Molly Smith’s ‘Pickles’ is BIFF 2017 Best Florida Youth Film
Last night, the Bonita Springs International Film Festival announced its 2017 winners, and the award for Best Florida Youth Film went to Pickles, directed by Molly Smith. The 5-minute short followed a troubled teen by the name of Ivy, who leads her best friend on an adventure to mask her self-doubt. With the help of her friend, Aspen, she finds a solution.
“I would say it’s like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” says Molly.
It was shot in St. Augustine around the Flagler College campus.
She wrote the story in one night, but as it was filmed, the story changed.
“The director of photography, Avery Watson, really collaborated with me on every aspect of the film,” Molly told OrangeObserver.com’s Amy Quesinberry. “Pickles is really just as much hers as it is mine. She made the visual aspects even better than I imagined, and our collaboration is what made the whole thing work.”
Smith began acting at a young age but quickly found herself drawn to writing, composing and directing. At just 14, she 
wrote and directed her first short, which was selected as a semi-finalist in the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival. A musician and songwriter, she is currently writing the score for an independent film and hard at work on her next short for festival submission.
“I’m one of those kids that hates watching a PowerPoint and sitting in a chair to learn things,” Molly said in the OrangeObserver interview. So she’s attended the Florida Film Academy, where she can learn by doing. “We’ve learned how to work the equipment, write a good story and run an efficient film set, which is so important for us to 
Pickles was produced by Baiden Greenstein and Avery Watson. Keegan Connolly handled the sound. It stars Caley Brooke and Grace Lamerson.
January 30, 2017.
RELATED POSTS.
- BIFF opens with red carpet entry, ‘Our Last Tango,’ and Opening Night Party
- ‘Our Last Tango’ is spellbinding love story set against background of dance
- What the critics have said about ‘Our Last Tango’
- Meet ‘Our Last Tango’ filmmaker German Kral
- Friday’s schedule of BIFF films in the Moe Auditorium & Film Center
- Friday’s schedule of BIFF films in the Hinman Auditorium
- Saturday’s schedule of BIFF films in the Moe Auditorium & Film Center
Saturday’s schedule of BIFF films in the Hinman Auditorium- ‘The Stairs’ renders Holocaust more than abstraction for generations of viewers
- With ‘The Stairs,’ BIFF commemorates Holocaust Remembrance Day
- ‘Stairs’ writer urges everyone to leave ‘life lessons’ memoir with will
- Focus on ‘Fighting a War of My Own’ filmmaker Aaron Jackson
- FGCU sophomore Shelbie Tyndall writes ‘Fighting a War of My Own’ screenplay in just two hours
- Embrace the Serpent
- ‘The True Cost’ paints portrait of exploitation
The making of Florida short ‘The Bright Side’- ‘Happy Family’ is quirky comedy that reminds us to be careful what we wish for
- Local men’s room provides sanitary setting for dark comedy ‘Chit Chat’
- Oscar-winning ‘Stutterer’ resonates with film festival viewers
- Behind the scenes of ‘Take Possession’ with writer-director Kevin Glewa
- Film festival wraps up with Sunday night awards & filmmaker’s party
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.