Tampa Film Fan

five questions with local film commissioner jennifer parramore

St. Petersburg/Clearwater Film Commission Director Jennifer Parramore recently took the time to answer Five Questions:

1. What’s the last movie you’ve seen?

For the record, I am not a particularly good judge of film. Ironically, I watch few films and almost no TV. That’s not because I dislike either; just time constraints due to career and family. Netflix is a great addition to my life. Consequently, most of the films I watch have been edited for the small screen (too bad), and they’re several months or years old.However, I saw Prairie Home Companion at Muvico. I’m a long-time fan of Garrison Keillor’s show, commentaries, characters and books. On a recent flight, I saw Syriana and Brokeback Mountain.

2. Which movies have meant the most to you and why?

Out of Africa is a classic and prompted me to read about colonial Kenya at that time. Denys Finch Hatton and Beryl Markham were contemporaries of Karen Blixen’s. Both have written and/or been written about extensively.

Philadelphia Story and Bull Durham both have great casts, great lines, good characters, and they’re entertaining and witty.

Prizzi’s Honor is an engrossing Mafia story with a top-drawer cast, and a diabolical twist.

3. Which movies could you watch more than once and still enjoy?

Easy question: The In Laws, (the original one) remains hysterically funny after multiple viewings. “Serpentine, Shel, serpentine!”

Out of Africa is a sweeping story of a fascinating woman shot in exotic locations.

Bull Durham is a fun and funny adult love story. I can quote multiple great lines from it and still love it every time.

Indiscreetand just about anything starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant remain entertaining forever. He’s a heartthrob and she’s beautiful and hugely talented.

Love Actually is witty, warm, bittersweet, real and interwoven so cleverly.

Romancing the Stone is among my all-time favorite adventure-romance stories. Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny Davito have terrific chemistry.

4. If you could meet any film character, who would you choose?

Characters are fiction. I enjoy meeting the people who make it come together, whether they write, direct, oversee the budget or design a set. I count several Teamsters among my best pals.

5. If you could meet any filmmaker (living or dead), who would you choose?

James Strouse, Allison Anders, Betty Thomas, Ron Howard, Mira Nair, Richard Curtis, Penny Marshall, Robert Altman, among others.