“The Statement” is based on a real climate summit held at the Don CeSar in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. \u2014 If you\u2019re walking along the sand next week, don\u2019t be surprised if you spot a camera crew \u2014 or even a Hollywood star.<\/p>\n
A major motion picture, “The Statement,” is set to begin filming Monday on St. Pete Beach, bringing actors like Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti to Pinellas County.<\/p>\n
The film is based on a real climate summit held at the Don CeSar in the 1980s, where some of the first scientists, activists and government officials gathered to address the growing concerns around global warming.<\/p>\n
Producer Jonathan Schwartz says what makes this project unique is that filmmakers don\u2019t have to recreate the setting \u2014 they\u2019re already in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur business is always making something look like something else,\u201d Schwartz said. \u201c[But] we\u2019re in the real places that these people would have walked in. We\u2019re doing the real things that they would have done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Local leaders in film say the production is a big deal for the area \u2014 not just for its star power, but for what it could mean long-term.<\/p>\n
Visit St. Pete-Clearwater Film Commissioner Dave Caputo says large-scale productions like this bring immediate economic benefits through hotel stays, local hiring and tourism while also signaling something bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does signal that we do have the capabilities to handle and support a production like this,\u201d Caputo said.<\/p>\n
From extras to wardrobe crews, many involved in the project are from the Tampa Bay area. Schwartz hopes this film helps shift how the industry views St. Pete.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m calling my colleagues all the time and saying, \u2018You guys should really take a moment to look at St. Pete. There is something going on here,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Filming is expected to run from Monday through Wednesday, with the goal of releasing the movie in theaters by the end of the year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“The Statement” is based on a real climate summit held at the Don CeSar in the 1980s. ST.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-216753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}