Tampa Film Fan

florida supercon may 23-25

Received via email:

Florida SuperCon (FSC) conjures up an impressive line-up of stars for the 2008 show including celebrities from Harry Potter, Avatar, Thundercats, Jem, Adult Swim, Marvel, DC and more! Florida SuperCon is taking over the Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Resort; a location three times larger than last year’s and will fill every square foot with SuperCon fun May 23-25, 2008! The show launches with the opening ceremonies Friday evening, May 23 at 5 p.m. and continues almost around the clock through Sunday, May 25, at 6 p.m.

Hyatt Regency Bonaventure Resort is located at 250 Racquet Club Road, Weston, FL 33326, Phone: 954-616-1234 (15 miles west of Fort Lauderdale, 35 miles northwest of Miami). Florida SuperCon’s new “super-sized” location, The Bonaventure Resort has over 60,000 square feet of total convention space and is three times the size of Florida SuperCon’s previous location to accommodate its growing attendance. Information on the Resort can be found here.

For more info or to purchase tickets, visit www.floridasupercon.com.

2008 florida supercon independent film festival accepting entries

Received via email:

2008 Florida SuperCon Independent Film Festival Announces Call for Entries
Deadline May 1, 2008

Deadline for entry to FSCIFF is May 1. Entry Fees: $25 short films, $35 feature length films; payable by money order or Google checkout only. More information and a link to downloadable submission forms can be found at: www.floridasupercon.com/FILMFESTIVAL.html .

The FSC website is www.floridasupercon.com.

campus moviefest florida grand finale

Here’s what you missed at the Campus MovieFest Florida Grand Finale last Friday:

The top sixteen films for Florida are (in no particular order):

Best Picture: Focus (University of South Florida)
Best Comedy: Mobile (University of South Florida)
Best Drama: The Fall (Rollins College)

Congratulations to all the people who worked on these films! You can watch the movies at www.campusmoviefest.com/finale/florida08.html.

award-winning filmmaker returns home to tampa bay area for sunscreen film festival

Received via email:

St. Petersburg native and Lakewood High School and SPJC graduate, Suzanne Niedland, will be screening her award-winning short documentary Miss Lil’s Camp at the Sunscreen Film Festival this weekend. The film will screen on Saturday, March 22, at 2:45 p.m. in the Renaissance Vinoy’s Majestic Ballroom. Among Miss Lil’s Camp’s numerous awards is the prestigious CINE Golden Eagle as well as winner of an international competition to screen at the opening of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Miss Lil’s Camp screens with Inside the Handy Writers Colony, directed by St. Petersburg native Dawn Sinclair Shapiro. Both women will attend the Saturday screening and Q and A. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased on the festival website or in person at The Vinoy.

Visit www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com for more info.

sunscreen film festival runs through march 22

The Sunscreen Film Festival will run through Saturday, March 22, and will screen 73 films from all over the world, including fifteen Florida films (films either made in Florida or made by Floridians). The festival will close with an Oscar-style awards ceremony at the Vinoy followed by an after party at Art Gallery NOVA 535.”

The film fest will take place at “the Renaissance Vinoy Hotel and other downtown St. Petersburg locations. Pricing is structured to accommodate the needs of any festival addendee from single screening passes for $8 to all-events passes for $90. Please refer to the festival website for a complete breakdown.”

From the press release:

One feature that is sure to get a lot of attention is Raiders of the Lost Ark:The Adaptation. This charming remake of the Steven Spielberg classic was begun by three boys in Mississippi. They started at ages 11, 12, and 13 and finished seven years later. It was recently discovered, blessed by Spielberg himself and has been playing to sold-out audiences ever since.

In keeping with its mission of promoting film in Florida, Sunscreen will show 15 films made in Florida and five others by Floridians now working out of the state.

There’s also an interesting workshop on the schedule for tomorrow:

Screenwriters — Aspiring screenwriters will have the opportunity to get some pointers from an impressive panel of experts. Blockbuster action writer, Steven DeSouza (Commando, Die Hard), best-selling how-to author Karl Iglesias (The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters and Writing for Emotional Impact), and Academy-Award nominee Timothy J. Sexton (Children of Men) will conduct a 90-minute discussion on the fine art of turning stories into film.

The screenwriters panel will take place on Friday, March 21, at 4 p.m. The session is free and open to the public.

Other festival highlights (besides the ones mentioned above, I mean) include:

• The Strong Women and Why They Matter short films screening
• Florida filmmaker Georg Koszulinski’s wonderously subversive film Cracker Crazy:Invisible Histories of the Sunshine State, which I saw about two months ago on DVD and am looking forward to seeing again on the big screen
• The documentary FEMA City, a look at the 2,000 Hurricane Charley refugees relocated to Charlotte County, Florida
• The well-made Star Wars homage/fan film/installment Forced Alliance and the very funny 300 parody 300 Pounds, part of the Action! Horror! Science Fiction! short films block
• The comedy Screw Cupid

Visit www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com for the schedule and more info.

independents’ film festival accepting submissions until may 30, 2008

Received via email:

The Education Channel in Tampa, Florida, is currently soliciting films, videos, animations and digital media from independent artists, producers and students in Florida and beyond for inclusion in its 2008 Independents’ Film Festival. In celebration of fifteen years of promoting engaging, quality moviemaking, the festival coordinators have announced a special pricing discount for Florida filmmakers this year. All Florida filmmakers will be able to enter for $20, while Florida students’ entry fee is $15.

