News
Composer John D. Gottsch earns Emmy Award
Composer John Gottsch won an Emmy for his symphonic poem at the Suncoast Emmy’s 48th annual awards dinner at the Orlando Hyatt. Gottsch’s work formed the score for FDE’s film, Ocklawaha: Tales My Father Told. Gottsch was joined at the awards dinner by Writer/Producer, Steve Robitaille, and cinematographer, Mark Emery. Robitaille, Emery and editor, Dan Bramm, were all Emmy nominees. The film was the closing night screening on March 17th at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival and will screen at the St. Augustine Film Festival on January 9th, 2025 at 10 am in the Lewis Auditorium on the Flagler College campus.
Film shows at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival
Florida Defenders of the Environment’s Emmy-nominated film headlined the closing day of the 2024 Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival. The event was co-sponsored by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, with Seminole flute player Gordon Wareham opening the program with a brief concert of tribal songs. The reception that followed was sponsored by the South Florida Symphony. After the screening, Writer/Producer Steve Robitaille took the stage alongside composer John Gottsch, cinematographer Mark Emery, editor Dan Bramm, and South Florida Symphony Orchestra conductor Maestra Sabrina Alfonso. Robitaille discussed FDE’s mission to restore the Ocklawaha River and its legacy, while the creative team engaged with audience questions.
Film Earns 4 Emmy Nominations
The film has been nominated for four Suncoast Emmy Awards. Nominated were Steve Robitaille for Writing, John Gottsch for Musical Composition/Arrangement, Dan Bramm, Editing, and Mark Emery, “Photography.
The Emmy Awards dinner will be held at the Orlando Hyatt Regency on December 7th, 2024.
P.K. Yonge students meet the creators of the film
On Wednesday, February 21st, students from the P.K. Yonge Laboratory School joined the creators of the film “Ocklawaha: Tales My Father Told” at the WUFT PBS studio for the filming of the “Making of” segment. The objective was to facilitate interaction between the children and key contributors to the project, including producer/writer Steve Robitaille, composer John Gottsch, symphony conductor Sebrina Alfonso, double bassist Jaqueline Pickett, cinematographer Mark Emery, and historian consultant Lars Anderson.
Peter Coyote to narrate the film
Peter Coyote, noted American actor, director, author and Zen, Buddhist priest, has joined the production team of FDE’s film as narrator of Ocklawaha: Tales My Father Told. Coyote is a well-recognized narrator and a mainstay of documentary filmmaker, Ken Burns. FDE is proud to welcome him to our film project. In addition to work as a narrator, Coyote has worked on films, such as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Cross Creek, Jagged Edge, Bitter Moon, Kika, Patch Adams, Erin Brockovich, A Walk to Remember and Femme Fatale. Ocklawaha: Tales My Father Told premieres on PBS WUFT on Wednesday, March 20th at 8 p.m. and at the Harn Museum on Friday, March 1st.
