Lifetime thriller movie being filmed in St. Petersburg
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Pinellas County most recently has become a pipeline for "made for tv movies," and production on the latest film – a thriller – began Monday morning in St. Petersburg.
The unnamed Lifetime film, which takes place in Florida, is expected to be a drama/thriller movie about a daughter who is kidnapped, and her mother stops by the location where she was last seen. That location is a St. Pete dealership, Creel Motors, that belongs to John Creel and his daughter Kaylyn.
"This is so cool, we’ve never done anything like this before," she said. "The film company contacted us to shoot a couple of scenes for the movie, and we met with them and went through the script."
By 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, crews were transitioning the main building into a "surf shop," with a few props. The family tells us they are filming a decent amount of scenes outside the dealership, inside and then across the street at their service center.
Hallmark movie premiering this weekend was made in Tampa Bay
The Hallmark Channel is premiering a new movie, and you may recognize a few Bay Area spots. Production shot it in St. Pete this past summer.
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Lifetime and Hallmark film crews are no stranger to the Pinellas County area when it comes to shooting movies. According to Visit St. Pete/Clearwater’s film commissioner, in 2021 they issued a record 270 permits in the past year for films, commercials and tv shows.
2021, the commissioner said at the time, was their busiest year ever.
With at least five more films to go – this one included.
The owner of Creel Motors tells me this morning, he never imagined his 70 year-old business to be used for a movie set.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that Pinellas County would turn into a movie Mecca capital," John Creel said. "The dealership here has the iconic look that they are looking for to do their type of a thriller movie."
Another reason why this is such a great boost for the local market – is local film crews love the work, and local businesses are benefitting too.
Florida had a program that ended in 2010 that offered huge incentives to filmmakers – state lawmakers are pushing to bring those incentives back – because right now, other states like Georgia, Louisiana and North Carolina have been deemed the "Hollywood of the South."
Creel says St. Pete has so much to offer for film crews.
"I’m so excited to see what this movie turns out to be," she said. "Movies get to change a lot of what we’re seeing now, so just seeing what they’re able to create with it is super fun to see on tv."