The Independents’ Film Festival is a service of Tampa Educational Cable Consortium, a cultural and educational organization devoted to celebrating excellence in the moving image. For additional information call 813-254-2253, ext. 206 or email info(at)indiefilmfest.us.

Visit www.independentsfilmfest.com for more info.

second annual gasparilla film festival february 27-march 2, 2008

After a successful debut in 2007, the Gasparilla Film Festival has bigger and better plans for this year’s festival, which opens February 27. At a recent press conference, festival executive director John Rosser and president Eric Odum presented the film line up, announced guest appearances, and listed the panels, receptions and special events planned for this year. 81 films from ten countries will be screened over five days, with at least 20 of the selected films having a connection to the Tampa Bay area.

Here’s a glimpse at some of the special events and screenings planned for this year:

Wednesday, February 27:

• Opening Night VIP Reception at the Tampa Theatre
• Opening night film Kabluey, a “hilarious, unique and heartfelt comedy” starring Lisa Kudrow, Chris Parnell and Christine Taylor. **Executive producer Jeff Balis is a Tampa native.**

Friday, February 29:

• An exclusive screening of The Good Fight, an “exclusive sneak-peak, work-in-progress” about FSU Seminoles’ coach Bobby Bowden by acclaimed filmmaker George Butler (Pumping Iron). Following the screening, George Butler and fellow producer Elisabeth Haviland James will be on hand to answer questions from the audience. (Tickets to the screening and the reception may be purchased separately or together.)

Saturday, March 1:

• A special, 45th anniversary screening of Blood Feast, the “first film ever to showcase explicit gore!” Legendary filmmakers Herschell Gordon “Godfather of Gore” Lewis and David F. “Mighty Monarch of Exploitation” Friedman will be in attendance! There’s a reception at 8 p.m., the film screening at 9 p.m., and then at 10 p.m. Lewis and Friedman will participate in a Q and A session with St. Pete Times film critic Steve Persall! (Sorry about the overuse of exclamation points, but I’m really excited about this event. !) “True fans of independent filmmaking will no doubt appreciate Lewis and Friedman’s fearless and pioneering cinematic legacy. However, the fact remains that their blood-soaked repertoire continues to influence people of all stripes to this very day…most notably, curious youngsters eager for kicks,” said Andy Lalino, producer at Film Ranch International, the sponsor of this special event and screening. I’m told that there will be a nurse on scene at this event, just in case. This event will put the GASP in the Gasparilla Film Festival, for sure. (While I wish I had thought of “GASParilla” myself, I must give credit to Film Ranch International for coming up with that.)
• Women’s Power Hour — The Gasparilla Film Festival is supporting Women’s History Month by showcasing the short films Ten At The Top in Tampa Bay (**by local filmmaker Renee Warmack**), In Between, Drive Lesson and Loose Ends. This event will take place at Channelside Cinemas at 5:30 p.m., followed by a complimentary networking session from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. and is sponsored by local publishing company JimSam, Inc. There will be gift bags for the first 50 people to enter the theater for this screening. Also on March 1, Channelside Cinemas is hosting the 3rd Annual Focus on Females Women’s Healthcare Symposium, a free day-long series of health-oriented seminars, screenings, demonstrations, and classes.
• Campus MovieFest — Sixteen of the best five-minute movies from the 06-07 tour of Campus MovieFest, the world’s largest student film festival, will be screened. Don’t ignore or dismiss this because of the “student” or “five-minute movies” aspects. Last year, the Campus MovieFest films were some of the best short films I’ve seen in the past few years (and I’ve seen hundreds of ‘em, at film festivals, at local screenings, online and on DVD). I have high hopes for this year’s Campus MovieFest crop as well.
• An exclusive screening of The Flock, a “heart-stopping psychological thriller” starring Richard Gere and Claire Danes.
• Several panel discussions/seminars, including: Worldwide Marketing and Distribution of Your Film, Budget Techniques for Producing Your Film and Working in 16mm and Other Filmmaking Techniques.
• Screenings of Requiem, a documentary about “one of the most misunderstood predators on our planet — the shark” featuring beautiful underwater photography. Requiem will screen at the Florida Aquarium and the filmmakers will be in attendance.

Sunday, March 2:

• The Young Filmmakers Series screenings.
• A special family screening of the kids’ action/adventure film The Flyboys starring Stephen Baldwin and Tom Sizemore. One free children’s ticket with each adult ticket purchase.
• The Closing Night/Award Ceremonies — hosted by Wendy Ryan of ABC’s Action News.

YOU READ IT HERE FIRST, FOLKS: I have permission to announce that Shane West, star of TV’s ER and the GFF selection What We Do Is Secret, will be at the Gasparilla Film Festival this year. I’ll post more details when I get ‘em.

