Film Florida

Film Florida Podcast Episode 84- Susanne Robinson and Vanessa Alava are the co-founders of Mic Drop Creative in Raleigh North Carolina. Their team creates educational and inspiring original Podcasts, Film and TV, Web & Digital Content, Books, and Apps. Wherever possible, they amplify and dignify the voices of under-represented people – with a special focus on women and girls in STEM and STEAM fields. Susanne and Vanessa talk about their passion for telling inspiring stories, their desire to educate audiences about emerging technologies, and their commitment to equipping women and girls with practical professional skills. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 83- Meredith Shea from ARRAY, the Peabody Award-winning multi-platform arts and social impact collective dedicated to narrative change, founded by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, talks about all things ARRAY, including ARRAY Crew, the below-the-line hiring database for film and television professionals. Meredith is responsible for managing and fostering relations with crew members, studio partners and industry organizations for ARRAY Crew. She also talks about her time with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and more. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 82- Representative Linda Chaney is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives from Pinellas County. She talks about her support of Florida’s film, television and digital media industry, her career as a marketing professional, her passion for dog and cat rescue, her legislative initiatives, hobbies outside the legislature, advice for our industry to keep fighting in Tallahassee, and more. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 81- Representative Dana Trabulsy is a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives from Fort Pierce. She talks about her passion Florida’s film, television and digital media industry, her career as a marketing and public relations professional, her legislative initiatives, what she learned during her first legislative session, her advice for our industry to keep fighting in Tallahassee, and more. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 80- Actress, writer and producer Austin Highsmith Garces is a self-proclaimed multi-hyphenate artist and activist with a passion for helping others. An actress by trade, she’s most known for her role as “Phoebe” in “Dolphin Tale” and “Dolphin Tale 2” but she’s also a writer and producer. Her acting credits include “Seal Team,” “Criminal Minds,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Big Love,” “NCIS,” “Hawaii 5-0,” and “Scream: the TV series” just to name a few but her current project brings her back to the St. Pete/Clearwater area as the co-writer of a film. She talks about those things along with how adversity in her life has led to opportunities. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 79- Former Florida State Film Commissioner, and longtime DGA member, Paul Sirmons talks about his 40+ year career including his work on iconic television series in the 1980’s and 90’s before turning his attention to independent feature films with a focus on family and faith-based projects. Now, he’s now the Co-Chair of Film Florida’s Legislative Committee and the President of the International Christian Visual Media Association (ICVM). Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 78- The Slamdance Film Festival is a showcase for raw and innovative filmmaking that lives and bleeds by its mantra: By Filmmakers, For Filmmakers. Taylor Miller and Ronald Baez from Slamdance Miami talk about the festival, which will celebrate emerging filmmakers from Central and South America, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Florida in an open-air festival experience at the North Beach Band Shell in Miami, October 28-30, 2021. The festival will then continue with a virtual component from October 31-November 7.

Taylor O. Miller is an award winning documentary photographer and filmmaker. She studied for her PhD in Communications at the European Graduate School in Sadas Fee Switzerland and is a co-founder and manager of Slamdance Unstoppable and Slamdance Miami. Miller spent 2.5 years as the Director of Photography with Harbor Heights Entertainment filming a docu-series on the city of Detroit. Her work on the series led to an invitation to speak at Google about THIS IS DETROIT which will be released in 2022. Her recent appearances include a panel on Authenticity and Accessibility in Film and Entertainment for NBC Universal as well as being a panelist alongside New York Times Bestseller Francesca Cavallo and Vanity Fair journalist and advocate Marina Coehllo for the Inclusivity in Film Panel at the Not Film Festival in Italy. 

Ronald Baez is an Afro-Latinx filmmaker and immersive media artist from Miami, FL. His short films have screened at film festivals and art museums worldwide including HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival, the Florida Film Festival, Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film Festival, and the Norton Museum of Art. Several of Baez’s projects would go on to be broadcast for television by PBS Stations and distributed online by PBS VOD and Seed & Spark SVOD.

Baez's award-winning immersive media projects have opened in exhibition at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), the Florida Museum of Natural History, and the National Association of Broadcasters Conference in Las Vegas (NAB Show). Baez was awarded the NAB Futures Innovator's Award in 2019 for his innovative XR work with South Florida immersive media collective Yellow Wood Immersive. Baez and his partners continue to work with local and national organizations and institutions like National Geographic, the New World Symphony, the University of Oregon, the Ford Foundation, and the Knight Foundation on a variety of ongoing immersive media and film projects.

In addition to his work as a filmmaker and immersive media artist, Baez is a founding member of the White Elephant Group, a Miami-based filmmaking collective, and also serves as the Artistic Director of the After School Film Institute, a nonprofit organization mentoring at risk, inner-city students in South Florida.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 77- From Miami Vice in the 1980’s to her most recent work on a series of made for tv romance films, Elayne Schneiderman Schmidt has worked on than 40 films and television series, most of them in Florida, including The Birdcage, Moonlight and The Florida Project just to name a few. She talks about her loyalty to and her love of filming in Florida, what attracts her to projects, and her advice for the next generation of industry professionals in Florida.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 76- Dana Pellerin is the Studio Sales & Business Development Representative at Universal Studios Florida Production Group. Dana began his career with Universal Studios Florida Production Group in 2014. Prior to Universal, he freelanced as a production assistant and coordinator on numerous commercials all over Florida. Dana talks about being responsible for client relationships and packaging bids for studio facilities, the backlot, offices, and other production service rentals on the lot as well as the precautions in place to ensure safe and healthy productions, all while being interviewed from the USFPG Podcast Center/Broadcast Center. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Film Florida Podcast Episode 75- Florida resident Michael S. Baumohl is veteran publicist in the film industry. He was the unit publicist for Universal Pictures for 50 films, including “Spartacus,” moved to Europe as the unit publicist for “Lawrence of Arabia,” joined Warner Bros as Executive Director of Advertising & Publicity for the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and served as Managing Director of European Operations for Lucas Films. Michael returned to the U.S. and now owns an entertainment consultancy, working with indie producers and companies providing finance, business affairs, co-production, film festival, sales and marketing, licensing & merchandising, subsidy and contract advice while continuing to be a member of the Motion Picture Academy of Arts & Science. Audio editing by Rob Hill.