Florida's Film, Television and the Arts Magazine
SALUTATIONS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
SALUTATIONS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! For this first month’s report: a celebrity death, a PensaCon update, and progress reports on 2 Pensacola film studios working out of state…
FIRST: Some sad news… “Buck Rogers: in the 25th Century” star Gil Gerard died just last month, on Tuesday, December 16th, 2025 in hospice care in northern Georgia, from an aggressive yet undisclosed form of cancer, at the age of 82. He was one of several guest stars on hand at the 6th annual PensaCon fan convention of late February 2019 at the Pensacola Bay Civic Center, along with co-star Felix Silla who played the short ambuquad robot Twiki on the show, who also passed away from pancreatic cancer at his home in Las Vegas on April 16th, 2021 at the age of 84. As Twiki would say: “*Bidybidybidy* Catch ‘ya later, Buck…” RIP. This news came on the heels of other mid-December 2025 celebrity deaths, including film director Rob Reiner, soap opera star Tony Geary, and actor, producer & Hollywood prop historian Bob Burns.
NEXT: Getting back to PensaCon, the hype for this year’s PensaCon 2026 is now kicking into high gear. The list of this year’s guest stars includes David Howard Thornton & Samantha Sciaffi (“ Terrifier”) Christopher Lambert (“Greystoke, Highlander”) Michael Ironside (“SeaQuest DSV, Starship Troopers”) Mindy Cohn (“Facts of Life”) Michelle Hurd (“Star Trek: Picard”) a cast reunion of Chance Michael-Corbitt, Billy Wirth, Jason Patric, Jamison Newlander and Alex Winter (for “The Lost Boys,” Winter also co-starred with Keanu Reeves in the "Bill & Ted" movies) Vincent Martella & David Errigo Jr. (“Phineas & Herb”) Sara Gilbert & Lecy Goranson (“The Connors”) “Star Wars” stars Femi Taylor (“Return of the Jedi”) Alistair Petri (“Andor”) Dominic Burgess, Jacob Roanhaus & Marti Matulis (“Skeleton Crew”) and LEGIONS UPON LEGIONS more!! It all comes down in late February on the 20th, 21st, and 22nd, at the Pensacola Bay Civic Center, and other select downtown venues. For complete details, tickets, lodging, transportation & more, visit their website at: www.pensacon.com.
UP NEXT: “If they can make it there, they’ll make it anywhere,” or so the classic Broadway song goes. Northwest Florida’s Calliope Film Studios crew from Pensacola, including producer/director Chris Jadallah, former “Kids in the Hall” star Kevin McDonald, comedic actors Michael Daw, Clayton Habecker, Tilden Whitfield, Eric Mitro, Sierra Hobbs & more, are all up north in the Big Apple, New York City, New York, to compete in the 2026 New York City TV Film Festival Grand Jury, with their 2 entries: the comedy feature “Kitty-Get-a-Job: the Movie” and the drama short “Hope Above Fear.” The first is a feature-length compilation of original young adult audience sketch-comedy shorts, shot in Pensacola over the last couple of years. The second is a 6-minute dramatic documentary short produced as a PSA to public schools, promoting awareness of Fentanyl drug overdoses and substance abuse, with video credit to Calliope Films of Pensacola. The event is scheduled for January 19th through the 23rd (the one for these films is specifically on the 21st) at the SVA Theatre in mid-town Manhattan. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=calliope%20films.
AND FINALLY: Shooting is expected to begin this month in Bay Minette, Alabama, on Pensacola filmmaker Elrico Moty Tunstall’s latest project: the horror feature film “The House Up There.” It tells the tale of a frustrated family struggling to avoid divorce, who find themselves stranded and forced to spend the night in a strange house—which turns out to be haunted. Auditions were held on November 1st, 2025 in the uptown Pensacola Industrial Park, at 9160 Roe Street. (I flubbed my tryout, probably didn’t pass; hope I can still do ghost voices…) For more information on this and other ManagerOftheYear studio projects, visit: www.manageroftheyear.net. (Extra note: it seems Mr. Tunstall has also won the award for “Film Producer of the Year,” by popular vote on Pensacola’s 2025 FAVIES Awards, from Faces of Pensacola. Congrats!)
Okay, that’s it for January; a good start for the New Year of 2026.
Until February, later, gators!
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Sincerely yours, KENNETH L. MANNING
Your Pensacola Connection
49 Murphy Lane, Pensacola, FL 32505
Phone: 1-850-287-2581
Email: [email protected]
