Miami Noir: The Arthur E. Teele Story

"Community Icon Plagued by Burglars"

2011-11-08T08:08:00.000-05:00

Josh and I had the priveledge of meeting Georgia Ayers while filming Miami Noir. We tried to interview her twice at 151 NW 60th St. and both times blew the power in the entire building with our equipment. It's a huge building with great potential to be a wonderful facility. Unfortunately, we were never able to connect for a full interview.

In the time spent with her, one could sense her passion and dedication. When discussing Arthur Teele, her tone changed. She spoke of him as son. We gathered that there was great mutual respect between the two; he did call her before his death.

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Published in today's Miami Herald by Frances Robles

One of the oldest Baptist churches in the city of Miami has seen better days, such as the 1980s, when a killer religious sect ran a school there and slapped a fresh coat of paint on it.

For almost 15 years, longtime civic activist Georgia J. Ayers has used the Model City building just east of Interstate 95 for an at-risk youth program, spending millions of dollars in grants to renovate it with the quixotic ambition of opening a daycare center. Several funding grants and many years later, she’s got a boarded-up dilapidated place where plants grow out of the walls and burglars bust impact-resistant windows.

Thieves have looted it 10 times since July.

Miami cops are at a loss, Ayers vows not to give up, and the daycare that never opened is a hopeless entanglement of exposed pipes, smashed windows and half-installed sprinklers and air conditioners.
The Alternative Program Inc.’s plight underscores the challenges of urban development projects, where pipe dreams often crash against inner-city realities. The break-ins are the latest in a long string of misfortunes to befall the troubled program. The burglaries are just part of the myriad challenges — mostly financial — that have prevented one woman’s vision from ever becoming reality.

Ayers, one of the city’s most respected icons, an 83-year-old spitfire showing signs of wear, ultimately proved unable to surmount an onslaught of bureaucratic obstacles. The 48,000-square-foot facility at 151 NW 60th St. has a decades-long trail of code violations, burglary reports and government grants. Eventually the money ran out, employees were cut to part-time, their health insurance was eliminated, and hopes of establishing a community center were dashed.

“Nothing good comes easy,” Ayers said, indicating where burglars stole the phone off her desk.
They also swiped soda out of her refrigerator and broke 10 windows that cost $900 each. Burglars hit her office two days in a row last month, even with a police watch order in place and a decoy patrol car parked out front. Thousands of confidential files were stolen, as were the snacks and paper towels.
Determined to put an end to the break-ins, the elderly Ayers says she’s going to start sleeping there overnight. The woman who has dedicated her life to keeping criminals out of jail vows to confront the felons herself, and perhaps surprise them with a few rounds from an AK-47.

“I am going to shoot the s--- out of them,” she said. “I put barbed wire up, they take the barbed wire and tried to take the fence. I put bars on the windows; they break the bars.”

She needs a burglar alarm and round-the-clock surveillance, but has no way to pay for it. “I used to have fundraisers all the time, but now everyone is catching hell just like me,” she said. “What’s the point of going to the river if there is no water?”

If it’s not the intruders harassing Ayers, it’s the former devotees of the Temple of Love who post fliers saying they want their building back. “There were many of us helping to fix our poor areas. Then the troops came to take from the poor,” reads a poster signed by former Yahweh sect follower Nechamaw Sarai.

Cult leader Yahweh ben Yahweh bought the First Baptist Church property in 1985 for just shy of a million dollars. Pictures show it sported a fresh coat of white paint, even while the city slammed the Yahweh sect for a litany of code violations and operating a school without a permit.
Suspected in more than a dozen murders, Yahweh was convicted of conspiracy in federal court. He died in 2007 after serving 11 years in prison.

“The building was a wreck even then,” said former owner Frank Alter, who loaned Yahweh capital for the building, only to acquire it back when the sect fell behind on the mortgage. “I would never buy it, even with your money.”

