World Premiere

The World Premiere of The Messengers: A Podcast Documentary was held at the historic Tampa Theatre on March 22, 2017.

Many of the podcasters featured in the film traveled to Tampa for the premiere, including Lily Wong, who flew in from an expedition in Japan. Danny Peña and his family drove up from South Florida. Dave Jackson flew in from Ohio, and graciously volunteered to MC the event. Seeing the countless podcasters they’d interviewed in such disparate locations around the world come together in such a glamourous setting made the filmmakers feel as though they’d truly come full circle.

As the credits rolled, the applause, whistles and cheers were deafening. The filmmakers had a hit movie! The screening was followed by an informative and often touching Q&A with the filmmmakers. One of the most heartfelt moments came when Niel Guilarte thanked his father for supporting Niel in his 25-year quest to create a feature length film.

Behind-The-Scenes Trivia

The ICEMAN Goeth

Niel Guilarte was flying his beloved drone ICEMAN over the water in Puerto Rico. Just as his drone cleared the water, the winds picked up, and elevated ICEMAN above the tree line and into an emergency landing on top of a palm tree. Twenty feet up and on a tree leaning precariously over a freshwater river that emptied into the ocean, the chances of recovering ICEMAN seemed grim. That’s when James Van Prooyen saved the day by clambering up the palm tree and saving Niel’s drone. This was one of many close calls where the crew almost lost ICEMAN.