With the film industry growing so quickly, more productions have been taking place within the Lakeland community. Last month, Pamela Rodriguez, a recent graduate from Florida Southern College, had the chance to experience the film creation process firsthand. After writing a screenplay, ¡Come! for her film class, Rodriguez was approached by her professor, Matt Herbertz, about bringing it to life. 

¡Come! film location at North Lakeland Elementary School. June 28, 2019. FSC/Calvin Knight

The new film program is just one of few within Florida and will be a rigorous program that embodies Florida Southern’s mission for engaged learning. “I think ¡Come! will be a perfect example of what prospective FSC film students have to look forward to. To have a class project turn into something so real is astounding to me,” says Rodriguez. Through this program, students will have the ability to meet industry professionals, collaborate with local production companies, and create meaningful work.

The production of ¡Come! is just the beginning of the type of work Lakeland is going to see from the new film program at Florida Southern. “I think that the production of ¡Come! was a really important spark for the new major. A student wrote the script in class, and it was a story that had to get made,” Herbertz says. The film was created in collaboration with Indie Atlantic, NFocus, and many of the crew members were made up of other alumni and current students. 

¡Come! is currently in post-production and will be looking at hitting the film-festival circuit later this fall.

¡Come! film location at North Lakeland Elementary School. June 28, 2019. FSC/Calvin Knight