Producing : Location - Italy or Martha's Vineyard? by Simon Devir

What's the matter with Ireland?

Hi Doug, the main character is a Wall Street Guy so I need Sun and some Glamour!

Martha's Vineyard is anything but budget friendly and except during the high season, it's usually cold, foggy and damp. Unless you speak fluent Italian, I wouldn't even attempt to work with an Italian cast & crew. If your Wall Street guy wants sun & glamor, I'd suggest southeast Florida or better still; Las Vegas where You'll find lots of crew/cast and more glamor than you'll know what to do with.

To piggyback on Doug's comment. I have filmed/lived in both locations. Southeast Florida is great but expensive. Try Tampa/St. Pete. It's actually prettier and you can film sunsets instead of sunrises ;) You can have a city (Tampa) or Beach town (tons) or whole empty islands for your yacht party scene, and the Tampa Film Commission is great! the state incentives suck, but St. Pete/Clearwater's commission sometimes has local money. (I also have a great contact for a pre-post production company locally.)

Vegas - also cool. I live here and there is a thriving film community. Up to 25% film incentive and a great state-based Film Office. It's hard to shoot on an indie budget in most strip casinos, but the downtown ones are usually amenable - for a fee. I was lucky enough to get 3 days unlimited filming for my short at the Downtown Grand for the price of a room, film credit, and all crafty costs. And like Florida, you can have a cityscape with desert and mountains less than an hour away, for a higher production value. there's even a nice vineyard in Pahrump that could look Italian with some creative camera work.

If you do Italy, Verona is amazing. You can have the city (no cars) or countryside and Lake Garda is only a short distance away. Stay away from Rome, Venice and Sicily for various reasons.

That’s quite the pairing... I’d go for Italy just for the food. I worked in Costa Rica for 3 years... right now, everything is really, really cheap.