"I hear it every day: Producers want to come here, but they're forced to take projects to other states and, at times, rewrite them to fit those locations because of the dollar-to-dollar values," says Michelle Hillery, president of Film Florida and deputy film commissioner in Palm Beach County. So much so that Edward Stamm, a vice president at ARRI Rentals (which leases cameras and equipment) tried to get Florida politicians to pay attention as he saw ARRI's business in Miami dropping.

Florida created a film-and-entertainment incentive program in 2003, offering relatively modest cash rebates to various productions. The biggest recipients were typically large-budget television shows such as "Burn Notice" and "The Glades," or feature films such as "Marley and Me."