April 11 Editors Note: Article has been edited to reflect the appropriate Departments involved in the collaboration of “Sole Survivor” and “WASP: A Wartime Experiment in WoManPower”.

The Valencia College School of Arts and Entertainment’s Film, Sound Design and Audio Technology Departments continue the first production of a collaborative short film called “Sole Survivor” using Dolby Atmos 3-D sound. Valencia College East Campus has a Dolby Atmos mixing room and Dolby Atmos screening center.

Wilmore “Moe” Fowler serves as Valencia College Film Production Coordinator at East Campus. Fowler explained, “There are three in Central Florida. Altamonte Springs has the first one, Disney Springs has the second one and the third one is at Valencia College. Valencia College  is the only public institution on the East Coast that has one.” Dolby Atmos is 3-D sound meaning you can hear sound coming everywhere at any time with any speaker. Sole Survivor is the first project that combines all three of their departments, and they are all using Dolby.”

From an excerpt provided from Valencia Film Department:

Sole Survivor opens with a rich tapestry of sounds in various locations. Audience members experience this soundscape through a man referred to only as The Artist. Sole Survivor follows The Artist, experiences the world through his ears and eyes as he tries on and purchases a strange collection of footwear – cowboy boots, women’s dancing shoe with a sturdy heels and  pink stilettos – eventually following him to a recording studio where he performances the sounds of a superhero film as the production’s Foley artist.

The Film Department had a professional casting company sending out casting calls, and they also let their students know about the projects. Fowler said, “There were various resources I used to help cast the project from people and casting companies that I know to industry friends that referred me to certain actors/actresses. So it wasn’t just from one source. Valensky Sylvain, owner of Dark Elf Casting and a friend of our program, helped cast two of the characters.”

The cast and crew had a great time during the “Sole Survivor” production.

Katy Figueroa, 20, Production Coordinator, says that she has done other productions even if this her first short film. Figueroa described how shooting films and television are different. On a web series, shooting happens on a specific day, but it’s all over the place with a movie. It all depends on location, timing, weather, and lighting. In her experience on T.V., there is more of a set schedule.

Martin Alanso Piado, 27, Production Manager, said, “Moe (Fowler) has taught Katie and I a lot. For example, how critical specific things are to run on set. I love to see who will work best with each other and when a problem occurs, he loves to find a way to fix it within seconds.”

Piado provides this advice for pursuing a career in the film industry, “If you want to do it. Don’t let the perception of it being hard to get in the industry make you not get into it.”

The expected completion date is set for the end of June.

The East Campus collaborative is an Emmy award winner. A documentary called “A Wartime Experiment in WoManpower” won a Regional Emmy earlier this year for the work made by all three Departments; Film, Sound Design and Audio Technology.

Jon Anderson, Film Production Technology professor, was announced as a winner of the 2020 Suncoast Regional Emmy Award for Historical Documentary in late 2020 for a film called “WASP: A Wartime Experiment in WoManpower”. In spring 2021,  Anderson presented Raul Valery, Music Production Technology professor, with an honorary Suncoast Regional Emmy of his own for his contributions to the final project’s sound editing. W.A.S.P. which stands for “Women Airforce Service Pilots” gallantly reclaims and illuminates the incredible stories of a group of women who heroically flew military airplanes during World War II, only to be forgotten before war’s end.