Film Florida

Florida native Natalie Metzger is an award-winning director and writer and the Vice President of Production & Development at Vanishing Angle, where she champions bold, genre-defying independent films. She has brought to life an impressive variety of features and shorts that have earned acclaim across the world, premiering at Cannes, Sundance, Berlin, SXSW, Tribeca, and more. She has also been an Artist In Residence at Sundance and a Producer in Residence at Film Independent. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Steven Puri is one of the few people on Earth who has been a senior executive at two motion picture studios and also raised over $20MM in venture capital. He’s produced the digital effects for “Independence Day” which won the Oscar for Visual Effects and in addition to his film work, he’s founded 3 start-ups. He lectures now on the lessons in sustainable high-performance he learned working alongside some of the world’s more productive people. Steven is the Founder and CEO of The Sukha Company with the mission to help millions of people find their focus, achieve more and have a healthy work life. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill. Learn more at www.TheSukha.co

Andrew Meyer has produced iconic films including “The Breakfast Club” and “Fried Green Tomatoes” as well as cult favorites “Better off Dead” and “One Crazy Summer.” Earlier in his career he worked with legendary musical artists Cat Stevens, Joe Cocker, Peter Frampton and George Harrison. Andrew is also an author reflecting on his life in the entertainment industry, his travels around the world, the people he’s met along the way and how reinventing yourself can change your life. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. If you want to contact Andrew, please send him an email via his website: Andrew Meyer Entertainment LLC https://andrewmeyerentertainment.com/. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Florida resident Ellen Jacoby is an extremely accomplished Casting Director having worked on many of Florida’s most notable projects including Burn Notice, The Waterboy, The Truman Show, Contact, Flipper, The Birdcage, True Lies, My Girl, and all the way back to Miami Vice, just to name a few. Ellen’s esteemed career spans decades in the industry across multiple continents in commercials, movies and television. She also teaches acting classes, trying to give back some of the knowledge she has acquired casting more than 50 major films and TV shows, as well as over 500 commercials, in both English and Spanish helping more than 300,000 talent get work in the entertainment business. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Florida resident Audrey Landers is an accomplished actor, singer, writer, director, composer, producer, and businesswoman. After majoring in Psychology at Columbia University and Barnard College and studying music theory at Juilliard School of Music, she embarked on a legendary career in the entertainment industry highlighted by her memorable role as "Afton Cooper" for eight years in the iconic television series "Dallas" along with countless other starring and guest roles in films and television series. Audrey wrote and recorded her first hit record at age 14 followed by a career as a multi-gold and platinum recording artist and songwriter, earning 10 gold singles, 4 gold albums and 2 platinum albums. She also created Landers STAR Collection® with her mom Ruth, a women's clothing and accessories company, offering affordable glamorous fashion to women across the globe. She continues to act, produce, write, direct and sing. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Nicole Perry, MFA, CLMA, CID/C is a dance choreographer as well as an award-winning movement professional working as a Certified Intimacy Director and Certified Intimacy Coordinator with Intimacy Professionals Education Collective (IPEC), a SAG-AFTRA accredited intimacy training program while also serving as the Director of Praxis for IPEC. Nicole is a founding member of Florida Intimacy Professionals, creating community and standards for staged intimacy work in the state. Additionally, Nicole is the founder of Momentum Stage, Inc., which offers professional development for artists, arts educators, and arts organizations and has delivered trainings for dancers, actors, and teachers at universities and organizations around the world. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Andrew Byrd is an accomplished film producer with extensive expertise in budgeting, scheduling, and production management while bringing both creative insight and operational efficiency to every project. Specializing in feature films, award-winning festival shorts, and select television pilots, Andrew's work has been licensed to major distributors and platforms including HBO, Showtime, Hulu, Tubi, Comcast, Roku, and Amazon Prime-demonstrating both commercial appeal and wide audience reach. Andrew has been a member of the Producers Guild of America since 2015 and currently teaches pre-production in Florida, where he shares his industry experience and passion for independent storytelling with the next generation of filmmakers. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Writer, Producer and Director Joseph Greco (https://joegreco.com/) is a Florida native and graduate of the Florida State University College of Motion Picture Arts. His first feature film, “Canvas,” starred Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden & Emmy Award winner Joe Pantoliano and is a personal story that focuses on a family dealing with mental health. Prior to that Joe learned the business working for Oscar winning director James Cameron and garnered awards of his own with his short “Lena's Spaghetti,” which premiered in the Telluride Film Festival. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Jason Fisher is the Founder and CEO of StageRunner, an online platform created to empower soundstage owners and to serve as a growing platform for the broader production community. Jason created StageRunner after recognizing the need for a centralized hub connecting filmmakers with ideal production spaces. Beyond being a marketplace, their goal is to build a thriving ecosystem that supports the entire film and television industry. Prior to StageRunner, Jason was the Vice President of Production at ABC Studios, overseeing blockbuster shows "Lost", "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy" and was the SVP and Head of Production at AMC overseeing hit shows including "Mad Men", Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead" and he was also the EVP and Head of Production at Paramount Television. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Richard Botto is the creator of Stage 32, an online platform and marketplace designed to democratize the entertainment industry. Launched in 2011, the Stage 32 community has grown to over 1 million entertainment creatives and professionals worldwide. In addition, Stage 32 has curated the world's largest educational library with over 3,000 hours of webinars and classes designed to help all film, television and digital content creators and professionals hone their craft and navigate the industry. RB is also an accomplished actor, screenwriter and producer. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.