Fear of Rain, a new film starring Katherine Heigl and Harry Connick Jr., releases on February 12, 2021, and it will be screening at Green Light Cinema in downtown St. Petersburg. The movie was shot in both St. Petersburg and Tampa. Just watch the trailer to see some familiar areas in the Tampa Bay region. Castille Landon, the 29-year-old director of the film, was born in Bradenton, Florida.

The film additionally stars Madison Iseman (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle). 

A new thriller in the Sunshine City

Synopsis via IMDB: Rain has early-onset schizophrenia, a condition that not only causes her to see vivid hallucinations, but also puts a strain on her parents. When she meets Caleb, a charmingly awkward new student at school, she finally feels she has a lifeline to normalcy. But as Rain starts to suspect that her neighbor kidnapped a child, she must soon figure out who and what is real while also battling the overwhelming forces that haunt her daily life.

Projects like Fear of Rain often provide major economic boosts for their host cities.

In 2019, Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties collectively brought in over $25M in film business, this despite having no state backed incentives.

“Tampa bay has been and will continue to be one of the top commercial filming destinations in the state,” said Hillsborough Film Commissioner Tyler Martinolich. “[Tampa Bay] has taken a leadership role over the past year in helping to attract productions that otherwise would be shooting elsewhere.”

The economic impact of film productions

In 2019, 439 companies were working in the film and digital media space in Tampa Bay. In Hillsborough, 232 companies employ an average of 1,123 people per year.

The median salary for these employees? $74,359.

That number is up from a median salary of $70,262 in fiscal year 2017/18.

A prime example of the impact a production can have on the county is The Infiltrator.

In 2014, the Hillsborough County Comission put together a local incentive package amounting to $250,000  to lure The Infiltrator, a film based on the autobiography of the same name by Tampa resident Robert Mazur, to the city.

Good Films, a production company based out of Britain, spent eight days shooting portions of the film adaptation in the Tampa Bay area. The company originally wanted to film a bulk of the project in Tampa Bay but had to pull out when they could not get a $4 million pre-approved tax credit toward production.

Bringing projects to the Tampa Bay region 

HCP, a research marketing firm in Tampa, reports that in that eight day span the film had an economic impact of $957,020. The analysis found that Hillsborough took in $490,192 in direct expenditures, $145,942 of indirect spending, and $320,886 from an “induced effect” to the local economy.

Keep up with local film news by following Film Tampa Bay and the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission.

Justin Long films project in downtown St. Pete

In February of 2020, Justin Long began filming scene for his upcoming project Lady of the Manor in and around St. Petersburg.

Film star Ryan Phillippe arrived in St. Petersburg in February 2020 to shoot some scenes. Upon his arrival, Justin Long took to Instagram to surface food and fun ideas in the Tampa Bay region.

The film spent as much as $1 million in the region, according to the Tampa Bay Film Commission. This included booked hotel rooms, hiring for jobs on set, and other basic expenditures. Long and crew filmed in Tampa for a few weeks, and filmed in the Sunshine City for about 5 days.

The film also stars Luis Guzman, Judy Greer and Melanie Lynskey. It’s been described as a “free-spirited, female-centered buddy comedy set in an antebellum estate.”

A release date is still TBA.