Away We Go, a feature film shot on location in Metro Orlando, premiered in theaters this past weekend. The movie, which filmed primarily at a home on Lake Harris in Leesburg, stars two popular actors, Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live and John Krasinski of The Office. It was directed by Sam Mendes, who received the Best Director Academy Award for American Beauty.

Originally dubbed "Farlanders," the story follows a thirty-something couple on a journey to find the best place to raise their child. The EDC's Film & Entertainment Commission worked closely with film producers on site selection, permitting and vendor identification. The movie was shot over two days, employing 120 local crew members, two local actors and six extras.

The University's of Central Florida's (UCF) Studio 500 - UCF's Center for Emerging Media - has attracted a steady stream of film and digital media work in its first 18 months of operation.

Working with studio partner Vicon Entertainment's House of Moves, faculty and staff from UCF's graduate game-development program, the Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (FIEA), have worked on video games for Electronic Arts, 360Ed, and n-Space (including "Hannah Montana: The Movie" video game), national commercials (including Gillette ads starring Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter and Roger Federer), feature films and more.

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This week, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed the 2009-10 budget preserving economic development items. Among those items, the Film and Entertainment Incentive received $10.8 million - more than double the $5 million that was allocated last year. Thanks to State Legislators and the Governor for recognizing the importance of the film, digital media and entertainment industry to the state of Florida, especially during these tough, economic times.

Starting June 1, filmmakers and others can visit www.filminflorida.com for an incentive application for projects beginning on or after July 1, 2009. Applications are accepted starting June 15.

Last week, i.d.e.a.s. opened its new headquarters in downtown Orlando. This creative production and digital media studio, one of Central Florida's largest, becomes a new "anchor tenant" of the Creative Village evolving in downtown Orlando.

As part of the opening ceremony, City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer helped company founder Bob Allen unveil a new "Creative Village" logo. The logo will be used to help identify the growing number of companies that comprise this sector of our economy.

i.d.e.a.s. moved to downtown from their longtime location on the backlot of Disney MGM Studios.

Accelerating growth of Orlando's life science industry. Global domination of the nation's digital media industry. Two bold goals of the Metro Orlando EDC. Real strides were made toward realizing those goals recently with groundbreakings on both fronts.



Nemours Children's Hospital broke ground on its Lake Nona "medical city" campus. The 620,000-square-foot facility will include 95 beds, an 18-bay emergency department, a neonatal intensive care unit and departments specializing in complex childhood diseases. The hospital, scheduled to open in 2012, will be the central hub of a 60-acre pediatric health campus featuring a children's clinic, emergency department, diagnostic and ambulatory programs, education centers and research programs. The Nemours Children's Hospital investment is expected to pump $400 million into the Central Florida economy and eventually create 2,600 new jobs.



In addition, Full Sail University, a Winter Park-based education program that focuses on entertainment-related industries, broke ground on its new Full Sail Studios Gateway project. The 32,000-square-foot, 2.2-acre project will be equipped with a live performance venue, a two-story complex for game production and recording studios, and an expansion to the on-campus professional film studio backlot. The Hollywood-style backlot will complete the existing backlot and will offer 19 different outdoor filming locations.

While Orlando conjures up images of fun and entertainment, it doesn't necessarily bring to mind a hub of filmmaking activity. But the reality is just that - Orlando offers much more than you would expect.

While Orlando's entertainment industry is based in theme parks and attractions, a closer look reveals the high tech production facilities (many of which are based on the backlots of the region's theme parks), talented professionals, diverse landscapes and much more.

Along with feature films, commercial productions and reality TV series find everything they need in Orlando: superior film crews, equipment, post-production facilities and cooperation from both public and private sectors. In terms of filming resources and production variety, Metro Orlando has it all.

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Digimation, a provider of 3D content and related services to the entertainment and defense industries, will relocate their headquarters from St. Rose, Louisiana to Metro Orlando.

The company's headquarters location will result in 30 new jobs; will generate $750,000 in capital investment; and will lease over 4,000 square feet of space on International Parkway in Heathrow/Lake Mary.

Digimation's first two new hires are already operating here and the team will complete their relocation to Metro Orlando in March 2009.

Dream Balloon Productions, a digital media production studio devoted to producing high-quality family entertainment through the use of computer-generated (CG) animation, has relocated its headquarters from New Jersey to Orlando. The company now occupies 10,500 square feet of space in the DrewTina Commerce Center in Orange County. They expect to add up to 60 new employees over the next three years.

Dream Balloon Productions co-founder Michael Attardi wrote and directed the multiple award-winning "Once Upon a Christmas Village", a 15-minute animated short that features the voices of Tim Curry, Jim Belushi and Amanda Davis. The animation, created in collaboration with animators from the DAVE School at Universal Studios Orlando, serves as a prototype for the full length feature, Snowyville, which is currently in pre-production.