Wanted: Hollywood set on the Emerald Coast

OKALOOSA COUNTY, FL - Could writer-director-actor Tyler Perry succumb to the same charms that brought Jim Carrey, Gregory Peck and Roy Scheider to the Emerald Coast?
   
According to Emerald Coast Film Commissioner Linda Sargeant, Perry is "looking for an extremely luxurious house that's secluded and large enough to house four couples on a tropical getaway" for his upcoming film, "Why Did I Get Married, Too." It's one of two movies Sargeant is scouting locations for in the hopes of bringing the productions - and their payrolls - to Okaloosa County.
   
Perry, whose movie career began with 2002's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," wouldn't be the first filmmaker to use of the area's white beaches, military property and winter greenery. "Twelve O'clock High," "Jaws II" and "On the Threshold of Space" were filmed in Okaloosa County. Carrey's "The Truman Show" was shot at Seaside in South Walton County. The Emerald Coast also draws crews shooting commercials, documentaries and travel shows.
   
As film commissioner, Sargeant's works with the county's Tourist Development Council to promote Okaloosa County to film and video producers, provides photographs of possible locations and connects them with local professionals who have the talents they need, such as members of Northwest Florida's Production Services Association.
   
"The PSA is a gift from God, I can tell you," Sargeant said last month.
   
Sargeant said the ideal location for the Perry film - a sequel to his "Why Did I Get Married?" - would be a house on "a beautiful beach with calm blue water" with no houses next to it. The house could be "anything from a cottage look to a modern mansion."
   
The other movie is a teen horror film that will start shooting in November or December and needs a campsite location in the woods, Sargeant said.
   
"They're looking for outdoor locations that look summer green, which of course, we could provide," she said. "They don't want it to look like Florida, which, face it, Northwest Florida doesn't. They don't want any palm trees."
   
As for the Perry film, she said, "Palm trees would be great on that one."
   
Sargeant said she's hoping to find a location within the next week or so.