MAITLAND, Fla. — The Florida Film Festival is back for its 34th year, showcasing more than 180 films in many genres.

What You Need To Know

  • The Florida Film Festival returns for its 34th year

  • The festival runs until April 20 at the Enzian Theater and Winter Park Village

  • What was once called Hollywood East, industry experts are hopeful for the future of the film industry in Florida

Maverick Moore, an editor and associate producer for the short film Ado, says it is his first time premiering at the festival.

Only 183 films made this year’s lineup after the selections committee reviewed more than 3,000 submissions. The festival shows films at the Enzian Theater in Maitland, along with Regal at Winter Park Village.

“It’s cool to be here and acknowledged in some way,” said Moore. “It’s a huge honor. It’s a lot of fun. I think this is an amazing, beautiful, awesome venue. I’ve never been at a theater quite like this.”

39 of this year’s selections have Florida connections.

“There’s over 100 years of film production in the state and a ton of it is really acclaimed work,” said programming manager Tim Anderson.

In the 90s, production crews were turning Florida into Hollywood East with local studios and incentive money. Any setting a director might need was right here in state, from beach to swamp.

“It is a very, very, very large state and it goes from a temperate climate to subtropical swamp land,” said Anderson. “The Gulf looks nothing like the Atlantic, the Everglades look nothing like the panhandle. It’s an amazing way to embrace that without ever just leaving this sort of ecosystem that we have here.”

However, Anderson says Florida-based production has turned mainly commercial ever since the state’s decision to strip away its incentive program. This caused a shift in where production studios choose to film.

“I think the biggest challenge is because with the ending of incentive programs and the reduction of major production happening in central Florida, most of the filmmakers and most of the infrastructure people, people who do sound design, effects, things like that, they moved into the Atlanta area,” said Anderson.

Last year, the Orange County Film Incentive Workgroup was formed by the board of county commissioners to explore a film incentive program. County staff say a meeting to share their findings with commissioners has not been scheduled yet.

Despite the changes, thousands of people celebrate their love for film at the festival each year.

The Florida Film Festival ends April 20.