Local filmmakers celebrate after Sarasota Film Festival selects 'Moods of the Miakka'

MANATEE -- Three local men were celebrating Wednesday after the Sarasota Film Festival announced that their film short about the wild glories of the Myakka River had been selected for showing at the celebration.

Leslie Gaines, 59, of Manatee County, co-director and producer of the film, "Expedition Florida: Moods of the Miakka," said he was pleased to be included in the film festival selections.

"It's never routine to be recognized for your work, you always feel good," said Gaines, a former Bradenton Herald photographer.

"The advantage is it brings recognition to our work; it feels really good because it's in our hometown, and that doesn't happen very often," he added.

The tea-colored, 66-mile river originates in the Manatee County marshes near Myakka Head, flowing south through Sarasota and Charlotte counties to discharge into Charlotte Harbor and on into the Gulf of Mexico.

About 34 miles of it in Sarasota County has been designated a "wild and scenic" river.

Gaines, a producer for PBS and National Geographic, teamed up with Jeff Palmer, co-director and director of photography, and Jono Miller, executive producer.

"Hopefully it will bring positive attention to the film and to the Myakka Watershed, and to the people of Sarasota," said Gaines, referring to a showing of the 14-minute short during the festival, which is slated for April 10-19.

Film festival recognition "helps us be recognized as being the quality filmmakers we worked hard to be," he said.

The exposure could also help with fundraising for a longer version of the film, which is already planned and would provide the Myakka River with a national audience, he said.

"A lot of people come down here, and they don't realize how much wildlife we have nearby, and it's so close," said Gaines. "It's a fortunate thing."

Sara Kennedy, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7031. Follow her on Twitter@sarawrites.

This story was originally published March 26, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Local filmmakers celebrate after Sarasota Film Festival selects 'Moods of the Miakka' ."