For years, Tampa has benefited from production companies filming blockbusters in Ybor. The city is well-known among Floridians and the movie world for preserving historic Cuban cigar factories and speakeasies turned nightclubs.

  The eccentric atmosphere from Ybor’s club scene on Main Street to the developing neighborhoods on the outskirts of town, have been featured in several Hollywood movies such as Magic Mike, Black Mass and Spring Breakers.

  However, our very own historic Ybor City may no longer be just our own.

  Construction on a fake Ybor has begun near Brunswick, Georgia for Ben Affleck’s latest film, Live by Night. The film is based on a novel by former Bay area writer, Dennis Lehane.

  The movie is set to come out in 2017. Live by Night’s IMDB page describes the upcoming project as, “A story set in the Prohibition Era and centered around a group of individuals and their dealings in the world of organized crime.”

  With construction complete, filming began in November.

  Nearly three hundred people will be residing in Brunswick for about three months for the production. The City of Savannah Film Office estimates a production of this size to bring in about $45,000 daily for the local economy.

  A film about Ybor City is now being filmed in Georgia due to Tampa’s restrictive film incentive budget. The Tampa Tribune has found another instance where Florida missed out on major film revenue due to stingy tax incentives.

  They report, “If state incentives were available, the producers of The Infiltrator said they would have filmed 90 percent of the film over 40 days in Tampa. Instead, the bulk of the work went to England.”

  In early October, an additional film announced shooting in Georgia as opposed to Florida. Gifted, starring Octavia Spencer and Chris Evans, tells the story of man living in St. Petersburg fighting for the custody of his deceased sister’s daughter.

  Because Georgia doesn’t cap its budget for film incentives, Florida’s strict limitations have become less and less appealing to filmmakers.

  The iconic scenes in Ybor City will still bring international attention our way, even though the local economy has missed out significantly.

  St. Petersburg-Clearwater film commissioner, Tony Armer, said, “All we can hope now is that this is lesson to our legislatures. And then hope we haven’t missed our big chance to make an impact on Hollywood. Who knows if four major films will ever want to come here in the same year again.”