St. Cloud Ready for Its Close Up as City Council Unanimously Approve Ordinances Designating it as Hollywood Certified

(KNSI) – Lights, camera, action! The St. Cloud City Council unanimously approved two ordinances Monday night that could soon bring film and television production crews to the city’s streets and landmarks.

The ordinances establish the city as Hollywood certified under Explore Minnesota’s Film Ready Community Program. The council approved creating regulations for commercial film production, outlining business licensing permits and fees. Any application fees collected will be deposited into the River’s Edge Convention Center fund, though no immediate fiscal impact is anticipated.

Executive Director of Visit St. Cloud, Rachel Thompson, told KNSI News the move positions the city to compete for productions. “We’ll be able to work directly through Minnesota Film with production companies through the site selection. They will vet different area plots, think about Mighty Ducks using the courthouse, things of that nature, and we’ll be able to walk them through that process.” The 1992 movie’s opening scenes were filmed in the historic building.

Thompson stated the economic potential is significant. “Just recently we saw Duluth having the film and that one saw $2.29 million worth of economic impact just in 16 days, which is really substantial when you take a look at that kind of money being injected into a community.” The film was called Rescuing Christmas.

Visit St. Cloud will serve as the bidding agent on behalf of the city, handling site selection and coordination with production companies. Visit St. Cloud will also serve in the same capacity for the City of Waite Park.

Other film-ready cities are Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, Detroit Lakes, and Bloomington.

Another film famously made in St. Cloud includes the 1989 teen version of Catch Me if You Can.

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