Lights, camera, incentives!

For a while, it seemed TV show and movie productions were everywhere in South Florida, practically tripping over one another.

Shows such as USA's "Burn Notice" and “Graceland,” HBO’s “Ballers” and A&E’s “The Glades” and movies such as “Ride Along 2” were filmed here, with the region’s gleaming skyscrapers, lush palm trees and Instagram-worthy beaches as backdrops.

But then the state's tax credits, which were given to productions that film here, dried up. And the productions packed up and left or didn't come at all. 

I wrote an article on how Miami-Dade, Miami Beach and other South Florida municipalities are trying to court those productions back to the region.  ("The Birdcage'' and "Miami Vice" were fixtures in Miami Beach back in the day.)

While there have been some recent high-profile productions in town such as filming for the upcoming FX mini-series "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'', it's a far cry from seeing regular shoots for "Bloodline'' and "Magic City."  

Filming of the FX Gianni Versace miniseries last May on Ocean Drive.  By Johnny Diaz