SOUTH FLORIDA PBS Provides Platform for local Emerging film-makers

South Florida PBS (WPBT & WXEL) is excited to announce the premiere of the new season of film-maker on April 15th, 2019 at 5:30 PM on WXEL and April 16th at 7:30 PM on WPBT! Season 2 of film-maker will highlight 26 films in 12 episodes all of which come from a diverse group of film-makers from Key West through the Treasure Coast.

From documentaries to narrative films, these stories will make you cry, laugh and wonder. This film-maker series presents homegrown talent sharing South Florida stories. And it exposes our SFPBS audience to these up and coming filmmakers.

The aim of film-maker is to give local filmmakers distribution opportunities that they wouldn’t have otherwise. The results will be seen in the form of short and long-form independent films that will air on WPBT and WXEL to an estimated 6.3 million viewers from April to June 2019. film-maker will also be distributed across the country to public television stations by NETA, giving these productions a national audience.

The project’s Board of Advisors represent the South Florida filmmaking community, with representatives from O Cinema, the Miami-Dade Office of Film and Entertainment, The Palm Beach County Film & Television Commission, FilmGate Miami, and Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward Office of Film, Music & Entertainment. From years of collaborations, South Florida PBS also has strong ties with local film festivals, secondary and college-level schools, film commissions and numerous working professionals.

Below is the description of the first episode that premieres on April 15th, 2019 with two short films:

  • One Last Ride: A PBA Lacrosse Story”, a high energy, inspirational production about the last journey of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Men’s Lacrosse team, as they transition to the NCAA Division II. The film shares the emotional ups and downs of the players and their retiring coach Chris “Suds” Southard as they prepare for a national tournament. Director David Mark Merrill travelled with the team for three years and graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic.

“I am a South Florida filmmaker. I have been a resident for over 15 years and have been living here for most of my life. I lived in Fort Lauderdale and moved to West Palm Beach and have been living here ever since. From 8th grade to college, filmmaking has been my passion.” – David Mark Merrill

  • Summer’s End”, a nostalgic, bittersweet film about a turning point in every person’s life; leaving home for the first time by returning film-maker (from Season 1) Felipe Ferrufino, a South Floridian – Colombian filmmaker, born in Bogota and raised near Fort Lauderdale, now attending the University of Southern California’s Film & Television production program.

“Returning to South Florida after a year and a half away from home at school, I was compelled to create a film about a turning point in every person’s life – leaving home for the first time. Everything changes. As a passionate South Floridian filmmaker, I hoped to capture the homely feeling of my own surroundings, and the complex subjective perspective of someone who’s relationships quickly begin to unravel during this huge shift. The suburban part of the film is shot in Broward, while the exteriors were shot in the Everglades and Miami.” – Felipe Ferrufino.

film-maker is made possible in part by Oolite Arts and Friends of South Florida PBS. For more information on the film-maker project, please visit http://www.southfloridapbs.org/film-maker/.


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