+ Sarasota filmmaker gets a ‘raw deal’
Life continues to get peachier for Sarasota filmmaker Jenna Norwood.

Since the release of her first documentary, “Supercharge Me,” Norwood, a raw foodie and former public relations consultant, has been reveling in critical acclaim and film festival awards.

The film, which screened three years ago at the Sarasota Film Festival and won “Best Documentary” at the 2006 Tofino Film Festival in British Columbia, Canada, is still being picked up by film festivals across the country.

Pegged as a “rawcumentary,” “Supercharge Me” screened last weekend at New Mexico’s Albuquerque Film Festival, where Norwood, who serves as chairwoman of the Healthy Start Coalition of Sarasota, was also asked to give a lecture on raw diets.

Norwood’s 30-day uncooked food odyssey was chronicled guinea pig-style à la documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 junk-food binge, “Super Size Me.” Except, instead of shoving her face with McDonald’s hamburgers and French fries, Norwood gorges herself on raw fruits and veggies.

The impetus behind Norwood’s 30-day raw food detox? To achieve a body so rocking she could confidently dress up as a Las Vegas showgirl for Halloween.

Mission accomplished.

+ Yearlong sculpture contest takes shape
There’s nothing like a little healthy competition to help blow the dust off the city of Sarasota’s public-art collection.

A dozen artists were recently selected to display their work in downtown Sarasota as part of a yearlong city-sponsored contest dubbed “Intersections.”

Contestants include Robin Morgan, Valeria Yamamoto, Beth Nybeck, James Evans, Claudia Jane Klein, Dennis Kowal, Ofra Friedmen, Zoran Mojsilov, Bruce White, Mark Chew, David Gonya and Tekla.

Next month artists will begin installing their pieces in high-traffic shopping and dining hubs located in the downtown core. One winning sculpture will be selected by the City Commission (with input from the Public Art Committee and the community) in November 2011 and purchased for $20,000.

To view the 12 entries, visit www.sarasotagov.com.

+ Calling all Sarasota screenwriters …
Think TV rots your brain? Well, now’s the time to change that.

The Sarasota County Film and Entertainment Office has just announced a new contest for writers with creative content ideas for new television programming.

Dubbed “TV ME!,” the competition is open to U.S. citizens (ages 18 and older) and encompasses all genres of television. The grand-prize winner will receive a trip to Los Angeles to pitch his or her program in person to a group of industry execs. Category winners will receive cash and gifts from sponsors, in addition to exposure.

Writers who reference Florida in their scripts may receive brownie points for increasing the likelihood of an in-state production. For more information, visit www.filmsarasota.com.

+ VT’s ‘Evil Dead’ is a bloody fun time
The Venice Theatre surprised audiences earlier this summer when it announced that its first cabaret show of the 2010-2011 season would be “Evil Dead: The Musical.”

You know “Evil Dead” –– the gory 1980s horror flick about five college students who head off into the woods for a weekend camping trip and inadvertently unleash an evil spell that turns them all into zombies. Directed by Sam Raimi (“Spiderman”), the film is regarded as a cult classic among B-horror movie lovers.

The story was resurrected several years ago in the form of a campy musical, drawing comparisons to “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The musical, which opened Aug. 13 on VT’s Pinkerton stage, has been such a scary success the theater extended it through Sunday, Sept. 5.

Audiences are dying to be seated in the “splatter zone,” where they risk being hit with stage blood (i.e.: a mix of chocolate and strawberry syrups). Get your tickets and see why zombies are the new vampires before the production ships off to Davie.

+ Hot tickets
“Art After Dark”: Overload your senses Sunday, Sept. 26 at “Art After Dark,” a collaborative fundraiser brought to you by ArtCenter Manatee and the Manatee Players. The event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. with an hour-and-a-half of cocktails and hors d’oeuvres at the Manatee Players Performing Arts Center while artists S. Rush Dean, Jamie Friedli, Julie Hanson, Cecy Richardson and Carolyn Ritter create five original paintings. The evening comes to a close with a presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s Pulitzer-Prize winning play, “Sunday in the Park with George,” starring Steve and Dianne Dawson. Tickets are $40. For more information, call 748-5875 or visit

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