A Tampa filmmaker is turning the historic novel "A Land Remembered," which chronicles early life in Florida, into a television series.
"A Land Remembered" was written by Patrick Smith in 1984 and follows the MacIvey family as they deal with hurricanes, mosquitoes and starvation.
It also highlights cattle ranchers and Florida's agricultural beginnings.
After several failed attempts by other producers to adapt the novel, Todd Wiseman Jr. will finally bring the story to the small screen.
The multi-season series received a $500,000 grant from the state this year.
Visit Tampa Bay matched that contribution, Wiseman Jr. said, and he's hoping independent and corporate donors will help fund the project.
The final budget, estimated to be around $25 million for the first season, will be determined later and depends on the actors cast to play the novel's characters.
Wiseman Jr. wouldn't reveal which actors his team is talking to, but hinted they're household names.
WUSF's Lily Belcher talked with Wiseman Jr. about the book, his goals for the series, and more about how the project is being funded.
This interview below was lightly edited for clarity.
Todd Wiseman Jr.: [A Land Remembered] is a 100-year, three-generation epic. Anyone who's read that book is impacted by it. It's this incredible story that not only contextualizes modern-day Florida, I think, and the history, but it also is just a deeply moving family story.
What are some of the challenges of taking this beloved novel and adapting it into a TV series?
TW: So Hollywood refused to let me make this in Florida, which sounds absurd. It's a Florida story. I would consider it blasphemous for this show to be shot in Georgia. There's no tax incentive statewide in Florida.
If I were to shoot it in Georgia, I would get back 40% of my budget from the state, but I think we've been supported really well by the community and even the state of Florida.
The state earmarked $500,000 towards the series, and as part of that spending, we are going to be creating some educational content for the state. It shines a light on the agricultural roots of our state.
Tell me a little bit more about how you're ensuring that you're getting history right.
TW: We can take our best guess. We can take the information that we have. Basically, there are very detailed records of Florida and the New World dating back to the European explorers, and while some of the accounts may differ, I think the essence of what they found and the history of Florida is is pretty well documented.
How much is the entire series going to cost you to make?
TW: The entire series will be north of $50 million. Season one will be made for a minimum of $25 million.
Season one fundraising is about to begin, and we feel pretty confident that it is going to come together very, very quickly.
We plan to be shooting early next year, and the headquarters of this production will be based out of Tampa.
There's a world where that season comes out as early as late next year.
Why pick Tampa as your main location?
TW: I see a huge opportunity for not only Florida, but for Tampa to sort of be the epicenter of a new film and television movement that can happen here in Florida.
You know, they say, "If you build it, they will come."
Tell me about how those early conversations with Hollywood went.
TW: It was just a non-starter, right?
So "A Land Remembered" is an independent TV show more akin to "The Chosen" than, let's say, I don't know, fill in your favorite TV show shot in the United States.
The overhead built into these Hollywood studios and the waste and the churn and the just... It's so slow-moving moving and innovation is so hard to break through.
I find that here, in what I'll call the Free State of Filmmaking, we have an opportunity to do things a little bit differently, and if we pull it off, the world's gonna pay attention.
And I think that the nature of this book and the story of Tobias, it's a pioneer story. I don't think Tobias would want anyone calling him and telling him exactly how to do his thing. And I think in a way, this show will take the same path.
Is there a particular scene or a chapter or part of the story that you're looking forward to telling the most?
TW: So we're going to do some historical bookends on season one. So I think we're going to start the story with Ponce de Leon's arrival here in Florida, and show where that first herd of Andalusian cattle broke loose and proliferated throughout the state and created this sort of cracker cow diaspora, for lack of a better word.
I think we're going to be able to show a side of Florida that I don't think many people outside of Florida, many people in Florida, they don't know that this exists.
There are cowboys and herds, and the rest of the country — the rest of the world — they see beaches, they see politics. They see sort of the outer crust of what Florida has to offer. And it's really rich on the interior as well. And the history is really important.