In 1998, Alter sold it to Ayers’ Alternative Program, known as TAP, for $693,000.
“She was a very aggressive woman doing a thankless task in that community,” Alter recalls. “I never really liked her much; she didn’t understand why I didn’t just hand her the property for nothing, given what she planned to do with it. She was quite a fighter.”

Ayers founded TAP 30 years ago as a non-profit agency that offered a substitute to incarceration for non-violent offenders. It offered after-school programs for at-risk kids, and once had a school named after Janet Reno, the former state attorney and U.S. attorney general.

A politically connected activist in the black community, Ayers takes credit for community policing in the city. For years, she was the one people called to turn in fugitives and quell city riots. In 2005, she was the last person former Miami commissioner Arthur Teele called before committing suicide in the Miami Herald lobby.

She’s known for walking into court rooms and interrupting judges. When one circuit judge handling her grandson’s drug bust put a stop to her courtroom tirade, she showed up the next day with protest placards, accusing the judge of being a Nazi. She answers questions with anecdotes about when her grandson was murdered for stepping on someone’s foot, or the times back in the 1960s that she called police on her own son.

In 1999, then-congresswoman Carrie Meek got Ayers a $2.2 million federal grant to turn the run-down former church into a daycare center and community auditorium. It would have playgrounds and parking lots and include adjoining parcels of land.

County records show Ayers spent half a million to buy the building and $1 million on architects and contractors. Another half million went to salaries.

The parcels were never purchased, the parking lots didn’t work out and the work needed to certify the daycare center was never completed. The county estimates that she needs another $1 million to finish the job.

“It wasn’t enough [money]! I’ll tell anyone from the city or county that,” Ayers screamed, waving her brown walking stick. “I did this! I am it! I-T it! Put an S-H in front of that, and you get when I don’t take and I don’t give!”

According to county records, construction came to a halt in 2004, when Miami city inspectors disagreed with each other about the quality of the air conditioning work, and so the AC was torn out.
Some grant money was lost to lawsuits.

The county returned the grant’s last $83,000 to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, with a simple note saying the agency’s work was “70 percent done” and the organization would seek other funding sources.

“They fixed the roof and tried to get the sprinklers installed, but it wasn’t finished,” said TAP fiscal officer Charles Briggs. “The elevator was started and not completed and the AC unit is on the roof, but not completed.”

Briggs said they agency has a severe “cash flow problem,” because the county grants it now gets to run programs are paid late.

The city of Miami paid for the roof and the new pricey windows, ultimately giving $220,000 to also cover cost overruns to renovate the daycare center that never got built. At a 2007 Miami city commission meeting, commissioner Marc Sarnoff questioned some of the funding, and asked Ayers how much she earned. She told him: $96,000 a year.

“I think there should be an audit to see what deliverables were required,” Sarnoff said last week. “We have to be somewhat protective with taxpayer dollars.”

Meanwhile, the non-profit ran $107,000 in county code enforcement fines for another property it owns.

“I thought that by now she would have a nice stable building,” Meek, the former congresswoman, said. “I tried to help her. She did all she could. She hasn’t gotten a lot of institutional support. She is a rare resource in this county and needs more support.”

Meek said Ayers should have lured more big-name philanthropists to her board of directors in an effort to acquire matching grants.

TAP came under fire earlier this year, when Ayers’ grandson, a TAP counselor, was arrested by Miami police for allegedly taking bribes from offenders who wanted to skip out on community service hours. The State Attorney’s office refused to press charges, saying Ayers’ contract with the county was so vague it was not clear what law her grandson broke, in part because it was unclear what services the organization is supposed to provide.

Former Miami Police chief Miguel Exposito accused State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle of dropping the case out of fear of taking on the politically connected Ayers.

“You think if I wasn’t a righteous person, the county would have given me this?” Ayers said, pointing out the I.D. card she wears around her neck daily, which gives her unfettered access to the jails.
On a day Ayers showed up without an appointment at the Miami Police north district station, Commander Manuel Morales joked that there are only three people for whom he drops what he’s doing: “my wife, the police chief and Ms. Ayers.”

