Greater Fort Lauderdale is on the alert for an extraordinary group of visitors from Marvel Studios, including an invincible super hero. Broward County will welcome cast and production crew beginning Oct. 1 for the third and final installment in the solo superhero saga “Iron Man 3.” The Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Office of Film & Entertainment announcement of the blockbuster production will include locations in Broward County’s Dania Beach, and other neighboring South Florida communities.
“We have had two very exciting back to back years of major film production in Greater Fort Lauderdale – we rocked with ‘Rock of Ages’ last summer with Tom Cruise, Russell Brand and Alec Baldwin. Now we have the marvelous Marvel comic book hero,” said Noelle Stevenson, Film Commissioner, Broward Office of Film & Entertainment. The ‘Iron Man 3’ cast includes Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Don Cheadle, and Jon Favreau. “Of significance is that the filmmakers can conveniently shoot a variety of landscapes here, from city skyline to 23 miles of pristine sun-splashed beaches to nature unleashed in the Everglades,” Stevenson noted.
Greater Fort Lauderdale’s campaign to showcase its production-friendly attributes is paying off with the attraction of millions of dollars of film, TV, commercials, print and music video work. The county provides impressive added value and incentives to keep productions on target and on budget, including no permit fees, dedicated film-friendly hotels and community, professional studio and production offices, and the Preferred Production Pass (P3) which offers special values at area attractions, restaurants and film and entertainment vendors.
Besides the production-friendly attributes, Broward County is known for unique and diverse locations that will set the tone for any movie’s genre. Production companies looking for scenes that capture the Old West or a bright lit downtown skyline or a mountainous scene using the 225-foot high landfill site, Monarch Hill Renewable Energy Park, or an urban tropical island-setting or even the Australian Outback thanks to the Everglades. Greater Fort Lauderdale captures the world’s most known locations in one spot.
“These uncommon features are an enormous advantage for production companies who film in Greater Fort Lauderdale,” said Nicki E. Grossman, president of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The money and time saving aspects are all imperative in measuring the success of a film project and it’s what keeps our roster of productions growing.”
Recent film, TV and music projects in Broward include indie films and features such as “Rock of Ages,” Tony Bennett and Sony Music CD Project “Latin Duets,” A&E’s TV drama “The Glades,” USA’s “Burn Notice,” Starz’s “Magic City,” ABC’s “Charlie’s Angels” and VH1’s “Tough Love,” among others.
