Sarasota Filmmakers Address OxyContin Epidemic

Sarasota, FL – Short film No Real Than You Are begins production this summer after a successful Kickstarter campaign.  The script follows a fictionalized history of Sarasota’s founding family and a young descendant’s downward spiral into opiate addiction.

The crew includes award-winning writer/director Vincent Dale, Los Angeles based cinematographer Sebastian Baron, production artists Tola Brennan, and Kasey Hettig-Rolfe, producer Arash Zandi of the Ringling College of Art and Design Digital Filmmaking department, and executive producers CJ Czaia and Jim Bonutto.

“I believe that the fundamental role of the storyteller is to provide the raw material for an audience to rediscover the world they occupy,” says director Vincent Dale, whose investigation of Sarasota’s history and present-day prescription drug epidemic has yielded what he considers a wealth of narrative inspiration. His intention is to take the story to a feature length film after the short film competes in the festival circuit.

A study in 2011 found that doctors in the Sunshine State pill mills were prescribing 10 times more OxyContin and Oxycodone than the other 49 states combined. (Reuters)  Through the power of storytelling, the filmmakers hope to raise consciousness surrounding the OxyContin epidemic in Florida.

Lead actress Audrey Scherer, who plays the tragically entangled Sasha Whitaker,  connects with the film’s perspective of Sarasota. “It’s so real,” says Scherer, “I know people who have lived these experiences, and what’s happening in this story needs to be brought to light.”

Production is scheduled to begin on July 1st, 2013. Learn more at correspondencefilms.com