Another locally-produced ‘rom-com’ hits TV screens

It’s cute, corny and contrived. It’s romantic and impossibly sweet. Therefore, it’s the perfect Hallmark Channel Valentine’s Day movie. It could be tucked inside a card.

Except it’s not a Hallmark movie, and it’s coming out in the summertime, not on the hearts and flowers holiday.

Available this week on streaming services, Valentine’s Town is the latest in a series of low-budget romantic comedies created on location in Pinellas County. This one was shot in Dunedin in the spring of 2023.

Valentine’s Town was produced by Los Angeles-based Filmstreet Productions, whose St. Petersburg-lensed thriller Bad Tenant (released as Roommate Regret) aired on Lifetime in April.

According to Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, the production booked 116 room nights and spent a total of $343,000 locally.

Directed by actor Josh Banks, the movie includes numerous recognizable Dunedin locations, as well as expansive drone shots of the city and nearby Clearwater Bay. “Once again,” said film commissioner Lisa Dozois, “city staff went above and beyond to facilitate the production’s needs, reinforcing the area’s reputation as a desirable, film-friendly destination.”

Former Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO David Yates is credited as a co-producer on Valentine’s Town; his other made-for-TV or direct-to-streaming productions shot at least partially in the area include Love on Retreat, Love’s Playlist, The Soulmate Search and Baked With a Kiss.

A Taste of Love, also filmed in Dunedin, premiered on the Hallmark Channel in February.

Photo: Filmstreet Productions.

The Dunedin of the new film is a love-obsessed community whose motto is “Valentine’s Day, Every Day.”

Hometown boy Jude has become a successful tech developer in California; his company owns a profitable dating app, and the evil CEO wants to buy up land in Dunedin – in a section of the town called, improbably, Arrowheart – to build a couples resort.

Jude is dispatched to Arrowheart to “get the dirt” on the company’s perceived competition, Melissa the Matchmaker. Who turns out to be Lisa, Jude’s long-ago high school squeeze.

Fill in the blanks on what happens next.

Despite its cookie-cutter plot, and its predictable finale, the film is surprisingly witty (at times) and well-acted.

And it makes Dunedin look quaint and charming, a rare example of art expertly imitating life.

Valentine’s Town, said a FilmStreet rep, will soon stream on Amazon Prime, and debut on Fandango At Home (formerly Vudu) June 22.