Action! St. Pete Listed In Top 25 Best Places For Film Work, Life

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Petersburg could see more film crews and actors as Moviemaker listed the city as one of the top 25 best places to live and work as a moviemaker in 2021.

According to the outlet, St. Petersburg had 15 feature films in the last year, most with budgets under a million. Two bigger projects in the area were "Lady of the Manor," starring Justin Long, Judy Greer, Melanie Lynskey and Ryan Phillippe, and "Fear of Rain," which starred Harry Connick Jr. and Katherine Heigl.

"I think it's great," Rita Buchan, a St. Pete actor in "Lady of the Manor," told Patch. "It's going to bring more opportunities here because I think that people elsewhere think we're newly weds or nearly dead down here."

Professional film crews and multiple production facilities are available in St. Pete.

Something else St. Pete is known for is the Sunscreen Film Festival. Directors and filmmakers from all over the world submit their films every year for acceptance. The festival will celebrate 16 years in production April 29.

Film FL, a nonprofit industry agency, is making sure film crews and actors follow COVID-19 safety precautions on set by requiring all productions applying for a permit to adhere to recommendations for clean and healthy sets, Moviemaker reported.

The top 25 list of best places to live and work as a moviemaker:

1. Albuquerque

2. Atlanta

3. Austin

4. Chicago

5. Vancouver

6. Philadelphia

7. Montreal

8. Miami

9. Boston

10. Calgary, Alberta

11. Toronto

12. Dallas

13. Cincinnati

14. Cleveland

15. Oklahoma City

16. Memphis

17. San Diego

18. Baltimore

19. Portland

20. Washington D.C.

21. Kansas City, Missouri

22. San Antonio

23. Seattle

24. Milwaukee

25. St. Petersburg