IT'S A WRAP Hollywood Discovers St. Petersburg

SPL SPOTLIGHT

Hollywood Comes to Town

St. Pete is a hot destination for bigtime filmmakers

PHOTO/ROD MILLINGTON

The film crew sets up at Fort DeSoto Park Beach in April for four long days of shooting Hallmark’s Love in the Sun.

BY CINDY COCKBURN

Who hasn’t heard the buzz? Our Sunshine City is suddenly a serious competitor as producers from New York to LA scout our idyllic tropical setting and check out our cool downtown vibe. Many are deciding that it’s pure perfection for some of the most demanding of directors. From Hallmark to Hollywood, St. Pete is on “FILM FIRE.” Our city is being showcased on the big screen to national audiences.

The economic impact locally is very positive. Job opportunities for our residents plus an increase in revenue for local businesses when cast and crew are in town are a terrific bonus. Just last week, we were looking for a parking space and then we saw it: a huge bumper

sticker on a very large van reminding us: “Florida Films = Florida Job.”

We have a variety of people to thank for this glam city spotlight, starting with producer Elayne Schmidt who reports: “It’s the pure LOVE we received here. We found an easy-going, friendly community with a “hands on” mayor and his staff helping us accomplish what we needed. We found knockout locations, local talent to fill crew and production jobs and an amazing variety of visual settings for spectacular shoots.”

10 StPeteLifeMag.com May/June 2019

SPL SPOTLIGHT

Schmidt started in the biz with the first season of “Miami Vice” and dozens of film productions with the top stars in the business later, she landed here. Her new company Southern Legacy Film Production, located in downtown St. Pete, showcases the best of Florida’s West Coast to her industry contacts. She teamed up with production manager Melissa West and together they will offer an experienced “family” of local Florida crew members. “The intention is to create a vibrant film community headquarters here in the area,” she explained. “It’s a win-win. St. Pete is so pretty. The mayor is on board and the community is so cooperative.”

It does take a village. Mayor Rick Kriseman advised Schmidt to work with city staff; and both Sophia Sorolis in economic development and Tony Leno of the special events team say “we are happy to help in any way we can to ease the way for the filmmakers to be successful.” Another bonus for our community: she is eager to offer St. Pete film students internships, leading to union membership. They will receive “on the job training” and gain experience for resume building and future job opportunities, she says.

St. Pete Clearwater Film Commissioner Tony Armer said he’s been working for five years to pitch major film projects in our area. He is also known as the founder of the Sunscreen Film Festival, now in its 14th year. “My job is to bring productions here and then support them when they do hit town.” Armer promotes 24 cities and their locations all over Pinellas County. “I can make a difference with our local incentive programs here

Top: Hallmark films Love In The Sun in Safety Harbor. Bottom left: St Pete Clearwater Film Comissioner, Tony Armer, (right) on the red carpet at Sunscreen Film Festival. Bottom right: Mayor Kriseman and his wife Kerry had an unexpected cameo in the first Hallmark film, True Love Blooms, at the Museum of Fine Arts.

Hollywood Loves St. Pete

Actress Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy, Knocked Up, 27 Dresses) loves St. Pete and told the world on Instagram she's happy to be here with her family while shooting I Saw a Man With Yellow Eyes. Our historic Renaissance Vinoy Resort was the home away from home for Harry Connick Jr. during the St. Pete shoot. The world heard about his new film on NBC TV’s Today Show, when co-host Hoda interviewed him.

PHOTO/BARRY LIVELY

You may remember him in Dolphin Tale, shot in Clearwater. This time he’s raving about working with Castille Landon. She is the writer and director, only 27 years old. “I appreciate her script so much as she is dealing with a sensitive topic of mental illness,” he said. And the writer/director? Castille admits she’s happy to see this all come together after 36 revisions on the script and it took a few years to make this film.

PHOTO/MARCIA BIGGS

May/June 2019

StPeteLifeMag.com

11

SPL SPOTLIGHT

since there’s no statewide incentives.” He’s focused on bringing indie films here budgeted at $2 million or less. “We’ve got great locations, great crews, a great community that invites and wants the productions,” he adds.

