Bay Bottom News

Works In Progress:

SNOWBIRD: JACK KEROUAC’S FLORIDA: Writer Jack Kerouac is well-known for his novel, On The Road. Less known is that he moved to Florida a couple of months before his novel became famous, where he died within eleven years. Our story follows the reclusive poet as he struggles to adjust to a new home in Florida, the antithesis of Greenwich Village where the Beat poets made their name.

GROWING UP POSITIVE: In Florida, HIV is king, the highest rate of increase in the nation. Rates among blacks and Latinos – previously not target populations – are spiraling. Our film will outreach into the Tampa Bay community, in an effort to educate and stem this increase.

Completed and Available Productions:

ZORA NEALE HURSTON: JUMP AT THE SUN: The only feature-length documentary on Zora Neale Hurston was broadcast on PBS American Masters Series. One of only six films to share the 2008 Primetime EMMY for Outstanding Nonfiction Series to American Masters. Funders include the NEA, NEH, CPB, Ford Foundation, Southern Humanities Media Fund, Humanities Councils in MD, NY, DC, LA, TN, SC, NC and the Florida Division of Cultural Affairs; Produced for PBS’ “American Masters” and broadcast in 2008/(:84)

SEA TURTLES’ LAST DANCE:  Documentary about species diversification, with a focus on sea turtles found in the Gulf of Mexico and the Eastern Atlantic, their nesting habits and efforts to help endangered Kemp’s Ridley turtles that are drowning in shrimp trawls by equipping a device on the trawl that frees them from the net; offered nationwide on PBS, an EMMY award-winner produced for the Florida Institute of Oceanography in 1988/(:30).

TAMPA BAY OASIS: PBS documentary on a year in the life of an estuary and the myriad of marine life that it supports, arranged in a monthly calendar with seasonal focus on manatees, seabirds, dolphins, clams, seagrasses, crabs, and an array of outdoor activities including canoeing, birding, kayaking, and educational efforts; an independent production with support from US Fish & Wildlife, SW Florida Water Management District, Tampa Electric Company in 1990/(:60).

SHIFTING SANDS Documentary about the coastal geology and beach erosion of the Florida shore, produced for the Florida Institute of Oceanography in 1988/(:30).

BAY BOTTOM BLUES Documentary about the demise of seagrass and sealife in the Tampa Bay and efforts to restore one of the largest estuaries in the world; produced for WTOG-TV in 1985(:30).

ROAD TO THE FUTURE Documentary to preserve the culture of St. Kitts in the Caribbean while a major roadway is built, produced as an environmental campaign for the US Agency for International Development, broadcast in St. Kitts in 1989/(:30).

DREAM-MAKERS ODYSSEY Documentary of a time when Tampa’s history was tied to trolley cars; produced for the Big Bend Environmental Education Center 1995/(:20).

PEOPLE WITH AIDS Documentary on the changing faces of AIDS in Hillsborough County; produced for the Tampa AIDS Network in 1994/(:20).

MANATEE DREAMS Documentary about scientists’ efforts to save Florida manatees; produced for the Big Bend Environmental Education Center in 1993/(:20).

FLORIDA’S FIRST MAGIC KINGDOM Documentary on the turn-of-the-century Tampa Bay Hotel and railroad tycoon Henry Plant’s vision of luxury, produced for the H. B. Plant Museum in 1991/(:20).

GETTING THERE Script for media campaign for a mass transit system in the Tampa Bay area, produced for Hillsborough Area Regional Transit in 1996/(:30).