Morales said he ordered a mandatory hourly check on her building, but says it remains the single highest crime location in his district — excluding 200-unit apartment buildings with multiple service calls.

“We’ve ID’d offenders, gotten blood from crime scenes, made arrests, gotten evidence, but in the meantime, she’s still getting hit,” he said. “It’s ironic, because she tries to give individuals who want the help, help.”

VIA Miami Herald

Photo courtesy of Miami Herald, Charles Trainor, Jr.

Six Years

2011-07-27T09:10:00.003-04:00

It has been six years since Art Teele committed suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald building. Just before the six o'clock evening news he took his life. Coincidence? Or did he time it perfectly to be the breaking news of every channel in South Florida? Did he hope to take over the media that he believed so mercilessly hounded him?

Even in death the mention of his name continues to stir support and animosity throughout Miami. For some, he is a symbol for persecution among black politicians in Miami. For others, he selfishly failed to do more for his District 5 constituents.

Regardless of your position on this man, his story remains one of Miami's wildest.

Miami auditor Victor Igwe fired as contract expires

2011-06-28T09:04:00.009-04:00

By Charles Rabin

City of Miami Auditor Victor Igwe was let go Monday after 12 years, with little explanation other than his contract had run out.

Igwe, 59, and a lightning rod of administrators over the years for uncovering the misdeeds of city workers, said four city higher-ups including Employee Relations Director Beverly Pruitt and Deputy City Manager Luis Cabrera, visited his office late Monday afternoon with a termination letter, and told him he had to leave. The letter, signed by Pruitt, said Igwe was being let go because the City Commission had taken no action since his contract ran out April 28.

It was shortly past that time when Igwe approached commissioners asking for a new contract, but was told instead Commissioner Frank Carollo would evaluate his compensation and report back to the city within 60 days. The two-month period ended Monday.

Pruitt “said she doesn’t have authority to keep paying me because the commission failed to take any action,” Igwe said.

Igwe’s final contract which he signed in 2007 – like the city clerk and the city attorney he signs four-year contracts – paid him a salary of $172,000 a year. It calls for a severance payout of six months if he’s fired, but it’s anything but automatic: The contract reads the payout can be considered, and it needs the approval of the City Commission. Igwe said he will likely seek legal counsel to determine if he’s due the payment.

Igwe has long been considered a thorn in the side of authority in Miami. He often wrote scathing audits, one over a decade ago that found the director of the Bayfront Park Trust was misusing city funds. He was jailed. Another audit found illegal payments from a city Community Redevelopment Agency, which eventually led to investigations involving former City Commissioner Arthur Teele Jr., who eventually killed himself in the lobby of The Miami Herald building.

Via Miami Herald

The Nonblack Elites Lie Again

2011-06-28T09:00:00.003-04:00

From Luther Cambell's "Luke's Gospel":

If you are an African American civic leader in Miami, you're better off keeping your mouth shut and doing as you are told. If you don't, then the secret society of elitist rich Anglos and Hispanics who run this county will try to destroy you. It's been going on since the 1970s since the late Miami Herald publisher Alvah Chapman created the Non-Group, a cabal of mostly white male CEOs who set the agenda for Miami-Dade County.

This Good Ole Boys club was so secretive that Chapman barred reporters from attending the Non-Group's monthly dinner meetings. Imagine that: The headman-in-charge of the community's only major daily newspaper censoring the fourth estate from his backroom deals.

The Non-Group doesn't "officially exist" any more, but it's clear to me that a select group of elitists, the developers and businessmen who get together for Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce luncheons and rounds of golf at the Biltmore Hotel, still control and dictate the course of county politics today.

And as long as African American politicians follow orders and don't stand up for their poor disenfranchised communities, they are left alone. But if you don't say, "yes massa," they assassinate your character. For example, they recently had Herald columnist Fred Grimm write a hit piece on me highlighting my arrest record and raunchy music career. Fuck Fred.

When Arthur Teele spoke out against this secret society stealing millions of taxpayer dollars meant to help Overtown get on its feet, they crucified him so hard that he shot himself in the head of theHerald's lobby. When his successor Michelle Spence-Jones got wise to their game, she was targeted for elimination too.