Hallmark Shines

If you tuned into the Hallmark Channel April 6 you saw True Love Blooms, a sweet love story shot on location in St. Pete. Look closely and you’ll see the Mahaffey Theater, Dali Museum, Florida CraftArt and Central Avenue, just to name a few locations. That night, film lovers gathered at the Palladium for the debut and heard Film Commissioner Tony Armer and Mayor Kriseman on stage saying: “Our city welcomes filmmakers. Thank you for booking our rooms, dining in our restaurants and hiring local talent.”

Hallmark loved working here so local extras, crew and talent were hired for another film- Love in the Sun. This second film has also been shot around the Tampa Bay area (from Safety Harbor and Treasure Island to St. Pete). It wrapped mid-April and will debut May 25 on the Hallmark Channel.

PHOTO/ROD MILLINGTON

Castille Landon

A recent study revealed that there are 24 male directors for every female director in Hollywood. Actress/producer/ screenwriter Castille Landon grew up in Bradenton and headed to Hollywood as a young teen. Until now, she is best known as the actress performing with Haley Joel Osment (Pay it Forward, The Sixth Sense) in the 2014 romantic-comedy Sex Ed.

Her first directorial film, Albion: The Enchanted Stallion included Debra Messing (Will and Grace), Oscar-nominated John Cleese (Monty Python) Liam McIntyre (Spartacus) and Jennifer Morrison (Once Upon A Time). Her second directorial film, Apple of My Eye, she worked with Amy Smart and Burt Reynolds. She describes herself as a collector of “unnecessary degrees” earning degrees both at Harvard and Oxford.

We caught up with Castille on the Red Carpet at St. Pete’s Sunscreen Film Festival. It was the third “hard night” of shooting from 7 pm to 7:30 am for the Yellow Eyes film she wrote and is directing. “We’ve had about nine hours of sleep in three days but I’m so happy to be here celebrating film,” she says. “The houses we found for the set are amazing. We don’t have to fake the setting. We found it all here in the Old Northeast.”

How was working with actress Katherine Heigl? “We had her for a week … She’s great at what she does. She’s such a professional it’s more than talent.”

What was it like working with Harry Connick Jr? “The first scene was a simple improvisation on the beach and they (costar Katherine Heigl) were so cute together. Harry is one of the most amazing humans I’ve ever met. He’s funny, talented, embraced St. Pete and brought his wife and daughters along to stay here for a few weeks of shooting.”

St. Pete’s historic Old Northeast is known for quiet streets and in 2003 was named as a landmark in the National Register of Historic Places. This tiny neighborhood is getting ready for its big screen debut. Two typical family homes side-by-side off 7th Avenue North in the eyes of the locals (near Old Northeast Tavern) was the movie set for two American superstars – Harry Connick Jr. and Katherine Heigl.

The movie I Saw a Man with Yellow Eyes will debut a year from now. This production also took a “village” of experts, produced by a variety of savvy film peeps from Bradenton’s Dori Rath to Joe Restaino, Rob Molloy, Don Miggs, Kevin Adler and Kristian Krempel of Pinstripe Productions based in Tampa.

St. Pete resident Eugenie Bondurant (you remember her as Tigris in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2) landed a major role in Yellow Eyes. The screenwriter and director Castille Landon revised the script from a male to a female role in order to cast our local superstar. Eugenie plays opposite Harry Connick Jr. and says the experience has been “amazing” to say the least. Harry Connick Jr. plays her next door neighbor with Katherine Heigl and Madison Iseman as the other leads.

Cast and crew from I Saw a Man With Yellow Eyes at the Sunscreen Film Festival in April (from left): actor Israel Broussard, producer/screenwriter Castille Landon, producer Dori Rath, producer Joe Restaino, St. Pete actress Eugenie Bondurant.

12 StPeteLifeMag.com May/June 2019