{"id":106638,"date":"2020-02-10T12:16:11","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T17:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=106638"},"modified":"2022-03-30T14:42:03","modified_gmt":"2022-03-30T18:42:03","slug":"ucf-program-at-love-your-shorts-film-festival-to-connect-filmmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/ucf-program-at-love-your-shorts-film-festival-to-connect-filmmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Program at Love Your Shorts Film Festival to Connect Filmmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The film industry in Florida \u2014 the only state in the southeast that doesn\u2019t provide incentives for filmmakers \u2014 soon may be back on the upswing, thanks to new proposed legislation that may resume a tax-incentive program that ended four years ago.<\/p>\n

In anticipation of that day, UCF in collaboration with the Love Your Shorts Film Festival in Sanford will host an educational program, \u201cConnecting with the Central Florida Filmmaking Community,\u201d on Thursday to kick off the Feb. 13-16 festival.<\/p>\n

The free Education Day program will start at 7 p.m. at the Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center in Sanford, and will be followed at 8 p.m. with a selection of short films by current and recently graduated UCF students.<\/p>\n

There are more than 50,000 Floridians who work in the film, television and digital media industry, many of whom live and work in Central Florida.<\/p>\n

The education program was developed by UCF lecturer Jason Gregory \u201919MFA<\/strong> and Associate Professor Lisa Mills \u201999<\/strong>. Gregory will moderate a panel of other film professionals to talk about why the local film industry is growing stronger with more opportunities for networking and the multiple productions that are underway.<\/p>\n

“UCF helped me get to where I am, and now it’s my turn to pay it forward and help mold and develop others.\u201d \u2013 Jason Gregory \u201919MFA<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI am an alum of the UCF film program<\/a> and UCF helped me get to where I am, and now it’s my turn to pay it forward and help mold and develop others,\u201d Gregory says, adding that the university is helping develop the next wave of great filmmakers through its undergraduate and graduate programs. Gregory teaches screenwriting at UCF, is the director of the Orlando Urban Film Festival and created the television pilot Waking Up White<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Others on the panel are: Marco DiGeorge, co-founder of Truthful Acting Studios, artistic director of Theater on the Edge, and a film casting director; Wilmore “Moe” Fowler, film production coordinator at Valencia College who has worked in films as a producer, assistant director and in other roles; Lenny and Tzvia LoRusso, founders of Orlando Independent Filmmakers; and Ed Love, owner of 89 Media Inc. and a TV and film producer.<\/p>\n

In addition to the student films, the 10th<\/sup> annual festival will show 81 films from 12 countries in competition. The films will be screened in eight categories (comedy, drama, animation, documentary, international, sci-fi\/horror, Florida Flavor, and E for Everyone), plus an opening-night variety of films, and the Best of the Fest competition on closing night.<\/p>\n

Several filmmakers with connections to UCF have films that were selected to be screened:<\/p>\n