Dunedin reaps benefits as it becomes prime spot to film movies

DUNEDIN, Fla. - It’s not Hollywood, but movie making of a certain genre is finding a home in the Tampa Bay area. There’s an even newer twist in these movies, though — social media influencers. 

For 12 days recently, it all played out on the streets of Dunedin. They were filming a movie called "Valentine’s Town." It’s a romance that will likely be picked up by Hallmark, Lifetime, Oxygen, or a number of other platforms that now receive a steady stream of movies made in locally. 

"We literally do a film every month. We have done 16 feature films and TV movies in the last 18 months. We rock and roll," says David Yates of Dolphin Tell Productions. 

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Yates produced the hugely successful "Dolphin Tale" movies. The star, Winter the Dolphin, brought thousands of tourists to the area. Currently, Florida doesn’t offer incentives to bring movie shoots to the state. 

"The last film to get incentives was Dolphin Tale 2, 10 years ago," says Yates, who decided to look to local counties instead. 

He says his recent films have received $100 to $250,000 apiece from tourism agencies in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties. He says local locations are featured so that audiences can’t miss them. 

"We want to make sure they know you’re looking at Dunedin for example. You’re looking at St. Petersburg. That creates the value for the area," says Yates. "It’s filmmaking, but with what I call embedded marketing."

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Promotion for these movies have also added appearances by social media influencers.

"I’m going to be Taking little snapshot videos and posting it on my social media," says Soukhya Inamdar. 

She was the first woman of Indian descent to sing the National Anthem at an NHL, and more recently, an NBA game. She has more than 500,000 followers on TikTok. 

After she shoots her movie scene, she’ll post about her experience in Dunedin. 

"It’s good for all of Dunedin," says Jody Pucello, a local business owner. "It’s a "Hallmark-y kind of town and a Hallmark-y kind of movie."

There’s already another film in the pipeline to start shooting in late May or early June. 

The odds keep increasing that when we tune into a movie on Lifetime or Hallmark, we may see a scene shot in our neighborhood.