Southwest Florida's graduation rates have been trending upward for the past decade, according to Gulf Coast Indicators, a new data resource launched by Gulf Coast Community Foundation to track important economic indicators in the region. Sarasota County's graduation as of 2013 was 76 percent, the same as Florida as a whole, while Manatee County exceeded that level of success with a 77 graduation rate. 

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Organizers believe the Sarasota Film Festival this year was the first major festival in the country to include 100 feature films directed by female filmmakers. The milestone adds to the reputation of the festival, which already partners with the U.S. National Committee for United Nations Women to include women directors in the Through Women’s Eyes Festival and that has for the last several years held the Side by Side Symposium to encourage relationships among women in the industry.

“It’s the unintended consequence of doing things the right way,” said Sarasota Film Festival President Mark Famiglio, who stressed the festival didn’t set after any record with female programming but simply strived for an appropriately diverse roster of movies to be screened this year. “As long as you pick the best films, many of them will come from women directors.”

Famiglio said the 10-day festival, which concluded Sunday, was larger than past events by an order of magnitude. He was especially proud of an inaugural Screenwriters Colony event hosted at the festival. In it, selected participants worked with accomplished mentors on the craft of writing for television. The event this year, an offshoot of a month-long event organized by the Nantucket Film Festival for film screenwriters, lasted four days, and Famiglio said it will almost certainly expand next year.

“Some of the most respected people in the industry are looking to Sarasota to be at the vanguard of independent film, and whatever develops from that in the future,” he said. 

For wall-to-wall coverage of the Sarasota Film Festival, check out SRQ Backlot.

In addition to being the co-founder of Buzzfeed and the director of the Harmony Institute, John S. Johnson for years has helped guide the Screenwriters Colony hosted each year by the Nantucket Film Festival. This year, the Colony held its first workshop focused on television writing, and held the four-day event at the Sarasota Film Festival. 

What does this Colony approach do to help the craft of screenwriting?  What the colony is looking for, as far as our main purpose, is a way to support writers who will expand the form. We want people with a new approach, who will do something with a new way of storytelling. It’s invitational, and we look for people who have already demonstrated an ability to do both those things.

The event in Sarasota featured writers for network shows (Parenthood) and online series (House of Cards). How has the Colony approached the many changes in entertainment mediums and distribution?  The colony is interested in writing for any kind of screen. We haven’t yet done one focused on computer games narratives, but we will. It’s just about timing. And with the great writers we have had as colonists, we have great mentors to call upon for help. 

RE/MAX Alliance Group, the No. 1 RE/MAX franchise in Florida for both transactions and sales volume for years, has moved up in rank among RE/MAX offices nationally and internationally. The office is now No. 8 in the country and No. 19 in the world, both based on transactions, achieving nearly $1.2 billion in sales and 5,000 transactions in 2014. 

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The Bank of America building located on S. Tamiami Trail has sold for $5.95 million in a net lease transaction facilitated by Optimus Commercial Real Estate Investment Advisors, a leading Keller William Commercial Team.  The seller in this transaction was 3303 S. Trail, a Florida limited liability company managed by Rodney Dessberg.  3303 S. Trail was represented by Ricardo Ruiz del Vizo with Team Optimus/K.W. Commercial.  The buyers in this transaction were VST Holdings I-18, a New York limited liability company, and VST Mrc 18, a Florida limited liability company.  The buyers were represented by Derrick Schroeder with Solid Investments. 

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