Episode

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.

Jamie Clemens is the Senior Account Executive for Tampa-based Vū Studios. After owning his own production company for six years Jamie joined Vu in 2022 where he now helps clients realize their creative vision using Vū’s products and services. Vū was a pioneer in Virtual Production technology and has evolved from being just a service provider to now offering a full portfolio of hardware and software solutions giving clients at any level one platform and endless possibilities for production and engagement. We talk Jamie’s background, the origins of Vū, the evolution of the company, the future of virtual production and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Mark Pentecost went from being a high school teacher to becoming a billionaire entrepreneur, a nationally recognized philanthropist, a world-renowned thought leader and filmmaker. Today, Mark is the founder of It Works!, a worldwide wellness company and a best-selling author. He’s also a riveting keynote and motivational speaker, focusing on helping people and companies achieve their dreams. Mark’s more resent goals include helping find cures for cancer and Executive Producing “Florida Wild,” a western filmed on the Pentecost Ranch in Florida. We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Todd Wiseman, Jr. is a Florida native writer, producer, director and all-around filmmaker. Besides being a wonderful advocate for filming in Florida, Todd is taking on one of the larger Florida-based projects in recent years, adapting the novel “A Land Remembered” into a television series. We talk to Todd about the history of “A Land Remembered,” his steadfast desire to base the production in Florida, his goals for the television series, challenges and opportunities, why he’s such an advocate for filming in Florida in general, and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

Shane Brady and Emily Zercher-Brady are Florida-based Filmmakers. Shane is a Tampa native writer, actor and graduate of Florida State University. Emily is a producer and actress. They turned a 2021 tragedy into a film. Based on true events, after being victims to wire fraud and losing $20,000 while trying to buy their first home, the system failed them—police, banks, and title companies were no help. What started as a nightmare became a therapeutic revenge story that combines true events with fictional parody in the film “Hacked.” We talk all of this and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.

For more than twenty-five years, Freestyle Picture Company partners Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri have developed and produced award-winning film, TV, theater, and branded content with many of the industry’s most talented individuals and entertainment companies. Their films have played at major festivals around the world and have been represented at the industry’s biggest award ceremonies. Prior to Freestyle, Francesca was at Moxie Pictures from 2000 to 2006, where she launched and led their Film and TV Group, with a specific effort to develop relationships in the feature film and TV industries. Kevin’s previous film company Cineblast was listed in The Hollywood Reporter short list of top NY production companies each year in its existence, until its sale at the end of 2000. We talk about all of this, their long relationship with Sean Baker and more on this episode of the Film Florida Podcast. Audio editing by Rob Hill.