The first Film Commission was established in December of 1998 as an Honorary position for the late Emory King after a great deal of lobbying on his part.

King's involvement in Belize’s film business stemmed for his chance involvement in:

• bringing the first feature film to be shot in Belize, THE DOGS OF WAR (1979) to reality
  
• his unofficial lobbying for films to come to Belize in later years including the Paul Theroux MOSQUITO COAST (1985) that starred Harrison Ford

• TNC's made for TV movie, THE HEART OF DARKNESS featuring John Malkovich.

Since his official tenure as film commissioner began in 1998, King, a legendary character in his own right, succeeded in bringing Ernest Hemmingway's AFTER THE STORM and a host of TV Reality Shows and Magazine shoots.

Unfortunately King passed away in 2007 and Belize has had to look for someone to fill that rather tall gentleman's shoes.