They got her indicted on two separate public corruption cases. She's already been acquitted in one trial, and rumors are swirling the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office will drop the other. Yet Spence-Jones has already been convicted in the court of public opinion.

Now that the Secret Society wanted Carlos Gimenez to be county mayor, their media partners have ignored some pretty shady aspects of his campaign. No reporter has followed up on my most recent column about Gimenez supporter and Homestead Councilman Jimmy Williams offering me a $40,000 appearance fee when the former county commissioner wanted my endorsement.

If Gimenez was a true man of integrity, he would have explained to the news media that all this talk about me orchestrating a backroom deal with Julio Robaina is bullshit. But just like his secret society masters, he has none. They should all be ashamed of themselves.

via Miami New Times

Miami Noir on iTunes

2011-02-02T23:48:00.007-05:00

We're pleased to announce that "Miami Noir" is now available to buy or rent on iTunes.

The Reid Report #2

2010-09-30T07:18:00.000-04:00

Back in May, Joy Reid reflected on the New Times, and the effect it has in the Miami media world. Here's the article reprinted below:

How the New Times took down 'Rentboy Rekers' (plus, the ghost of Art Teele)

The local alternative weekly that has become a Miami must-read, explains how it got the story of the season, taking down the Christian right’s top anti-gay “expert” with nothing more than a bad friend, email screenshots and a pink camera. And this isn’t the first time theNew Times has brought about a spectacular fall. A few years ago, a scathing expose of Miami’s charismatic, but corrupt, commissioner Art Teele, indirectly led to his taking his own life in the lobby of the Miami Herald, cost legendary Herald reporter Jim Defede his job, andturned Miami politics upside down. Ironically, that story also involved a purportedly heterosexual, married man allegedly cavorting with male prostitutes, and some observers blamed the allegations of gay sex (or more pointedly, Teele’s shame over them) for pushing him over the edge.

The takeaway: major papers break major stores, as the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Miami Herald variously have over the years. But the powerful ought to beware the aggressive niche media, who have fewer editorial constraints, and more motivation to play hardball, including with a public figure’s personal life, if it’s deemed relevant to their public one.

Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinel editorial board blasts Bill McCollum for giving Rekers 120,000 of Floridians’ hard-earned dollars.

The Reid Report

2010-07-10T16:40:00.010-04:00

Joy Reid of The Reid Report comments on the new Teele memorial on her blog, "Come on, people; a mural for Art Teele?"

File this under “Jesus, take the wheel.”

A memorial mural for Arthur Teele, the late Miami and Miami-Dade commissioner who committed suicide in 2005 in the face of corruption and sexual allegations, will be unveiled 10 a.m. Saturday at the fifth anniversary celebration of the Butterfly Garden at Northwest 54th Street and Sixth Avenue.

Miami artist Addonis Parker, who has created about 100 murals, painted the Teele mural, which was funded by the Miami Mayor’s Office of Film and Cultural Affairs and the Miami City Trust.

“I think he tried to help a lot of people,” Parker said of Teele, whom he met in 2001. “The stuff he accomplished screams louder than his mistakes.”

The “stuff he accomplished?” Where to begin …

The mural is a chessboard, with a fallen piece that depicts the fact that “the king has fallen.” Lord have mercy. And I should also mention that Miami is broke, and can’t even afford to rehab its historic once-segregated beach, Virginia Key…

Meanwhile, if you need a refresher course on Teele, the Reagan Republican who bilked Miami’s poorest neighborhoods out of untold sums of badly needed development money, and shielded himself with a phalanx of pastors and urban legends, there’s a hell of a documentary called “Miami Noir” (which you can watch here) produced about a year ago.

Arthur Teele Mural Unveiled

2010-07-09T06:54:00.000-04:00

As reposted from The Miami Herald, local artist Adonis Parker unveiled a tribute painting at the end of June in honor of Arthur Teele:

Liberty City residents plant garden in tribute to late Arthur Teele

The hum from Interstate 95 is louder than a chorus of vuvuzela horns at a soccer match. But below, amidst a sea of concrete, nightclubs and tough streets, seeds of love are being sown in a butterfly garden.

