Letter: No minority producers in St Augustine?

Letter: No minority producers in St Augustine?

Derek Boyd Hankerson
Freebooters Productions
St Augustine, FL

Dear Editor:

I read your series of articles on the mishandling of the “Journey: 450 Years of the African-American Experience”. I would like to applaud your honesty and willingness to report yet another missed opportunity for the city to be more inclusive of local members of the black community.

Especially during the year we celebrated advances in other parts of the country, you would have thought that either Charlie Seraphin or Dana Ste. Claire would have reached out to one of several local video companies for a quote, rather than call California or Jacksonville before giving the contract to one of their “insider” friends.

In 2014 we were told that the 450th Commemoration events would include an authentic, historically accurate portrayal of St Augustine’s role in the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act. Instead you see what we got.

Two years earlier, in 2012, our minority-owned, local company co-produced “Florida’s Underground Railroad: Southern Route to Freedom” for the Florida Channel. We hosted and sponsored the National Park Service Underground Railroad Conference in St Augustine that same year. This film project was financed by the State of Florida.

It’s my understanding that “Florida’s Underground Railroad: Southern Route to Freedom” aired again across the state on PBS the other night. Three-years later and our Florida Crossroads production is still running. And, there are no arguments about who owns the video distribution and syndication rights. Sorry you can’t say that about “Journey: 450 Years of the African-American Experience”.

I found it comical that Seraphin and Ste. Claire assumed that there were “no minority producers” in town. You were brave enough to point that out, and I thank you.

Florida’s Underground Railroad: Southern Route to Freedom