Sarasota soundstage partners with WEDU PBS

Ringling College and Semkhor Networks' facility, slated to open next year, adds the television station to its growing list of collaborators.

By Nick Friedman
| 10:09 a.m. June 3, 2016

Arts + Culture

Sarasota continues to make strides toward becoming a filmmaking destination. Ringling College and Semkhor Networks' new 40,000-square-foot soundstage and post-production facility is still under construction, but already, it's drawing significant industry partnerships.

Television station WEDU PBS, Semkhor Networks and Ringling College of Art and Design have signed a letter of intent to develop a variety of future collaborations centered around the new facility, which will open its first large stage later this year and be fully operational in 2017.

The soundstage is already expected to draw commercial projects and collaborations with Hollywood actors and directors, and with this partnership, the facility will also collaborate on projects with WEDU.

“We look forward to developing this partnership with Semkhor Networks and Ringling College of Art and Design," said Susan Howarth, WEDU president and CEO in a release. "The new studios in Sarasota will provide an additional base of operations for WEDU that will enable us to expand our programming from this region.”

For the first such collaboration, WEDU plans to produce a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of 'Sugar,' a web series currently being shot locally by actor and director Dylan McDermott.