``This used to be a dump, full of old cars, tires and dead bodies,'' said Hattie Willis, director of Communities United, the nonprofit that helped revive the lot. ``We're the caretakers now, and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden is the grandparent.''

Though you can hear people place orders at the Burger King drive-thru next door, once inside the garden with its bird bath, butterflies and park benches, it's as if you put on a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

This piece of land the size of a small city block was previously owned by the Florida Department of Transportation, according to Willis, who with supporters has spent the past six years caring for the lot. She thanks the city of Miami, but adds that she couldn't wrestle through the red tape to acquire the land without the help of the late Miami Commissioner Arthur Teele.

``Arthur Teele fought to make this happen,'' said Willis. ``He took care of us.''

To honor Teele's legacy, local artist Adonis Parker unveiled a tribute mural painted along the west side of an I-95 off-ramp, in full view of those seated inside the garden. He received $1,800 in county grant money for the work.

Parker said that the chess board honors students from Toussaint L'Ouverture Elementary, 120 NE 59th St., who have a long history of chess prowess at the state and national levels.

However, one piece on the board is down: the king.

``That symbolizes that the king, Arthur Teele from District 5, has fallen,'' Parker said.

The tree symbolizes the ``circle of life,'' and the fruit, the children who represent the future. Students, and a lot of educators, are actively involved with the garden.

Lavon Williams, a teacher at Oakgrove Elementary, works alongside students as they plant trees. Dripping with sweat, he said he does it because he lives in the community and wants to give something back.

``I like to plant things,'' said Johnny Jean, 13, an eighth-grader from Horace Mann Middle who spent three hours digging holes for new plants. ``You can't learn stuff like this in a classroom.''

Williams, who is also an expert landscaper, proudly points and calls every plant in the garden by name: ``You have lantanas, porter weeds, Jamaican capers, bromeliads and more.''

Alison Austin, CEO of the Belafonte-Tacolcy Center, 6161 NW Ninth Ave., who is also co-chair of the butterfly garden, calls the project a ``labor of love.''

``Every year, we bring a different group of kids here from Tacolcy to get hands-on experience with gardening,'' said Austin, who spent countless hours studying which plants would best attract butterflies.

Austin estimates it is up to 20 degrees cooler inside the garden, with its lush and towering canopy of native palm trees and shrubs. The scent of fresh flowers and the cool shade cover makes a great escape from the hot concrete out front.

The Teele mural honors a complex leader whose 15 years in local political office included support for neighborhood parks, libraries and community centers, as well as criminal charges for corruption, fraud and money laundering.

Teele was never found guilty of a crime, though.

His only conviction -- for threatening a police officer -- was overturned on appeal after Teele's suicide in The Miami Herald's lobby in July 2005. At the time of his death, Teele, 59, was awaiting trial on other, more serious charges that he accepted shopping bags stuffed with cash for kickbacks.

On Saturday, before a crowd of Teele supporters walked across the street to hear Miami Commissioner Richard Dunn II dedicate a plaque to honor Teele, it started to rain, but only in that section where the mural was to be unveiled.

When the rain stopped, Dunn left the community with an important message.

``We all need to work together to continue the legacy of a visionary leader: Art Teele.'

From the Crespo-Gram Report

2010-07-09T00:12:00.003-04:00

Local Miami filmmaker Al Crespo recently blogged about Miami Noir. A copy of that post is here:

Miami Noir, The Arthur E. Teele Story, by then University of Miami students Joshua Miller Sam Rega, that caught many by surprise as how good it was, given over the years how bad the film program at that school has been - the small number of stand out students/student films support this judgement - is currently available free online at Snag Films.

Miller and Rega, after graduating from the U of M went on to become partners with Patrick de Bokay in getting the Knight Foundation to give them the $750,000.00 grant to fund the Miami World Cinema Center. Miller and Rega have since moved on from that effort.

