When Ringling College of Art and Design partnered with Semkhor Productions to create the Digital Filmmaking Studio Lab and bring stars like Werner Herzog and Justin Long to campus, the newfound focus helped propel the college up the film school rankings. Building upon that reputation, this week Ringling and Semkhor have announced a new collaboration with the Sunscreen Film Festival in St. Petersburg (April 27–30) and a new online course on documentary filmmaking to be taught by a renowned documentarian.

“Our collaboration with Sunscreen is a timely opportunity for filmmakers, cinema lovers and Ringling College film students,” says Ringling College President Dr. Larry Thompson. The collaboration includes screening the premiere of Sugar, a web series developed by Dylan McDermott and co-produced by Ringling College and Semkhor Productions, at the festival. Shot in Sarasota, several Ringling students worked with McDermott on the production, creating the kind of mutually beneficial experience at the heart of the Studio Lab’s purpose. “Our students and facilities brought enormous value to the realization of Dylan’s creative vision,” says Thompson, “while working on Sugar provided exceptional educational and career value to our students.”

In addition to the Sugar screening, the Sunscreen Film Festival will bring a piece of its programming to Sarasota with a showing of David Novacks’ documentary, Finding Babel, in Studio A of the newly opened Ringling Studios Complex on April 30 at 5:30pm. Tickets are available via the Sunscreen Film Festival website. In exchange, Tony Stopperan of the Ringling College Studio Lab will head to St. Pete to participate in panel discussions and workshops for the festival.

As a result of the collaboration, Ringling College has also announced a new online course, Making Media That Matters, with documentarian Steve Michelson. Michelson also has two films premiering at the Sunscreen Film Festival, Nature’s Orchestra and The Burden, and the course will focus on creating cause-based media and finding distribution. “When Ringling was recognized by US News & World Report as one of the top 20 media programs in the world, all of us in the documentary world took notice,” Michelson says. “I'm proud to bring my program to students at Ringling.”

The Sunscreen Film Festival is this weekend, April 27–30, in St. Petersburg. 

Spice up suppertime with some serious flavor from Serious Foodie. Made in St. Petersburg and available on Sarasota’s Palm Avenue at As Good As It Gets, this collection of cooking and finishing sauces draws inspiration from across the globe to liven up the usual and break the monotony. The cooking sauces lean towards the spicy, with the Mexico-inspired Mirasol Mole Cooking Sauce combining the heat and fruity tang of the fresh mirasol pepper with a hint of cacao, and other combinations like Blood Orange and Aji Panca similarly balancing savory and spicy. Finishing sauces tend towards the fruity, like rich Pomegranate or Orange and Calimyrna Fig. For those unsure around the kitchen, each jar comes with a quick gourmet recipe for four on the back. Gluten-free and vegetarian, it’s also easy on the guest list. 

Pictured: Cooking and finishing sauces from Serious Foodie. Photo by Phil Lederer.

As Good As It Gets, 49 South Palm Ave., Sarasota, 941-373-1839.

Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida Board President Rae Dowling has announced that former City of Sarasota Mayor and Commissioner Mary Anne Servian has been named the council’s new chief executive officer, effective May 2. An area resident since 1997, Servian served as managing partner of The Servian Group from 1989–2010, as the Sarasota Ballet managing director from 2010–16 and most recently as a business broker with Murphy Financial & Business Services. Before moving to Sarasota, Servian worked in the banking industry. She is best known locally for her time on the City of Sarasota Commission from 2001–07, having served as mayor from 2005–06. The council, which serves Manatee, Sarasota, DeSoto, Highlands, Hardee, Charlotte, Lee, Hendry, Glades and Collier counties, conducted a national search to fill the position through Evergreen Executive Source. Departing CEO Sue Stewart joined the council in 2010. She will stay on until the end of May to assist with the transition. 

Girl Scouts of Gulfcoast Florida

The Central West Coast Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association (CWC-FPRA) recognized the area’s best work in public relations achievements at its Image Awards Luncheon on April 19. The local Image Awards competition is conducted annually to recognize outstanding public relations programs in the area and to encourage and promote the development of the public relations profession. Winners are recognized for their excellence in sound public relations research and planning as well as production, execution and evaluation of results, including budget. The winners of the 2017 Grand Image Awards are Mischa Kirby and Darren Erickson for Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ "Love is in the Air" corpse plant dual bloom campaign, Habitat for Humanity Sarasota, Inc., for its annual report and Coldwell Banker NRT for its #CBGETSIT campaign. Other winners included Visit Sarasota County for its “Tourism Fights Hunger” campaign; Southwest Florida Water Management District for its Flatford Swamp Aquifer Recharge Outreach campaign; Kim Livengood of the Eclipse Agency for the International BMX SuperCross World Cup campaign and the Tervis Super Bowl Championship products campaign; Mote Marine Laboratory’s Community Relations and Communications Department for “Otters & Their Waters: Exploring a Florida Ecosystem” campaign; Suzanne Dameron, Judith Bell and Carisa Campanella for Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson's “A Better Approach to Parkinson's: Transforming a Brand through Publicity” campaign; Cheray Keyes-Shima and Megan Hart of KSC Inc. for their Dealer Communications campaign; Alyssa Holcomb for Circus Arts’ 20th anniversary gala program book; Habitat for Humanity Sarasota, Inc., for the “House that Golf Built” campaign; and Mischa Kirby and Emily Lane for the Selby Gardens visitor introduction video project. 

CWC-FPRA

Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston wrote his own success story, first climbing the ranks at the Bradenton Herald and then becoming a newsmaker in his own right. Find out what inspires his drive, from the strong women in his life to crafting his own recipe for a signature ossobuco in Underdog Success Story. 

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