The King’s Academy’s digital media arts department recently released its first full-length feature film, The Fountain of Youth. Written by department chair and director Austin Parenti and produced by students and faculty from TKA, The Fountain of Youth tells the story of a high school history teacher adventuring across Florida to discover the eternal waters and save his mother from a terminal disease, all while dodging a competitor.
This action-adventure movie is sure to delight all audience members. From the Atlantic Ocean floor to the Everglades forest system, Palm Beach to Pahokee, the film showcases the best sights that South Florida has to offer. Running 79 minutes, the movie premiered in-person on Friday, Dec. 3 at the Rosemary Square AMC Theater. The film was later released online at TKA’s YouTube channel, TKALionheart, at https://youtu.be/RRNN1eAmV6w.
King’s Studio 70 faculty and staff filmed The Fountain of Youth over 41 days last summer. Led by Parenti and colleagues Tim DeMoss and Philip King, the student crew worked eight-hour days, on locations throughout South Florida, setting up lights, operating cameras and sound, acting and dressing the set.
“There is no better way to learn than to practice,” Parenti said. “Eight hours a day for 41 days, my students journeyed across Palm Beach County, grappled with new equipment and produced top-quality scenes. I’m so proud of these world-class, dedicated and talented young men and women.”
The Fountain of Youth marks the beginning of an expansion of TKA’s digital media arts program. TKA recently announced its planned Esther B. O’Keeffe Innovation Center, scheduled to break ground in the spring and open next fall. The new building will house a state-of-the-art film studio, which will be an extension of the school’s current Studio 70 production facility.
The new film studio will include an LED virtual infinity wall, a next generation green screen. The infinity wall will span floor to ceiling and allow digital media students to create any imaginable background to produce professional quality movies, films and documentaries. The O’Keeffe Innovation Center will also house computer laboratories and innovative spaces for video editing, graphic design and videography.
“Student filmmaking and digital arts instruction at the Esther B. O’Keeffe Innovation Center will transcend the traditional classroom and provide experiential opportunities that will develop today’s students into tomorrow’s leaders, innovators and change makers,” TKA President Randy Martin said. “Our new film studio and virtual sets will create a safe haven for new ideas, providing opportunities for individual and group collaborations, while fostering a culture of innovation through the creation. I’m confident that this space will encourage curiosity, experimentation and creativity.”