Miami Noir will also be broadcast by PBS, Channel 2, on July 27th, the anniversary of Arthur Teele’s death.

Miami NewTimes - Rip Tide

2010-07-09T00:03:00.002-04:00

Here's Erik Maza's post on the upcoming WPBT broadcast:

Watch New Art Teele Documentary Miami Noir Here, Airs Soon on Local TV

Two years ago two University of Miami students filmed a documentary re-enacting the last days of former city commissioner Art Teele Jr.'s life. After making the rounds on the festival circuit, the documentary, Miami Noir, will air on Miami PBS in July, but it is now entirely online up at doc site SnagFilms.

Sam Rega and Josh Miller mixed re-enactments, news footage and interviews with former MiamiHerald reporters Jim DeFede and Oscar Corral, as well as our own Francisco Alvarado to chronicle the events that led to the charismatic commissioner's suicide in the lobby of theHerald on a balmy July afternoon half a decade ago.

As our story at the time detailed, Teele had been embroiled in a state criminal investigation of his financial dealings at the Overtown Community Redevelopment Agency.

Tip of the sombrero to Cocaine Cowboy's Billy Corben for tweeting about the free flick now being shown in its entirety here. Miami Noir will also air on local PBS July 27, the fifth anniversary of Teele's death.

The hour-long documentary has won a couple of festival prizes, including first place at the college level of 2008's Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, and it has played the San Diego Black Film Festival and the Macon Film & Video Festival in Georgia.

WPBT for Five Year Anniversary

2010-07-08T22:51:00.003-04:00

On July 27, it will be five months since Arthur E. Teele committed suicide in the lobby of the Miami Herald building. The local Miami PBS affiliate, WPBT, Channel 2 will air Miami Noir at 10PM on the 27th. We thanks everyone at WPBT for this opportunity and their continued support. Tune in as we remember one of Miami's most notorious tragedies.

Miami Noir Makes Television Premiere

2009-11-08T12:08:00.001-05:00

"Miami Noir: The Arthur E. Teele Story" will make its television premiere on Miami's PBS affiliate, WPBT Channel 2. Catch this debut Monday, November 23 at 10PM.

WPBT is Channel 2 on all Miami-Dade television providers. If you are looking for HD the channels are:
Atlantic BB: 902
AT&T Uverse: 1002
Comcast: 440
DirectTV: 2

For more information visit:
http://www.channel2.org/guide/index.html

And you can watch "Miami Noir" whenever you want at SnagFilms.com.

Thanks for your support, and we hope you'll watch on November 23 at 10pm!

SnagFilms Film Widget

2009-10-27T12:33:00.001-04:00

Miami Noir at MAGA

2009-02-22T18:21:00.004-05:00

Directors Josh Miller (left) and Sam Rega (Right) at the Macon Film and Video Festival, Feb. 21, 2009.

Directors at SDBFF

2009-02-01T23:32:00.005-05:00

Francisco Alvarado's Banana Republican

2009-02-01T23:22:00.003-05:00

Miami Noir is the topic of the Jan. 22, 2009 entry in the Banana Republican blog of Miami NewTimes columnist Francisco Alvarado:

Film Festivals Pick Up Artur Teele Jr. Doc

MAGA Schedule

2009-01-17T15:30:00.002-05:00

Miami Noir will screen at the Macon Film and Video Festival on Saturday, February 21 at 4pm at the Douglas Theatre:

355 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. BLVD.
Macon , GA 31201
478-742-2000

Ticket Information

Miami Noir Official Selection at MAGA

2009-01-11T23:00:00.003-05:00

The 2009 Macon Film & Video Festival (MAGA) announces Miami Noir as an Official Selection.

Opening Night Film at SDBFF

2009-01-07T08:52:00.004-05:00

Miami Noir will screen as one of the opening night films at the San Diego Black Film Festival.

