Pictured: Vincent Dale on the set of his short film "Paris Love Conspiracy."

Currently moving through post-production on the feature film Monty Comes Back, producer Vincent Dale, already has a lot on his plate, but that’s not stopping him from looking forward, currently also knee-deep in the process of bringing a feature-length French-language film from Paris to shoot in Sarasota and eyeing a third project in New York City. It’s all part of the plan, he says, to transform Sarasota’s burgeoning film scene into a full-blown industry.

“My stated goal has repeatedly been that I’m going to stay here for as long as it takes to put out enough films to be identified as a Florida Film Movement,” said Dale. “I want to create Florida cinema.”

As producer for Monty, written and directed by Thomas Nudi, the challenge was to achieve big-budget quality with a shoestring budget of $15,000 and using primarily local talent. Every crew member was from the area, said Dale, and all volunteered their time and talent for free. And out of the 40-member cast, all but two were local. “It’s essentially a proof of concept of whether or not we can make a high quality product with the resources in the area,” said Dale. “And it looks amazing. We wound up with a film that looks like it has a $100k budget.” He and Nudi and the rest will be putting the finishing touches on Monty over the next couple months, aiming for completion by early January, just in time for Sarasota Film Festival submission.

But the victory counts double for Dale, who now had the confidence to call Parisian director Germain Kaeten and bring his film “Lights on a Beating Heart” to Sarasota as a producer. A road film “with elements of romance and drama” that takes place in the Florida jungles, Kaeten had long been wanting to shoot in Sarasota but Dale, as producer, was unsure about the required infrastructure. After Monty, he felt he could assure Kaeten that his film would get the proper treatment. But while obviously a big step for Dale or Kaeten, Dale hopes it will also be a step for Sarasota’s film industry.

“I’m trying to create these bridges to Sarasota because it’s a virgin territory and such a great place to make a film,” said Dale. By continually bringing in projects, Dale hopes to create the industry environment that supports the kind of specialists that film needs. Gaffers, for instance, currently cannot support themselves in Sarasota simply off their craft, said Dale, but in Miami they can, where multiple projects are always running at once. “Like Monty, this is a test run,” said Dale. “If it’s successful, I’m going to bring bigger budgets and get more of an injection into the Sarasota film economy.”

With script in-hand, a cast of established and rising French actors ready to travel and a director arriving on his shores in a few weeks time to prep and scout locations, Dale has his producer hat on snugly, raising funds to reach the required budget. Scheduled to finish shooting by Nov. 21, Dale hopes to complete Lights in time for the Sarasota Film Festival and submit it alongside Monty.

Pictured: Vincent Dale on the set of his short film "Paris Love Conspiracy."