How the Clay County, FL Film Commission Has Evolved Since Its Beginning

Camp Blanding in Orange Park, Florida will be the site of a new show called "Bridal Boot Camp" and the winner of the competition will receive the wedding of her dreams.

The Clay County Chamber of Commerce Film Commision has come a long way from 1989 when they were seeking to lure more films to the area after the movies "Brenda Starr" and "Illegally Yours" bombed.

The commission made their first solicitation trip in August 1989 to Orlando to see about filming more movies in Clay County. Right before that trip the Chamber was appointed by the Department of Community's Motion Picture and Television Bureau as the county's official Film Commisison Office. Members actively pursued movie and television productions to add to their credits. Some productions used locations in the county of Clay to film parts of some of the movies such as "Intimate Strangers."

In 1989 Florida was third in the nation in money-making from film revenues. Florida had a $200 million impact on the motion picture industry on an annual basis. "Intimate Strangers," the first movie filmed in Jacksonville and Clay in 1985, generated $50 million of impact on the towns. Twelve movies were shot partially or entirely in Jacksonville from 1985 to 1989. Among those were "Brenda Starr" starring Brooke Shields and "Illegally Yours" starring Rob Lowe, both filmed in 1987. (Source: Clay County Chamber of Commerce).

Club Continental was also used to film portions of "Brenda Starr" and Jacksonville Beach was used to film portions of "Intimate Strangers" starring Terri Garr and Stacy Keatch. Portions of "Illegally Yours" were filmed in Green Cove Springs and St. Augustine, the latter of which is 45 minutes from Jacksonville. (Source: Terri Bowman).

Film commission members contacted the Department of Commerce's Motion Picture and TV Bureau to find out how they could actively pursue more projects at that time. Their appointment as the official film commission and the Orlando trip was a direct result.