Film Florida Podcast Episode 125- Established in 2013, White Elephant Group is a Miami-based film and media-tech collective of award-winning film and digital media artists innovating and challenging audiences with new film and VR stories to artistically address and elaborate upon the voices and experiences coming from minority and underserved communities in South Florida. We talk to Ronald Baez and Ashley Rose from WEG about storytelling, their collaborations, the WEG Short Film Lab and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill. For more about WEG visit https ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 123- Mario Garcia & Michael Alfieri are filmmakers, and graduates of the University of South Florida, together they made “The Throwback,” a comedy about an underappreciated and stressed supermom whose holiday-season mental breakdown causes her to believe that she is a college-age party girl. Michael produced and Mario wrote and directed the movie, filmed throughout the Bay area. They talk about their time at USF, their careers, being able to come back to Tampa and work together, and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 122- Jennie Jarvis is an award-winning Director, Writer, and Actress as well as the writer of the award-winning textbook "Crafting the Character Arc: A Practical Guide to Character Creation and Development." Jennie is also a judge for multiple major screenwriting and film competitions each year and served as the Artistic Director for the Orpheus Theater Group from 2006-2008. As an educator, Jennie has mentored over 400 student film projects, including several that went on to win or be nominated for major awards including Telly Awards, Suncoast Region Student Produc ..read more

Kent Matsuoka is an award-winning creative line producer and location manager with over 25 years experience in the industry and more than 50 major credits to his name including "Hawaii 5-0," "Magnum P.I.," "Castle," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Medium," "Criminal Minds," "House" and more. Kent is a member of the Producers Guild of America and the Television Academy, he serves on the Teamster 399 Location Manager Steering Committee, and he formerly served as a Board member of the Location Managers Guild. He also works closely with the Association of Film Commissioners International and many of their af ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 120- Hilary Momberger-Powers started in front of the camera at five years old, landing her first audition as Sally Brown in the Peanuts "Charlie Brown" cartoons. After taking a break in her teenage years to focus on her education, she decided that the film and television industry was in her blood. For the last 30 years+ Hilary has had a very successful career as a Script Supervisor, enabling her to learn from some of the greatest Directors and Actors. She is also a successful commercial actress, a print model, she guest stars on television and is a feature film act ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 119- Susan Gallagher is an award-winning actress, producer and writer. She has appeared in numerous films and television series, even if you might not recognize her in one of her more popular roles. In 2014 she formed Her Little Red Productions and has written and/or produced several award-winning short films. Susan talks about the evolution of her career, her memorable roles and stories, advice for actors and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 118- Jackson George is a Senior Vice President in Creative Advertising for Disney. He has worked in entertainment advertising for more than 20 years and has managed the creative campaigns for some of the most iconic entertainment properties of the past two decades, including “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “The Last Jedi,” and “The Rise of Skywalker,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Encanto,” “Frozen 2,” “Incredibles 2,” “Toy Story 4” and “The Mandalorian,” Seasons 1 and 2. Currently, he is responsible for creative advertising strategy and execution for all Pixar, Luc ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 117- Franklin Ritch is a Jacksonville resident and independent filmmaker focusing on writing, directing and editing. Collaborating with Emmy Award-winning cinematographer, Britt McTammany, Franklin's early short, "Bedridden," kicked off a number of short film productions. In 2018, Franklin was presented the Rising Star Award by the mayor of Jacksonville. In 2022, he released his debut feature film, "The Artifice Girl," starring sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen, which was screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, where the film won the Golden Au ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 116- Pete Zuccarini is a Cinematographer and Second Unit Director or Assistant Director. He’s most known for his underwater cinematography work on films like “Life of Pi” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” multiple “Pirates of the Caribbean” films, “Dolphin Tale” and “Dolphin Tale 2” to name just a few. Pete talks about his career, the extensive training, safety concerns and challenges involved in being an underwater cinematographer, favorite projects and experiences and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by R ..read more

Film Florida Podcast Episode 115- Katja Esson is an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker based in Miami. She is known for her character-driven documentaries tackling race, class, and gender. She was awarded the Simons Public Humanities Fellowship at Kansas University and her films have screened at the Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, and the Smithsonian. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Knight Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. And some of her most meaningful work has been done in and about Florida. She talks all of this and much m ..read more