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An exhausted sigh escapes his mouth as he leaves his commercial art and graphic design/marketing day job to speak about FilmToledo, a nonprofit film commission representing Northwest Ohio. A passion project, Michael DeSanto, the executive director and founding member shares, “I have two full-time jobs at this point,” referring to his daytime career and his nonprofit duties (which doesn’t include a salary).
Filling a void in Ohio’s film industry
In 2018, Northwest Ohio was the only region in the state without a film commission. A group of friends and local film enthusiasts got together to remedy that situation. “We were trying to bring more film activity, more productions, just more interest to the area because Toledo is not known as a film town…we were trying to change that,” DeSanto explains.
A film commission helps motion picture and television productions shoot on location by acting as an intermediary between production crews and local authorities, facilitating logistics, connecting with local resources, scouting locations and communicate with local governments and obtain permits.
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“Starting out was pretty rough,” FilmToledo vice president/treasurer Charles Wetzel said, adding, “We didn’t realize funding would be so difficult…funding a business costs money, no matter what you’re doing.”
In 2023, FilmToledo partnered with the City of Toledo and was recognized as the official film commission for the Northwest Ohio region. This partnership also led to the Commission being recognized by the Ohio Film Office.
Wetzel says FilmToledo has some promising possibilities for more funding for the regional film commission, noting that the local community has been pivotal in FilmToledo’s success. “We’ve done all this with no funding. All of our funding is community-based or out-of pocket…without the support from the community, we wouldn’t have made it as far as we have,” Wetzel said.
According to Wetzel, FilmToledo has helped to bring an estimated $14 million in economic spending to Northwest Ohio since their inception in 2018, with a big chunk of that revenue coming from Eenie Meanie.
Eenie Meanie: Toledo’s biggest film production
Eenie Meanie, an action-packed, dark comedy, released this year, is the largest film production from Northwest Ohio. FilmToledo was directly involved in facilitating the needs of the cast and crew by helping to scouting locations and meeting the needs of cast and crew members – suggesting hotels for the crew, pointing crew to local businesse to fulfill a need and coordinating with the City of Toledo to close down streets for a car chase that began inside Hollywood Casino. That production generated almost 10 million for the local economy.
The largest single film production that’s ever taken place in Northwest Ohio, was a very big deal. It included 20th Century Studios, Hulu and Disney and trying to coordinate the many different departments was a long, long process,” DeSanto said. “That was a learning experience for all of us involved.”
For more information on FilmToledo, visit filmtoledo.com.
