When a man calls out of the blue and invites you to cross the country and spend two weeks with him in The Murder House, most people say No. But if that man is writer/director Sean Haitz and you’re Sarasota-based actress Austin Judd, you ask for the address.

“It’s Leatherface meets Jerry Seinfeld,” Judd says of Cannibal Comedian, her latest cinematic collaboration with Haitz, the Sarasota-born filmmaker behind Florida horror flicks Mangrove Slasher 2 and Big Top Evil (also starring Judd). A blood-soaked but otherwise unconventional horror-comedy, the story follows a cannibal named Charlie with stand-up comedy dreams and the depths he’ll go to for a captive audience. Judd stars as Chrystal—one such lucky audience member who may be more than she seems. “They do crazy things with our characters that you don’t normally see in horror movies,” Judd says. “But I don’t want to reveal too much.”

Filmed in early 2020, just before the pandemic brought film production to a halt across the country, Cannibal Comedian was largely shot over the course of just two weeks in California at an abandoned cabin in the Morongo Valley known locally (and one hopes non-literally) as “The Murder House.” All told, a strange place to find the shy child who used to watch scary movies through her fingers. “But horror is so much fun to make because it’s so theatrical,” Judd says. “Also, when you have the blood on you and it’s corn syrup and it’s sweet and sticky, you don’t feel like it’s blood.” That’s not to say there weren’t challenging moments for Judd. “This required me to go to some really dark places,” she says. “I wanted to bring enough intensity and seriousness to my character.”

Released this summer with a world premiere at the Marina Del Rey Film Festival in Los Angeles, where it won Best Horror Feature, Cannibal Comedian has since been lighting up the horror festival circuit, including winning Best Feature at Days of the Dead Indianapolis, where it played to sold out theaters. As for Judd, she nabbed her first award nomination for Best Actress at the Houston Horror Film Festival and a win for Best Supporting Performance at the HorrorHound Film Festival in Indianapolis this month. Still on the circuit, the film will play in a handful of festivals in Los Angeles over the next couple weeks before coming to Florida, where it will screen at the Fantasm Film Festival in Orlando, September 15-17.

In the meantime, Judd recently completed shooting on an arthouse film about environmental awareness at Ringling College of Art and Design and is gearing up for her third feature-length film, Occult Detective, to be filmed in the Sarasota area. And while many follow their film dreams to LA or elsewhere, Judd, also a figure model at Ringling College and the Miano Academy of Art, and whose husband works at Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe, has no intentions of leaving. “Sarasota has amazing opportunities for film,” she says. “And we hold our art to a certain standard.” 

Pictured: Mis Sadistic and Austin Judd in Cannibal Comedian. Photo by Andrea Davoren.

This Saturday, head over to the Art Ovation Hotel to check out their latest installment of their Conversations with Artists Series. The series, which allows viewers to engage with the artists on display in the hotel’s various galleries, welcomes local art institution Creative Liberties. Creative Liberties, headed by Barbara Gerdeman and Elizabeth Goodwill, is an arts organization that is dedicated to helping local artists grow–they assist with everything from organizing and promoting the artist's work to renting out studio spaces or even being in residency in local gallery spaces.

Through Creative Liberties, the Art Ovation Hotel has 10 local artists featured in an exhibition titled Onaelan in the hotel’s Crescendo Gallery. “Onaelan is an old English word that means to ignite with fiery energy,” says Robyn Holl, Cultural Curator of the Art Ovation Hotel. “The show features a variety of different types of paintings from abstract work to representational to mixed acrylic and watercolor. On Saturday, a handful of those artists are going to present themselves on stage and I’ll be able to ask them questions and then open the conversation up to the audience for any further inquiries.”

Featuring a local organization such as Creative Liberties gives Holl and the team at Art Ovation a chance to do something that they hold near and dear to their hearts–connect with the community. “Not only is it one of our big goals to put on a group show in the Crescendo Gallery, but part of our program is really to emphasize the community by bringing them into the hotel and giving them the platform and exposure we can offer as a hotel that brings guests in from all over the world,” says Holl. “It’s exciting because Creative Liberties is such an impactful organization in the arts and I love being in collaboration with them.”

August 26, 5pm to 6:30p, Art Ovation Hotel Gallery Lounge, 1225 North Palm Ave, Sarasota. 

To learn more, visit

Sarasota Opera’s Annual Food & Wine Festival returns on September 23, 2023, from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. and will take place at Sarasota Opera House. Local restaurants will gather to serve tasty bites, wine, and other treats as a benefit for Sarasota Youth Opera. This year’s festival will feature many returning classics, such as Michael’s on East, Tsunami Sushi and Hibachi Grill, Mattison’s, and Selva Grill, and will also include new partners such as Molly’s Pub, and Shore. There will be performances throughout the event by the Youth Opera chorus, as well as raffles of gift cards from local favorites and tickets to Sarasota Opera and Sarasota Youth Opera performances, and other activities. Tickets are now available for $75 per person and can be purchased online at www.sarasotaopera.org/foodandwinefest, at the Box Office located at 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, FL 34236, or by calling the Box Office at (941) 328-1300. All proceeds go to support the Youth Opera & Education programming. This season, Sarasota Opera’s events are produced by Mary Kenealy Events. Restaurants interested in participating in this event can find registration information at www.sarasotaopera.org/foodandwinefest-registration. Restaurant registration is open until September 8. Participating restaurants are: 99 Bottles, EVOQ Sarasota/Westin Hotel, Jack Dusty Restaurant/Ritz-Carlton, Selva Grill, Happy Soul, Michael’s on East, Pier 22, Tsunami Sushi and Hibachi Grill, Five-O-Donut Co.    Molly’s Pub, Tzeva/Art Ovation Hotel, Mattison’s, Storii Coffee, Bahi Hut, Bridges/Embassy Suites,Food & Beer, Shore, Rise & Nye’s, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Nautical Gin

Sarasota Opera Food & Wine Festival, Saturday, September 23, 2023, Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Avenue, Sarasota, Tickets: $75 purchased in advance, $85 purchased on the day of the event. 

The Stage at Payne Park LLC (The Stage), a wholly-owned subsidiary nonprofit organization of The Players, Inc. with a mission to remodel the existing Payne Park auditorium for its new home, has selected Fleischman Garcia Maslowski (FG+M) Architecture to lead the design process for its new location at 2100 Laurel St. in Sarasota. The Stage has also hired Stages Consultants to serve as the project’s theatre, AV and acoustics consultant, and will be led by theatre consultant Alec Stoll, ASTC, and acoustician Damian Doria, FASA. Stoll has played integral roles in the programming, planning, design and construction of more than 250 academic, professional and community venues, as well as historic renovation and restoration projects. He will help oversee design and construction of the new facility.mThe Stage is also currently looking for a general contractor, executive director and advisory committee members. The organization has started the major conditional use permitting process with the city of Sarasota, which will take approximately four to six months. A community workshop will be held on September 11, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. at the municipal auditorium in Payne Park to gather input from neighbors and community stakeholders. Construction is expected to start in March 2024, with an estimated completion slated for summer 2025. The Stage will also host a focus group and design charrette on August 29 from noon to 3 p.m. to update the consortium of performing arts organizations on the progress, tasks ahead and to understand the varying requirements of each organization for inclusion in the design for the new facility. 

Pictured: Marcel Maslowski, president and director of design for FG+M.

KITCHEN NOTEBOOK | Four local design professionals share insights from recent kitchen projects, July/August 2023. 

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