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Tony Armer

Tony Armer is the Film Commissioner for St. Petersburg Clearwater, Florida.  He is an Award Winning Filmmaker and the Founder of the internationally acclaimed Sunscreen Film Festival.  He works with hundreds of productions each year.  Tony led the Film Commission to its best year and best 5 year period ever in the 28 year history of the organization.  He helped write, develop and Produce the two Bernie the Dolphin films specifically for the St. Petersburg Clearwater, FL area. Those films were released theatrically in 2018 and 2019 and distributed by Lionsgate in North America.

Tony wrote the screenplay for and is directing Can’t Stop the Dawn; that film will be shot in 2022.

After a successful festival run his Award Winning documentary Running with Demons was distributed worldwide in 2014.   His documentary Portrait of a Superhero became a festival darling and won numerous awards in 2018 and 2019.  

Tony led the Sunscreen Film Festival from its inception in 2005 to an annual event in St. Petersburg, FL each Spring and Los Angeles, CA each fall. Sunscreen is consistently ranked as one of the Top 100 reviewed films on Film Freeway out of over 9000 film festivals. Sunscreen was voted one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the Country” by Movie Maker Magazine, and “Best Film Festival” by Tampa Bay Magazine. It is one of only 23 fests in the country to be sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the Oscars) for 2013-2014.

Tony works closely with film distributors and sales agents attending markets like Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, AFM and more. He has deep and longstanding relationships within the film industry. He has been Producing, Directing, Writing, and creating Film, TV, corporate and digital media content since 1997.

Tony studied communications at the University of Toledo, he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Business Management from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL and an MFA in Motion Pictures and Television from Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA. He has also taught film as an adjunct professor at the Art Institute of Tampa and the University of Tampa.