Good evening Ms. Leis:
That was both a timely and excellent article in this week's PCR.

I'll admit I took the LAZY way out as I incidentally spent three days in the State Capitol conducting State business and just got back to the Tampa area this evening.

Part of the wall that Florida's independent film industry is running into in this State is that so many big monied film companies and entertainment industries find the climate, scenery and low wages so attractive that the State's political machine feels that it does not need to provide tax incentives for independent operators such as yourself.

Every time that "Bad Boys" or "Fast and Furious" or "The Punisher" or an episode of "Karen Sisco" is filmed in this State, the State makes a ton of money. Last year Florida was cash poor to the tune of 4 billion dollars. The thinking then and now in Tallahassee is "why bother to give tax incentives (which reduces the income stream in a State solely dependent upon Sales Tax and disguised fees for revenue) to a struggling in-state industry when the big leaguers can come to us at full price?"

In my line of work at the Florida Department of Transportation I can honestly tell you that our Governor ordered us to do all in our power to accommodate the filming of the movie "The Punisher." The bottom line is that if he wanted to help the Florida Independent film maker as much as he did the producers of "The Punisher," you can rest assured that a film and entertainment incentive bill would have been signed into to law by now.

Your fight is noble and I stand with you in it.

I'm not trying to disillusion you or discourage you from moving ahead with this by pointing out what I did above, but I know the inner workings of this State's political machine pretty well, and have a pretty thorough understanding of how our State Government conducts business and what motivates it. I want to make sure that you "have your guns loaded" and understand some of these political complexities and realities before you decide to jump in full bore at the political level for such a great cause.

Keep up the exemplary work, and thanks again for walkin' the walk as well as talkin ' the talk.

William Moriaty