One of the most notable things about Sean Baker's 2017 movie is that it was the first film for many of its stars, including Brooklyn Prince, whose prior screen experience had been on a Chuck-E-Cheese commercial, and Bria Vinaite, who was spotted by Baker on Instagram where her posts were intended only for her girlfriends back in New York. The movie takes a look at the life of a six year old girl who lives with her mother in Kissimmee, Florida, as they face possible homelessness every day. The title of the film refers to their efforts to make enough money to feed themselves and to find somewhere safe to live - an effort that they call their Florida project. Ironically, this was also the working name for the Walt Disney World theme park which is located very close to Kissimmee, but to all intents and purposes was another world away.
The Florida Project was a critical success; Willem Dafoe's performance in particular was singled out for praise, and he was rewarded by nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Screen Actors' Guild Awards and BAFTA Awards. The film itself was chosen by the AFI as one of the top ten films of the year.
The Florida Project is one of those films that fans can turn into a road trip because many of the locations in which it was filmed are not on a studio backlot; they actually exist. The Magic Castle Motel, although a fictional business, is actually the Magic Castle Inn and Suites, in Kissimmee, a mere six miles from Walt Disney World. The segments of the film actually shot in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom were shot on the down-low with an iPhone, so that Baker blended in with the tourists taking vacation videos; he never did get permission from the Disney Corporation to film in one of their parks. Baker is well-known for his somewhat maverick approach to film making, which he also employed in his prior movies Starlet and Tangerine, the latter being shot entirely on three different iPhone 5S smartphones.
