Tampa Film Fan

news and notes:victor nunez, wynkoop, campus movie fest speaker at ufva meeting at usf

• “Florida filmmaker Victor Nunez and the late sculptor Augusta Savage have been selected for induction into the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. The induction will take place April 2, 2008, at the R.A. Gray Building in Tallahassee during the Florida Heritage Month awards ceremony. A writer, director, cinematographer and producer, Nunez is only the second honoree from the film industry. His films include Gal Young ‘Un, Ruby in Paradise, Ulee’s Gold and his most recent film Coastlines. His work has twice earned the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and three times has received the Director’s Fortnight Recognition at the Cannes Film Festival. Established by the Florida Legislature in 1986, the Florida Artists Hall of Fame recognizes persons, living or deceased, who have made significant contributions to the arts in Florida either as performing or practicing artists in their disciplines. These individuals contribute to Florida’s national and international reputation as a state with a strong and sustained commitment toward the development of cultural excellence. The Florida Artists Hall of Fame currently consists of over 30 inductees, including musicians and performers Ray Charles and Jimmy Buffet, actor and director Burt Reynolds, dancer Edward Villella, writers Zora Neale Hurston, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Tennessee Williams and Ernest Hemingway, and visual artists Duane Hanson, Robert Rauschenberg and James Rosenquist.” (hat/tip to the Florida Film Commission)
• Congratulations to local actor Joel Wynkoop on his recent media coverage, including this story that ran a few weeks ago in the Tampa Tribune. Wynkoop is energetic and hilarious on-screen (sometimes he’s the saving grace of a less-than-perfect film) and is a nice, non-scary guy in person (despite usually playing psychos and other assorted crazies in his films). If you have BrightHouse cable, check out the short film on Channel 340 called ScreamFest 2007, where Wynkoop successfully ad libs his way through a series of interviews with many of the classic horror actors and filmmakers at ScreamFest in Orlando last month. (h/t to Crazed Fan Boy)
• Campus Movie Fest’s Brandon Chong will be the guest speaker at USF’s University Film and Video Association’s next meeting on Thursday, November 29, “to discuss how USF can host the world’s largest student film festival. This festival has been held at many campuses successfully around the nation. If the festival is brought to USF, teams of students can sign up in advance to receive free equipment to make 5-minute movies for super prizes and a possibility of national recognition.” (Received via email.)

  The meeting is free and open to the public. 7 p.m., November 29, Communications and IS Bldg, Rm 1016, USF campus. The CMF website is www.campusmoviefest.com. I hope CMF and the UFVA are able to work out a partnership. I attended Campus Movie Fest’s Grand Florida Finale in Orlando this past April and had a chance to see some incredible short films, a couple of which were created by students at UT. Hopefully USF students will get to play on Campus Movie Fest’s playground next year.