One of the best things about Miami's Borscht Film Festival is that so many of the people involved in it are committed to working in South Florida. And it looks like that loyalty is infectious and spreading even to those who left the city for bigger opportunities.
Take Josie Loren, star of ABC Family's Make It or Break It. Loren, who grew up in Westchester, studied acting at New World School of the Arts, and has been all over television and movies in the past couple of years while working out of Los Angeles. But this year, she's back home starring in With You, one of the films set to premiere at Borscht 7 next month.
With You teams Loren with director Fro Rojas, another of our 100
Creatives (isn't everybody at Borscht?) and Miami writer Kayla De La
Cerda. The story line revolves around Loren's character, who created
imaginary creatures for friends when she was young, but as she gets
older, her friends disappear and her life becomes dull -- kinda like what happens in real life! Loren plays the older version of the girl.
She's still only 23 (tomorrow is her birthday), but Loren boasts a crowded IMDb page. As well as
starring in Make It or Break It as Kaylie Cruz, she starred opposite Mr.
High School Musical himself, Zac Efron, and Matthew Perry -- Chandler from Friends -- in the movie 17
Again. Add to that roles in NCIS, Castle, Medium, and a host of other shows and films, and Miami's new
favorite daughter is representing the 305 in style on the West Coast.
This year's Borscht will also see the return of talented South
Floridians such as director Barry Jenkins
from Liberty City and writer Marco Ramirez from Hialeah. The festival will take place April 23 at the Knight Concert Hall inside the Arsht Center. The lineup of films is quite tasty, with Uncle Luke, zombies, and more.
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