Florida Lays Plot for $1-Billion Film Industry : Entertainment: Arrival of Universal and Disney studios gives the state an edge in attracting movie and TV production.

Anyone who’s seen the court scenes in the Emmy-winning television miniseries “Separate But Equal,” the pastel neighborhoods in the movie “Edward Scissorhands” or the goofy game shows on Nickelodeon knows the product.

That’s entertainment--Florida-style.

Florida’s film, TV and commercial industry totals about $300 million, but state officials are hoping it will grow to the $1-billion level this decade.

Industry officials say that goal is attainable, even conservative.

For one thing, the arrival of the Universal and Disney-MGM studios three years ago has made Central Florida an anchor for film and TV productions. And from the days of the Tarzan movies to the television series “Miami Vice,” Miami has been a natural draw for location shooting.

Productions are also spilling over into other parts of the state. Universal’s remake of “Cape Fear,” starring Robert DeNiro and Nick Nolte, was filmed in Ft. Lauderdale and is due out this fall. Michael J. Fox’s “Doc Hollywood” was a slice of life in tiny Micanopy, southwest of Jacksonville.

Florida boosters rave about the climate, the variety of locations, the high-tech post-production facilities and the caliber of talent spilling into the state. They also pan the high costs and the commuting headaches in the industry capitals of Los Angeles and New York, overbooked Hollywood sound stages and aging New York facilities.

Kim Dawson uprooted himself from Los Angeles three years ago to produce “The Mickey Mouse Club” for the Disney Channel in Orlando. He also co-produced the two Teen-Age Mutant Ninja Turtles movies, which were made outside Florida.

“It’s a very friendly place. It’s not nearly as madcap as Los Angeles has become,” said Dawson, whose next project will be a feature film on the life of famed 1920s golfer Bobby Jones.

“People from New York and Los Angeles find it a little hard to swallow that people in the toll booths actually smile, but it’s the truth.”

Still, not everyone in the industry is confident that Florida can take projects from start to finish, from set construction to dressing rooms, film developing, computerized editing and satellite linkups.

Bob Allen, director of production operations at Disney-MGM Studios, conceded, “Producers are nervous, and they want some assurance we’re going to have competent help.”

The studios, however, are setting an example by doing.

Nickelodeon has made Universal’s Orlando studio its 10-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year production center--the home of “gak,” the green slime dumped with regularity on “Super Sloppy Double Dare” contestants.

“Ninety-five percent of the shows that they produce are done here. That’s a significant number,” said Universal studio manager Norm Rice. “That work ensures for everybody a good labor force.”

The studios also love to brag about their facilities.

Disney has 3 million garments in the world’s largest costume studio behind pine needle-green fences at the tourist attraction. It also has chopped up an L-1011 for use in commercials for Delta Air Lines, the official airline of Disney World, and anyone who needs an aircraft set.

Universal has 40 back lot shooting locations that can take a director to Beverly Hills or San Francisco on a short walk from the studio’s sound stages.

A record 55 movies and television shows were made in Florida last year, continuing nearly a decade of slow, steady growth for the industry.

Universal has made 11 feature films, 800 episodes of 26 series and more than 60 commercials in Florida, while Disney has produced four features, 30 series, 35 TV specials and about 100 commercials.

Gov. Lawton Chiles showed his enthusiasm for the business by trekking to Hollywood in August to promote a program linking Florida banks to movie financing veterans in California.

“If you don’t do that, you don’t know how to do it,” said John Reitzammer, the state commissioner of film and television.

California and New York still dominate the financing end of the business, but Florida believes it will have to grab some of the action to mature as an industry.

“People just aren’t real sure what happens, how this all comes about, how any of the projects get started, how it gets funded and what the end product would be,” said Matt Tutton, business manager of Space Coast Pictures and president of the Motion Picture and Television Guild of Florida. “The deals are still being cut in Hollywood.”

But state Commerce Secretary Greg Farmer said: “It’s a growth industry. It’s where the action is going to be for the future. We’re ready for prime time.”