by Anthony DeMatteo
Staff Writer
An executive producer of “Rocket,” the movie that is being filmed in Jacksonville starring Sharon Stone and Jimmy Fallon, said Friday that his company hopes to slowly return the city to its glory days of film making.
Ed Machek, chief operating officer of Ring Productions, is an executive producer on “Rocket,” which chronicles characters as their lives become like their parents’. He spoke at Friday’s Downtown Council of the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce meeting, saying his company has two other movies set to film in the River City after “Rocket” wraps. The next will be “Glad All Over,” a story of a widowed football coach turned author, which Machek said will likely star Oscar winner Robert Duvall.
“The goal is to bring movies here, to make them the right kind of movies and to have some fun,” said Machek.
In the early part of the 20th Century, Jacksonville was a major player in the film industry, until, Downtown Council President Ray Hays said, a former mayor decided to run them out of the city.
“We thought it would be really fun and really rewarding to bring the movie industry back to Florida and back to Jacksonville,” said Machek.
Machek said Ring plans to make three or four movies a year in Jacksonville, which Hays estimated will add millions to the local economy.
“It’s a clean, high-profit industry that leaves nothing but a shadow when they’re gone,” said Hays.
Florida Governor Charlie Crist is supporting legislation including $75 million in funding initiatives to bring film making projects to Florida.
“We’re trying to bring as many people in as we can from this area,” said Machek. “We’re not doing $100 million movies. We are doing movies that are maybe between $5 and $20 million.”
He said the movies will typically shoot during five, 5-day weeks. “Rocket” has about four weeks of shooting remaining. Machek said its release is planned for late this year.
“We’re having fun,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be in Jacksonville”.