Culture

Entertainment and performing arts

The hip hop music, metal, rock music, reggaeton and Latino music scenes are all active within the city. Orlando is known as "Hollywood East" because of numerous movie studios in the area. Major motion picture production was active in the city during the mid-to-late 1990s, but has slowed in the past decade. Probably the most famous film-making moment in the city's history occurred with the implosion of Orlando's previous City Hall for the movie Lethal Weapon 3. Orlando is now a large production center for television shows, direct-to-video productions, and commercial production.^[59] In early 2011, filmmaker Marlon Campbell constructed A-Match Pictures and Angel Media Studios; a multimillion-dollar film and recording facility that has been added to the list of major studios in the city.^{[citation needed]}
Until recently, Walt Disney Feature Animation operated a studio in Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort. Feature Animation-Florida was primarily responsible for the films Mulan, Lilo & Stitch, and the early stages of Brother Bear and contributed on various other projects. Universal Studios Florida's Soundstage 21 is home to TNA Wrestling's flagship show TNA Impact!. Nickelodeon Studios, which through the 1990s produced hundreds of hours of GAK-filled game shows targeted at children,^{[citation needed]} no longer operates out of Universal Studios Florida. The Florida Film Festival which takes place in venues throughout the area is one of the most respected regional film festivals in the country and attracts budding filmmakers from around the world. Orlando is very popular among independent filmmakers. Orlando's indie film scene has been active since Haxan Film's The Blair Witch Project (1999) and a few years later with Charlize Theron winning her Academy Award for Monster (2003). A Florida state film incentive has also helped increase the number of films being produced in Orlando and the rest of the state.
The Orlando Metropolitan Area is home to a substantial theater population. Several professional and semi-professional houses and many community theaters include the Central Florida Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Orlando Repertory Theatre, Mad Cow Theatre, and IceHouse Theatre in Mount Dora. Orlando Theatre Project, closed in 2009. Additionally, both University of Central Florida and Rollins College (Winter Park) are home to theater departments that attract an influx of young artists to the area.
The Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre had hosted national Broadway tours on a regular basis. This venue was built in 1926 and underwent a major renovation in 1974.^[60] While waiting on the completion of Phase II construction of the Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, the newly designated Bob Carr Theater will continue to host non-Broadway events.^[61]
The Orlando International Fringe Theater Festival, which draws touring companies from around the world, is hosted in various venues over Orlando's Loch Haven Park every spring. At the festival, there are also readings and fully staged productions of new and unknown plays by local artists.^[62] Also in the spring, there is The Harriett Lake Festival of New Plays, hosted by Orlando Shakespeare Theater.^[63] Founded in 2002, the Orlando Cabaret Festival showcases local, national, and internationally renowned cabaret artist to Mad Cow Theatre in Downtown Orlando each spring.^[64]

Local culture

A substantial amount of the teenage and young adult populations identify as being goth, emo, or punk.^[65] This is most easily seen, due to the fact that Orlando has been a breeding ground for rock music. The culture progressed as time went on, starting in 1995 from when alternative-rock band Matchbox Twenty, and pop bands NSync and Backstreet Boys originated. Over the years, the intensity of the music increased. In the late 1990s, Skrape, a metal band, was established, shortly followed by the screamo band From First to Last as well as the alternative metal band Fireflight. In the early 2000s, the heavy metal bands Trivium and Alter Bridge formed. In the later 2000s, more screamo bands, such as Blood on the Dance Floor (duo), Sleeping with Sirens, and Broadway (band) were established.^[66] Major companies, such as Hot Topic and Vans have noticed and taken advantage of this. Hot Topic, an emo retailer, established 5 stores in Orlando alone, and Vans Warped Tour (a concert containing metalcore/screamo/punk bands) takes place in Orlando annually.^[67][68]

Shopping malls

• The Florida Mall is the largest mall in Orlando and one of the largest single-story malls in the USA at over 1,849,000 sq ft (171,800 m²). There are over 250 stores, seven anchor department stores, and the Florida Mall Hotel & Conference Center Tower. It is located outside the city proper in unincorporated Orange County.
• The Mall at Millenia is a contemporary two-level upscale shopping mall, including the department stores of Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and Neiman Marcus. The mall covers an area of 1,118,000 ft² (103,866 m²). IKEA Orlando opened adjacent to the mall on November 14, 2007.
• Orlando Fashion Square is the nearest indoor shopping mall to Downtown Orlando and one of the first to open in the city. The mall features 4 anchor department stores and a 14-screen Premiere Cinema theater.

In popular culture

The low-budget films Ernest Saves Christmas, Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector, and Never Back Down take place in and were filmed entirely in Orlando. Scenes were also filmed for Transformers: Dark of the Moon at the Orlando International Airport in early October 2010.^[69] Orlando is also the city very prominently featured in the ABC sitcom Fresh Off The Boat.
Orlando is home to numerous recording studios and producers, and as a result, contributed heavily to the Boy Band craze of the mid-1990s. The groups Backstreet Boys, NSync, and O-Town all started in Orlando before becoming nationwide successes. The alternative groups Matchbox Twenty, Seven Mary Three, and Alter Bridge are from Orlando, as is the Christian hip-hop act Group 1 Crew. Orlando also has a prominent metal scene, spawning bands such as Death and Trivium.