PRESS RELEASE: JUNE 11, 2025

FloArts presents “Summer Film Festival”

Florida School of the Arts students Javier Pinto, Zachary Petron and Emma Begley reflect on their most current roles in the annual Summer Film Festival, featuring “Tom’s Diner” - filmed on location in Colee’s Restaurant. The Festival runs one night only - June 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Epic Theatres of St. Augustine.

Florida School of the Art’s latest storytelling experience, the annual Film Festival, continues with its fourth year of student-produced short films.

The Festival runs June 19 at 7:00 p.m. at Epic Theatres of St. Augustine. Admission is $10. Tickets can be purchased online in advance or at the theater one hour before showtime.

Audience members will vote for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place during the festival. Winners will be announced after the final screening.

With the goal of building the presence of screen performances at FloArts, festival director and acting professor Kevin Kelly explained that the process provides students with more skills, experience and confidence in front of the camera. “It’s all about encouraging young artists to explore, grow and gain experiences that they wouldn’t be able to gain otherwise,” said Kelly. “That’s why the School is here.”

FloArts students have filmed three short films that make up the main content of the festival. The films were shot using various locations. "We've had great support from the community and local businesses who have supplied us with locations in which to film. It's been very rewarding to have such enthusiastic encouragement from local supporters," Kelly said.

Special thanks to Colee’s Restaurant (Palatka) and Hanger One Bistro Airport Eatery & Bar (St. Augustine).

The films are:
Tom's Diner
A lonely customer at a small-town diner is haunted by his past and must depend on the kindness of a newly-employed waitress to cash in a long-overdue rain check. Written by Christie Glasgoe.
Cast: Terri Castelli, Lillian Johnson, Zachary Petron
Directed by Emma Begley and Kevin Kelly

Barstool Deceptions
When a journalist investigating alien sightings encounters a mysterious woman at an airport bar, he is drawn into a revelation about otherworldly beings that blurs the line between belief and reality.
Written by Pia Cook
Cast: Mariengelis Gonzale, Javier Pinto

Trick? or Treat?
A Halloween package, with no return address, brings a desperate woman an unexpected gift of freedom.
Written by Linda Hullinger
Cast: Emma Begley, Garrett Bleau

The festival also includes the “Weekend Film Challenge,” a competition inviting high school and middle school students throughout the state to submit three-minute films. The teams were assigned specific genres while incorporating the use of five similar elements.

Kelly said what he enjoys most about teaching at FloArts is helping the students become the engines of their own creativity and education. “These film projects are a great way to help them take charge and help them work as a team and to not wait around for others to tell them what to do,” Kelly said. “We're pushing our students to reach beyond what they think they are capable of and to think of themselves as better all-around storytellers. We’re looking forward to seeing what everybody puts together and to the community coming out and seeing their efforts.”

Florida School of the Arts is located on the Palatka campus of St. Johns River State College.

FloArts is part of the academic and administrative structure of SJR State and awards associate degrees in acting, dance performance, musical theater, stage management, theater technology, graphic design/new media and studio art. For more information, call (386) 312-4300 or visit https://www.sjrstate.edu/floarts.