Tampa Film Fan

Oscar-nominated director, film stars to appear this Friday

He’s directed some of America’s most iconic television shows—including Magnum, P.I., The A Team, Battlestar Galactica, The Dukes of Hazzard and Perry Mason—but now Oscar-nominated director/producer Ron Satlof is setting his sights on the big screen with Misconceptions, a feature film he co-wrote with Ira Pearlstein that began shooting this month at Eckerd College and various locations throughout Pinellas County.

The comedy, which will be filming through February 5, stars A.J. Cook (Final Destination 2, The Virgin Suicides, Criminal Minds), Orlando Jones (Drumline, MAD TV), David Sutcliffe (Under the Tuscan Sun, Gilmore Girls), David Moscow (Numb3rs, Riding in Cars With Boys) and Sarah Carter (D.O.A., Smallville). The cutting-edge plot features Cook as an Evangelical Christian who receives a divine calling to be a surrogate mother for a gay couple from Boston, with predictably outrageous results.

A 30-minute press conference will be held this Friday, January 11, at 11:30 a.m. in the lobby of Eckerd College’s Bininger Theater. Film stars A.J. Cook, Orlando Jones and David Moscow are scheduled to appear, as well as director Ron Satlof and co-author Ira Pearlstein.

Satlof, who brought the production to campus, is a member of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College (ASPEC). Computer science professor Ed Gallizzi and theatre professor Jessica Greene will oversee more than 30 Eckerd College students who will earn college credit for assisting as crew members in wardrobe, sound, electric and many other professional aspects of the production.

The producers are also seeking 200 volunteer extras of all ages and genders for filming this Friday, January 11, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Bininger Theater. Contact Eleanor Wolf (727-252-3130; wolfed(at)eckerd.edu) for further details.

The production is supported by the St. Pete/Clearwater Film Commission, a department of Visit St. Pete/Clearwater, the official destination marketing organization for Pinellas County. Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater is the official destination marketing organization for Pinellas County.