Chris Ranung moved to North Florida from southern New York State in January 1990. While a single dad raising two young boys, he entered the Florida film community as a craft service assistant on Ride, an independent feature shot in Jacksonville in the summer of 1997. It was during an organizing action on this production that he joined Local 477 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.), the AFL-CIO affiliated labor union that represents Florida’s Professional Filmworkers.  

Over the following eighteen years Chris built a reputation as one of Florida’s top craft service providers, amassing credits as head of department on more than two dozen feature film and television productions in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania. In 2005, Chris traveled to the Dominican Republic, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Florida Keys as key crafty on Michael Mann’s feature film Miami Vice – a highlight of his career. His credits include Tigerland (2000), Sunshine State (2001), Out of Time (2002), The Punisher (2004), Lonely Hearts (2005), Three Days to Vegas (2006), HBO’s Recount (2007), Love and Other Drugs (2009), I Am Number Four (2010), Step Up Revolution (2011), and Iron Man 3 (2012). He finished his craft service career in 2014 on Dolphin Tale 2.

Since 2010, Chris has served as president of I.A.T.S.E. Local 477, which has jurisdiction in Florida over the majority of the on-set working crew on feature films, television projects, and commercials. From 2010-2014, he was a Senate appointee to the Florida Film and Entertainment Advisory Council (FFEAC). Chris is very proud to be a 2015 member of Leadership Florida Class XXXIII.

Between 2012 and 2019, Chris chaired the Congress of Motion Picture Associations (COMPASS), an industry-sponsored government relations effort to secure new appropriations for the Florida film incentive program. In 2018, he created Feature Florida Partnerships LLC, a non-profit committed to creating career pathways for Florida’s aspiring filmmakers and content creators.

Chris launched the South Florida Film Fund One LLC in September 2021, initiating a new approach to the revitalization of Florida filmmaking through the implementation of responsible market-based lending. He created Florida Film Funds LLC in January 2022 to act as the umbrella organization for a series of regional film funds and now serves as the organization’s chief executive officer.

Through it all, Chris has called beautiful St. Augustine home since 1999.