Other films to be screened at the festival include:

Special American Indies (Features):

• Autism–The Musical (U.S. premiere) — A documentary about five autistic children in L.A. who write, rehearse and perform their own full-length musical.
• Big Rig (Florida premiere) — This documentary is “an extended portrait of modern American as seen through the eyes of long-haul truck drivers as they span 21,000 miles, 45 states and dozens of truck stops.”
• Daydreamer (Florida premiere) — A mystery/drama/sci-fi feature that “zigs and zags, defying convention.”
• Judy Toll:The Funniest Woman You’ve Never Heard Of (Florida premiere) — A documentary about Judy Toll, “one of Hollywood’s funniest and talented comedy writers in the 80s and 90s…whose lifetime career achievements remain largely unknown even today.”
• The Memory Thief (Florida premiere) - A “fascinating and unsettling film about a young tollbooth worker whose search for meaning leads to an obsession with the Holocaust.”
• What We Do Is Secret — This drama takes a look at the Germs, “the seminal band from the late 70s L.A. punk rock scene,” and Darby Crash, “their enigmatic lead singer.”

Fun and Fear (Features):

• American Fork — Comedy starring William Baldwin and Kathleen Quinlan.
• 100 Tears — A horror film about two reporters drawn into “the bizarre world of a serial murderer known only as The Teardrop Killer.” **Locally-produced film.**
• Viva (Florida premiere) — “A comic tale of a suburban housewife in 1972 who is abandoned by her husband and goes out to find herself in the middle of the sexual revolution.”

Latin Panorama (Features):

• Death of a Bureaucrat — A “hilarious tale of the ludicrousness of bureaucracy” from Cuba.
• Drained — A Brazilian comedy.
• Dream Havana — Cuban documentary about two friends “faced with a life-altering choice” of whether or not to attempt escape from Cuba.
• El Custodio — An Argentinean drama about a man trapped in the thankless role of bodyguard.
• It’s Better That Gabriela Doesn’t Die (East coast premiere) — A Mexican comedy about soap opera obsession.
• Making Tom Ze’ — A Brazilian documentary about the controversial musician Tom Ze’.
• The Man of 2 Havanas (Florida premiere) — “Everything your parents never told you growing up about U.S.-Cuba relations…”
• Tocar Y Luchar (Florida premiere) — A documentary about a network of hundreds of orchestras in Venezuela.

And shorts, shorts, shorts. Lots of short films, many of which are locally produced, several that are making their premieres at the festival, and all of which sound interesting.

Visit www.gasparillafilmfestival.com for details on the films, filmmakers and the schedule. A variety of festival passes and ticket packages are available through the website as well.

See you at the festival. (If you get there first, save me a good seat, will ya?)

(cross-posted at www.sticksoffire.com)

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.

2007 crystal reel award winners

(This is from the end of October, via the Florida Film Commission website.)

2007 CRYSTAL REEL AWARD WINNERS!

It’s a wrap! The 2007 Crystal Reel Awards (CRA) were fabulous! The Florida Motion Picture and Television Association (FMPTA), a trade association initiated in 1973 by professionals within the Florida film industry, maintains the primary objective to encourage and facilitate increased film, video and sound recording production within the state of Florida. Indoctrinated in the late 1980s by FMPTA, the Crystal Reel Awards (CRA) honors Florida filmmakers for their fine work in fields such as motion pictures, videos, screenwriting, acting, music, print models and numerous other categories. Winning a Crystal Reel Award is a unique distinction among Florida filmmakers. A great BIG thank you goes out to the Tampa Chapter for hosting this year’s terrific program. Plans are already underway for the 2008 CRA.

FMPTA is dedicated to the promotion of film, television, recording, print and digital media in Florida.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees! To learn more about the FMPTA, visit www.fmpta.org.

news and notes:hocus focus productions, loren cass, medicine man

• Florida film studio Hocus Focus Productions has created a teaser trailer for the upcoming film Indiscretions using recently-shot footage and voiceovers from the audition tapes of actors who were cast in the film. The scenes in this teaser will be used in the film’s opening credits. Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErxXxw0cUB8 to view the teaser trailer.
• Local film Loren Cass has been nominated for an IFP Gotham Award in the category of Best Film Not Playing At A Theater Near You — reserved for films “that have garnered critical support on the film festival circuit, but have yet to be seen widely by the public in the U. S. because they have not been seen theatrically in 2007.” Loren Cass is one of five nominees selected by the editors of Filmmaker Magazine and a curator from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Award winners will be announced at the awards show on November 27. Prior to the awards show, Loren Cass will screen November 17 and 19 at the Museum of Modern Art. Both screenings are open to the public and the filmmakers (director Chris Fuller and producers Frank Craft and Kayla Tabish) will be in attendance. Loren Cass has been accepted in multiple film festivals around the world — from Denver and New York to Helsinki and Vienna — and has garnered some great reviews from various publications, including Variety. Wow! Congratulations and good luck to the filmmakers!
• There’s a new website for the local film Medicine Man: www.medicinemanteas.com.