Sunscreen Film Festival

The Sunscreen Film Festival, founded in 2005, began at the Studio@620 in St. Petersburg, screening 35 films to over 600 attendees in its inaugural two-day event. By 2007, it moved to the Vinoy Renaissance Resort and expanded further in 2009, hosting films and celebrities like John Travolta, Kelly Preston, and Patrick Wilson at a 20-screen theater. It gained national attention, being named one of MovieMaker magazine’s “25 Coolest Film Fests” and winning Tampa Bay’s Best Film Festival award in 2012. In 2013, it expanded to Los Angeles, and that same year, it received a prestigious grant from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Now drawing over 7,000 attendees annually, Sunscreen is organized by the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society, aiming to promote filmmaking and boost the local economy through this internationally recognized event.