OPENING FILMS & GALA RECEPTION

Thursday January 29, 2009 (6pm-7:30pm)

Gala Reception 6pm-7:30pm-- Napa Grill

Opening films to follow. All screening times: 7:30pm
Tickets to Opening Films & Gala Reception: $50

Click here to order your opening night tickets
www.sdbff.com

"Miami Noir" Accepted to San Diego Black Film Festival

2009-01-02T23:52:00.003-05:00

Miami Noir was accepted into the 2009 San Diego Black Film Festival! The festival runs from January 29th through February 1st.

Highlights include:
Academy Award winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr., will receive the 2009 San Diego Black Film Festival Award of Merit, Saturday January 31.

The 2009 SDBFF RETRO-MOVIE FEATURE is "Claudine" to be screened along with a cast reunion and discussion of the film. Friday January 30 (8pm,)Regal United Artists Theatre

Knight Arts Partnership Award Winners

2008-12-02T08:03:00.001-05:00

Directors Sam Rega and Joshua Miller announce their foundation of Miami World Cinema Center (MWCC):

On December 1st 2008, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation recognized MWCC as one of 31 recipients out of 1,643 original applicants for its Knight Arts Partnership grant. With $8 million distributed to arts projects in South Florida, Knight Foundation awarded MWCC with a matching grant of $750,000 over four years. This is a tremendous opportunity for MWCC to set the pace for a greater film industry in Miami.

Miami Herald Coverage

Watch the video

MWCC will operate within all aspects of filmmaking: preproduction, production, post-production, promotion and distribution. MWCC works with high schools, universities, local professionals, producers, distributors and festivals to enhance creative talent and increase independent film production. The long-term goal is for the MWCC logo to be a signature of high quality for films produced in Miami.

Founders Patrick de Bokay, Sam Rega, and Joshua Miller

Directors at FLIFF

2008-11-03T19:28:00.003-05:00

From left: Directors Joshua Miller and Sam Rega with Sanjeev Chatterjee (Director of One Water).

Miami Noir WINS at FLIFF

2008-10-15T12:12:00.006-04:00

Miami Noir won 1st place in the International Collegiate Competition in the documentary category in the 2008 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival.

Collegiate Competition winners screen on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 5pm at Cinema Paradiso theater.

Tickets:
General Admission $9 | Seniors $7 | FLIFF Members $5 | Students under 18 FREE

Cinema Paradiso theater: 503 SE 6 Street in downtown Fort Lauderdale, one block east of Broward County Courthouse on south bank of New River

Boca Raton Magazine Blog

2008-08-26T11:34:00.005-04:00

Writer Bari Lieberman blogs about the Wolfsonian screening for Boca Raton Magazine. You may have to scroll down as more blogs are added on the site.

MIAMI SCANDAL ON FILM

"Although I no longer live in Miami, a city famous for its beaches, nightlife, diversity and scandals, I can't quite get the "Magic City" out of my system just yet.

To satisfy my recent Miami craving, I drove to The Wolfsonian-FIU on South Beach this weekend to screen my friends' documentary, Miami Noir: The Arthur E. Teele Story."

Miami Noir at The Wolfsonian-FIU

2008-08-25T20:46:00.004-04:00

Miami Noir and Jorge Valdes-Iga's short, Milia, screened at The Wolfsonian on Sunday, August 24 at 3PM to a packed house and lively Q&A session. Thank you to everyone who attended the screening and to Cathy Leff, the director of the Wolfsonian, for organizing the screening.

Jim and Jade in the Morning

2008-08-22T13:00:00.004-04:00

Sam Rega, Josh Miller, and Jorge Valdes-Iga appear on CBS4-My33 Jim and Jade in the Morning to promote screenings of Miami Noir and Milia at The Wolfsonian.

FILMMAKERS FOCUS ON ART TEELE STORY

"Local filmmakers Sam Rega, Joshua Miller, and Jorge Valdes-Iga present their films Miami Noir: The Arthur E. Teele Story and Milia at the Wolfsonian-FIU on Sunday, August 24 at 3pm."

http://cbs4.com/video/?id=60765@wfor.dayport.com