HOLLYWOOD EAST COMES TO LIFE WITH
SPIES, SUBS
TWO NETWORK TV SERIES, THE JAMES BOND-LIKE FORTUNE HUNTER AND THE
SUBMARINE DRAMA SEAQUEST, KICK OFF IN THE ORLANDO AREA THIS WEEK.
Published: Monday, July 18, 1994
Section: A SECTION
Page: A2
By Catherine Hinman of The Sentinel Staff
This article is courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel
Orlando today becomes a stage for global exploits. Here a dapper secret agent
will find international adventure, and the crew of a futuristic submarine will
comb the ocean depths on its worldwide peacekeeping mission.
It's Hollywood, Florida-style, and the spotlight is on Central Florida.
Fox's new Sunday-night spy serial Fortune Hunter and NBC's seaQuest DSV both
begin production in the Orlando area today. Only two other prime-time network
series - ABC's America's Funniest People and the short-lived Hi, Honey I'm Home
- have been produced in Central Florida.
Producers of seaQuest, which stars Roy Scheider as the maverick captain of a
''deep submergence vehicle'' in the year 2018, will spend the week on sound
stages at Universal Studios Florida working on the show's two-hour season
premiere.
Fortune Hunter, starring Mark Frankel as the James Bond-like agent Carlton
Dial, will be shooting on location throughout Central Florida, including
Sanford, and on sound stages at Chapman/Leonard Studios in Orlando.
Fall premiere dates have not been announced by the networks.
Producers of seaQuest moved their show to Orlando from Los Angeles for its
second season to provide it with more accessible tropical locations. The cast
and crew will be filming on both the east and west coasts of Florida and at
local springs.
''We have access to miles of shoreline and will film in underwater caves
where our actors can wear their futuristic scuba gear in real waters for a
change,'' said David Burke, who is executive producer of the show, along with
Patrick Hasburgh and Steven Spielberg.
Fortune Hunter is a production of BBK Productions, which also produced Swamp
Thing in Central Florida for USA Network. Central to the producers' mission will
be creating international environments without actually having to travel there.
In the pilot, shot this spring, Frankel tracks international intrigue to Morocco
- which he conveniently found at Epcot '94's World Showcase.
Like seaQuest, Fortune Hunter will use locations on both Florida coasts. Ybor
City in Tampa, for example, could be one location.
Copyright 1994, Orlando Sentinel.
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