South Florida PBS seeks film entries as it launches Third Season of film-maker

South Florida PBS (WPBT & WXEL) is looking for local films that showcase the South Florida region for the new season of film-maker. The Call for Entries will open on February 1^st and run through February 29^th. Season three will be broadcast on WPBT and WXEL beginning in June 2020.

The goal of film-maker is to give local storytellers distribution opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise have. Launched in January of 2018, film-maker has served as a platform for emerging local filmmakers to showcase their work while also receiving professional development opportunities and mentorship from South Florida PBS. From documentaries to narrative films, film-makers’ 66 stories from season one and two will make you cry, laugh and wonder.

“We were so pleased with the response from our first two seasons of film-maker,” stated Joyce Belloise, the Vice President of Content and Community Partnerships at South Florida PBS. “The series presented us with an opportunity to support local filmmakers by offering a major platform to the diverse voices in our region. Along the way, we discovered a community with remarkable passion and talent. Season Three of the series will continue our mission to bring outstanding local films to our South Florida PBS audience.”

After successfully acquiring a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, South Florida PBS launched its film-maker project in 2018. Over the first two seasons, several films have been nominated for Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards, and Art Vessel by Mateo Vengoechea and Six Degrees of Immigration from Jayme Gershen have won Emmys. Senior staff from South Florida PBS will continue to partner with local film organizations to help get the word out about this unique opportunity. Partners include the film commissions from Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties, as well as FilmGate, O Cinema, Oolite Arts, and others.

Not only will South Florida PBS broadcast the films to an estimated 6.3 million viewers, the station will also distribute the series online and offer it up for national distribution, offering these filmmakers access to a significant new audience.

film-maker is made possible in part by funding from Oolite Arts and The Friends of South Florida PBS.

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About South Florida PBS: SOUTH FLORIDA PBS is Florida’s largest public media company, including Public Broadcasting stations WXEL-TV, serving the Palm Beaches and WPBT2, serving Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and the Health Channel. SOUTH FLORIDA PBS connects organizations and institutions across our region and preserves South Florida's history. Leading the way in this global society, SOUTH FLORIDA PBS serves diverse communities from Key West to the Sebastian Inlet and from the Atlantic Ocean west to Lake Okeechobee. SOUTH FLORIDA PBS is committed to creating and presenting unique arts, education and cultural heritage programming, and serves as a model for telling unique local stories across a variety of digital media platforms. National productions presented to public television stations by SOUTH FLORIDA PBS include James Patterson’s Kid Stew, Battleground Everglades, Changing Seas, and Blue Chip Kids. For more information, visit https://www.southfloridapbs.org.