When Nan Rich visited the Inweekly offices last month, she said that if she ever got to debate Charlie Crist, her opponent in the Democratic primary for governor, that she would bring up Digital Domain Group. Now Rick Scott appears to be ready to make it a campaign issue, too.The state is hiring outside attorneys for a planned lawsuit against those associated with the company over a failed project in Port St. Lucie that received $20 million from Florida in 2009.
“The (inspector general) investigation into the 2009 Digital Domain deal revealed that the usual state regulatory processes were circumvented to give Digital Domain tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds,” General Counsel Peter Antonacci said in a release. “The collapse of the Digital Domain project, which was promoted by the previous administration, then left Florida taxpayers on the hook.”
Digital Domain Group was founded by film director James Cameron, Stan Winston and Scott Ross. It began producing visual effects in 1993, its first three films being True Lies, Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles, and Color of Night in 1994. The company has produced effects for more than 100 films, including Titanic, Apollo 13, What Dreams May Come, The Fifth Element, Armageddon, Star Trek: Nemesis and The Day After Tomorrow. Other films include Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, 2012, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, TRON: Legacy, Thor, X-Men: First Class, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Real Steel, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Oblivion, Iron Man 3[1] and most recently X-Men: Days of Future Past and Maleficent.
In 2009, Digital Domain parent company DDMG launched Tradition Studios in Florida to develop and produce original, family-oriented CG animated features. The studio moved on January 3, 2012, to the new 115,000-square-foot facility in Port St. Lucie, built with the city’s incentives.
A March 2013 report from Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel stated that nothing appeared unlawful about how the money was awarded to bring the company to Port St. Lucie — a move expected to create 500 jobs. However, investigators noted there were gaps in written documentation, conflicting recollections of events and unavailable key witnesses as they reviewed how legislators and Crist, a Republican at the time of the deal, sidestepped the normal Enterprise Florida review process to secure the state funding.
Digital Domain, a visual effects company in Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach, declared bankruptcy in September 2012. The firm had been awarded $20 million from Florida’s Quick Action Closing Fund in 2009. The state’s contribution to Digital Domain was dwarfed by local incentives offered by Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach.
–The News Service of Florida contributed to this article