From Raiders of the Lost Ark to the Ancient City.
Film producer Brian Long told the St. Johns County Tourist Development Council this week that actress Karen Allen — known worldwide for her role opposite Harrison Ford in the iconic film — plans to direct The Batting Cage, a feature movie written specifically with St. Augustine in mind.
The screenplay, written by Joan Ackerman, incorporates many of the city’s landmarks and cultural touchstones, and Allen hopes to film the project in St. Augustine.
Ackerman, a frequent visitor, penned the story as what Long described as a “love note” to the city. “It’s a film that we can only make if we do it in St. Augustine,” Long said. “It would never work anywhere else, because it’s such a big character in the film.”
Casting is already underway. Roles have been offered to Academy Award winner Annette Bening and actor Ben Gilden, Long said, and the production expects to hear back in the coming weeks.
Greg Von Hausch, co-director and founder of the Saint Augustine Film Festival, told The Citizen that Allen’s connection to the city began years ago when the festival first brought her here to present her directorial debut, A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud.
She has since returned several times, including with Ackerman, to scout locations.
“It was then, several years ago that Karen and Joan shared their desire to make a film here based on a play, The Batting Cage, that Joan had written,” von Hausch said. “The Film Festival wholeheartedly supports this project and will work in-kind with Karen and Joan to provide any service possible to help make the film a reality.”
Once casting is set, studio and distributor negotiations will begin in October. If the project is approved, filming would take place in April — either 2026 or 2027 — to avoid the city’s peak tourism season, summer heat, and fall hurricane risk.
But the project does face a significant financial obstacle before the reels can whir.
While other Florida counties — including those home to Miami, Orlando and Tampa — qualify for 30% state tax credits for film production, St. Johns County is excluded from that list.
That leaves a significant funding gap for Long and his team, who must secure about 35% of the film’s budget, roughly $1.5 million, through local support.
“This is the first time I’m going to an area where it doesn’t have a tax credit,” Long said. “We’re not looking for some government body to give us the money. That can come through local investors, through sponsors, through donors. It can come in many, many ways.”
The potential payoff, Long argued, would far exceed that investment. The production is expected to generate between $2 million and $2.5 million in direct spending on hotels, restaurants, and local services.
Beyond that, he said, the film could boost tourism for years, much as other productions have done for Savannah, Georgia.
Von Hausch echoed those sentiments.
“The benefit to the County is immense, not only in the money that will come in for rooms, food, and services, but also, a calling card to the world for what our area has to offer for visitors and other motion picture productions,” he said.
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