as the actors. I still have not heard from the Miami Film Office, they don't like to return emails or phone calls. Guess it's all a big secret. The state dropped many incentives that would keep them here.
But things may be changing. According to the Sun Sentinel, "Gov. Charlie Crist has included $10 million in his state budget for film incentives and two bills to provide corporate tax credits to film companies have been introduced during this legislative session."
According to state officials, the film and tv industry directly employs 100,000 people statewide and another 100,000 in related businesses that support production work and make and survive through the trickle down effect.
"Florida has so much infrastructure," said Michael McLean, an assistant cameraman from Plantation, working on Burn Notice. "We have rental houses, and we have stages. The only thing that's hurting us is we just don't have the incentives to compete with Michigan, Detroit, New Orleans and New Mexico."
Our city can give millions of tax dollars to a baseball stadium that really only generates profits for the wealthy owners, and they pass up a large television show that pumps money into the economy and is an hour commercial on tv each week, seen by millions. Burn Notice is shown around the world and actually shown more than once a week in the US on the USA tv network.
Our politicians also just bailed out the struggling Parrot Jungle Island this week, another private enterprise and farce. It was doing fine for decades at the old location in Pinecrest, but some fool had a big idea to scam the public by getting tax payer dollars to build something that no one visits. Our priorities are really screwed up in this City. Most of our politicians just don't care.
Photo of Jeff Donovan by Dan Littlejohn set photos by Tom Falco
Sources say they still have not signed an deals with the state of Louisiana. Many fans feel that Coconut Grove and Miami are as much a character in the show as the actors. I still have not heard from the Miami Film Office, they don't like to return emails or phone calls. Guess it's all a big secret. The state dropped many incentives that would keep them here.
But things may be changing. According to the Sun Sentinel, "Gov. Charlie Crist has included $10 million in his state budget for film incentives and two bills to provide corporate tax credits to film companies have been introduced during this legislative session."
According to state officials, the film and tv industry directly employs 100,000 people statewide and another 100,000 in related businesses that support production work and make and survive through the trickle down effect.
"Florida has so much infrastructure," said Michael McLean, an assistant cameraman from Plantation, working on Burn Notice. "We have rental houses, and we have stages. The only thing that's hurting us is we just don't have the incentives to compete with Michigan, Detroit, New Orleans and New Mexico."
Our city can give millions of tax dollars to a baseball stadium that really only generates profits for the wealthy owners, and they pass up a large television show that pumps money into the economy and is an hour commercial on tv each week, seen by millions. Burn Notice is shown around the world and actually shown more than once a week in the US on the USA tv network.
Our politicians also just bailed out the struggling Parrot Jungle Island this week, another private enterprise and farce. It was doing fine for decades at the old location in Pinecrest, but some fool had a big idea to scam the public by getting tax payer dollars to build something that no one visits. Our priorities are really screwed up in this City. Most of our politicians just don't care.
posted by Tom Falco at 12:01 PM
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6 Comments:
Amazing the corruption in this city that we would bail out Jungle Island (a mistake from the start) and build another stadium but not support something that has a direct impact on the image and marketing for South Florida!
I think you should go on the Burn Notice Message Board at USA.
M.N is more likely to respond to you if you go to his account and send him a message.He MAY e-mail you with a answer.He does come on the board and answers our questions about the show.So far he has not responded to the questions about the show moving to Louisiana,but i am sure it is because he is busy with the show right now.
As I mentioned before, we're living in a T-WAC (Third-World Administrated City).
We've got to lower our expectations of common sense.
Let's hope this city and state come up with some incentives to keep Burn Notice and the film industry here; Burn Notice is a magical billboard for Miami and Coconut Grove - why would we let it go when so many other industries are suffering? We need them in our hotels, restaurants and stores. We need them buying supplies, generators, eqpt. for sets. Get "reel" Miami.
Just a guess (a completely random guess at that) ... but they blew up Madeline's house in last season's finale. Plus, the loft seems like the last place Michael Westen would want to be staying with all these people coming out of the woodwork looking for him. Perhaps they've both got new digs?
Thanks for the updates on this. Again, would hate to see Burn Notice leave Miami. The city is really another character in this series, and many fans of the show (myself included) couldn't picture it filming anywhere else.
At the very least, I hope they find a spot in Florida so the show hangs around. With the economy in such peril, it would be an absolute shame to see the jobs moved elsewhere. To the city of Miami -- keep these people employed!
Hi,
I live in Atlanta, and I say keep the show in Miami.
I agree, the local setting is part of the show's character. Done right, a move wouldn't hurt. But why mess with a good thing.
Financially, just about everything in our country is messed up. So if it hangs on finances, it might mean bye Miami. Too bad.
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