Poster advertising "The Flying Ace" by filmmaker Richard E. Norman, one of three honored at the recent Film Florida Legend Awards Gala. Film and TV producer Jerry Smith and distributor Belton Clark also were honored.

Richard Norman was among the earliest Florida Film production professionals. He produced what at the time were called “race films” during the 1910s and 1920s. Race films were the first to feature African American actors playing positive, non-stereotypical roles. Norman produced a string of successful race films starring some of the top black entertainers of the day including Bill Pickett, known as America’s first black rodeo star. His only known surviving film, The Flying Ace, is said to have inspired many of the earliest black aviators including a number of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Norman’s five-building studio complex still stands in Jacksonville’s Old Arlington district and efforts are under way by the City of Jacksonville and the Norman Studios Silent Film Museum to restore and reopen the property as a museum and film learning center.

Jerry Smith, founder and CEO of PineRidge Film & Television, is an internationally recognized writer, producer, and director of lifestyle television programs, TV commercials, corporate communications and online content. Over his 35-year career, he created and directed promotional campaigns for nearly every major television ownership group in America, including Post-Newsweek, Hearst-Argyle Television, Scripps Networks, PBS, Discovery Networks, CBN, Home and Garden Network (HGTV), Fine Living, Food Network plus ABC, NBC and CBS-Owned Television Stations. PineRidge is best known over the past decade for its travel series projects including Great Hotels, Passport to Europe, Passport to Latin America, Girl Meets Hawaii, and Great Vacation Homes. Pine Ridge has landed six national Emmy awards and 11 nominations.

Belton Clark’s career as a prolific film distributor spans 40 years. He founded Clark Film Co. after he and his brother Harry acquired the rights to Allied Artists Films during the late 1960s and the company remains strong today. Clark has handled releases including Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, Kill Bill, Good Will Hunting, The English Patient, Sling Blade, Bridget Jones Diary, My Left Foot, Stanley and more. Up next: the release of this summer’s Piranha 3D.

Digital Video Arts congratulates all the winners of the Film Florida Legends Awards.

The group debuts Monday, Feb. 15 with a screening of the four top winners of the 2010 Doorpost Film Project, an annual short film competition. The event takes place at the Five Points Theatre, 1022 Park Street in the Five Points neighborhood of Jacksonville’s Riverside district. Admission is free, but get there early to make sure you’ve got a seat.

The films showing are:

•    The Butterfly Circus, a touching, Great Depression-era story of a circus showman leading his troupe through the America’s devastated landscape, inspiring and being inspired along the way by a cast of characters including a quadriplegic whom they befriend at a carnival sideshow;
•    La Premiere, the story of the Lumiere Brothers, Auguste and Louis, credited with taking motion pictures from the tiny Kinetiscope to the big screen – the invention of the cinema as we know it today;
•    The Rift, a metaphorical tale about a man who wakes up in a dark, despair-ridden place that he fears is Hell and learns a lesson in how one act of love can change the course of a person’s life;
•    Guest Room, a character-driven drama about a man who finds another beaten and passed out at a remote highway rest stop and decides to help, launching a friendship and a journey that proves the people who have the greatest impact on our lives can be the ones we least expect to matter at all.

Cinemania plans monthly film events including film-related workshops and stage screenplay readings, discount screenings of feature films, independent films and films by Florida film production companies Jacksonville video production professionals.

If you’re inspired to launch your own filmmaking career, Digital Video Arts can help. Our Jacksonville video production company is state-of-the-art and our team are industry veterans with unmatched creative energy. Let us help produce your first or next film and give you the professional edge you’ll need to compete and succeed.

Past winners and honorees include underwater film and television veteran Ricou Browning, Sr., who played the underwater role of the Gill-Man in Creature from the Black Lagoon; The late Egon Stephan, Sr., an Emmy-winning Florida cinematographer who built the Southeast’s largest film production equipment rental house and founded the Florida Advisory Council, from which the Florida Film Bureau was borne; and Director, writer and producer Bill Grefe.

“The ideal Legend is someone who has worked tirelessly, who has invested in the Florida infrastructure, who has taught and shared their skills with others, who has worked behind the scenes and may not always be recognized for their achievements,” says Richard Seres, Legend Awards founder and committee chair.

Know any Florida film production professionals who fit the bill? Nominate your choice by email his or her name, contact information, bio and a few supporting statements to legends@filmflorida.org by February 15. And plan to attend the Annual Legends Awards right here in Jacksonville, hosted in conjunction with the Jacksonville Film Festival in June.

While you’re in town, drop by Digital Video Arts to check out our beautiful facility including a 24-seat widescreen theatre, production studio and bistro-style café and bar. All are available for rental for your next film production or video production project.

Film Florida is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to promoting Florida film production and Florida video production, including luring Hollywood producers to bring their projects to the Sunshine State. The organization represents a coalition of industry interest including private industry, local film commissions, industry associations and labor organizations.

“Nowhere else does the architecture of an entire community become a canvas for digital art,” Florida Governor Charlie Crist said in a media release announcing Digital Graffiti’s call for entries. “Digital Graffiti embodies the innovation and originality that Florida prides itself on supporting.”

Crist is a big supporter of Florida film and video and has supported much of the Jacksonville film and video industry’s initiatives.

Of course, all the young “starving artist” filmmakers want to know: What’s the prize? In 2009, Digital Graffiti awarded more than $6,000 in cash prizes, including a $2,000 “Best of Show” prize. For 2010, the haul is even bigger. Digital Graffiti will award $10,000 to various category winners with the “Best of Show” winner taking home $5,000. There is no entry fee and artists retain full copyright ownership of their works, though Digital Graffiti , Alys Beach and sponsoring partners do gets unrestricted right to use submissions for promotional purposes. It’s a nice deal for any winning Florida video production pro.

Entry deadline is March 15. Visit www.digitalgraffiti.com for all the info. And of course, if you need help getting your Jacksonville film or video project ready to compete, call Digital Video Arts at 904-281-1001 or 888-340-1010.

Here at Digital Video Arts, we know the allure of the documentary – the most effective medium to tell a story in a visually and audibly moving way. Our expert Florida video production team has produced or co-produced numerous documentaries on subjects ranging from the Suwannee River Music Festival to the life and times of legendary pro golfer Bobby Jones to the true stories of men who fought in the Viet Nam War.

Need help getting your documentary produced, finished or packaged in time to submit to DocMiami? Digital Video Arts is a top-rated Florida video production company and Florida recording studio boasting an expert team of film, video and music recording professionals with decades of experience. We can take your film or video production project from concept to completion or assist with your ala carte video production needs including music recording and DVD packaging.

Visit www.docmiami.org for all the info on the 2010 festival. Then, call Digital Video Arts to help you get your project ready to compete.

Enjoy a few images from the evening festivities.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MIKE GRAF