One month before his pride and joy becomes a movie set, Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO David Yates provided an insider’s tour Tuesday with updates on Dolphin Tale, set to begin filming around Pinellas County on Sept. 27. 

Yates revealed that the first day’s shooting is planned for the Long Center recreation complex in Clearwater. It will be a swim meet scene involving the young hero Sawyer (a role still uncast), who later befriends Winter the dolphin, the aquarium’s star attraction. 

Most of the early production – until Oct. 12, if things go smoothly – will occur away from the aquarium. “That’s flexible,” Yates said. “Things are changing all the time.” The aquarium will close to the public for about 8 weeks starting sometime in September, depending on how fast the offsite filming goes.

Besides the Long Center, location scouts are closing deals for a house that will serve as a home for Sawyer and his mother (Ashley Judd), a facility to double as a VA hospital where Morgan Freeman's physician character works, and a cove where Winter’s rescue from entanglement in a crab trap will be re-created. 

Production designer Michael Corinblith (Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas) is constructing a 55-foot houseboat to be docked at the aquarium, where Harry Connick Jr.’s character lives. He plays Clay, a military veteran and the aquarium’s director, a role based in part on Yates, who described him as a “classic Florida personality.” 

Yates said Connick has concerts planned during production, so his shooting schedule is being worked around them. 

Winter will play herself but not by herself. Animatronic dolphins (essentially hydraulic puppets) and CGI will handle some of the more detailed emoting the role requires. Since Winter will need to share a tank with her animatronic twin, Yates said she must “get used to seeing herself.” 

To that end, Alcon provided "Summer," an actual size rubber replica of Winter, including the nub where her tail should be, that is regularly placed in the dolphin’s tank to teach her to be comfortable. That is in addition to a plastic gas can disguised as a camera that hangs over the pool, and fake lighting and microphone rigs. 

“Everything she’s going to see on the set, we’re showing her in advance,” Yates said. 

The problem is, that list of new experiences includes the actors who’ll share scenes with Winter. Yates said it takes several days for Winter to bond with new people, and respond in a way Yates called: “the most social dolphin personality we’ve ever seen.” Connick and the actor playing Sawyer are the likeliest to need that bonding time. 

“We’ve got to get her used to the actors in the water,” Yates said. “We have to make sure she’s bonded with the people she’ll be in the water with. 

“We’re on schedule, we’re fine. But we don’t have a lot of leeway.” 

Part of the time crunch is due to the recent expansion of Florida’s tax incentive program for movie and TV productions. Tax credits are awarded at various levels according to certain standards being reached, including the number of Florida-based workers used on the project and a bonus break if the project is family entertainment, as Dolphin’s Tale is. 

One of those levels is an additional 5 percent tax break if at least 75 percent of filming Dolphin Tale is completed by Nov. 30. The clause was inserted in the bill signed in July by Gov. Charlie Crist as a means to attract productions hurricane season when studios are more cautious about filming in Florida. Yates said the tax incentive plan is the chief reason why Dolphin Tale is coming to Pinellas County. 

“If Crist had signed that bill two months later we might not have a film here,” Yates said. 

Winter’s surrogate mother Panama will be featured in the movie, in order too keep her close and calming for the star. The aquarium’s other dolphins Indy and Nicholas will share the role of “Krista,” an injured dolphin treated and released into the Gulf of Mexico by the aquarium. Yates said that subplot is included “to show people what we’re about here.” 

Using all four dolphins means the aquarium’s staff will move them more than usual from tank to tank using stretchers while maintaining their regular feedings. “We have a lot of dolphin maneuvering to do,” Yates said. “It’s not just the actors’ schedules you worry about; it’s the dolphins’ schedules, too.” 

Construction should be completed next week on a larger pool for Winter, with a 8-foot- water depth and 40-foot diameter. The pool is sunken into a circular concrete structure designed with storage space and two windows enabling cameras an underwater view of the dolphin swimming. Meanwhile, Winter’s original rehabilitation pool is being reconstructed atop the building for use by the animatronic dolphins. 

Yates also discussed his agreement with Alcon to manage the film’s branding and licensing for ancillary products, which may include movie souvenirs like Winter plush dolls, toys, watches and bedding. “”All those things you have with a typical kids’ film.” 

Before taking over the aquarium, Yates performed similar duties for the Ironman race circuit. He’s still negotiating the split with Alcon and says: “Done the right way, that’s a lot of revenue.” 

News of Dolphin Tale going into production has already boosted aquarium attendance. Yates expects that success to greatly increase with the movie’s release. “We built this (project) to be evergreen,” Yates said. 

Yates has big plans for whatever money Dolphin Tale brings the aquarium, including buying the adjacent property to build a new facility while expanding and preserving the current venue as a retro-attraction. Yates also hopes to privatize the cove and canal lining the aquarium to create a natural habitat for the animals. 

First, the movie must come together. That means weeks of activity around the aquarium that Yates described to his staff as “organized chaos.” An average day will likely include 100 people on the set in various capacities, and an undersized parking lot jammed with production trucks and trailers for relaxing between takes. 

And there’s always something that can trip up the best laid plans of a project like Dolphin Tale. 

“Directors always say the three things hardest to work with are kids, water and animals,” Yates said. “We’ve got the hat trick here.”

(Image: Clearwater Marine Aquarium)