Local producer helps celebrate 'Land Ho!' opening in Winter Park

When “Land Ho!” opened at the Regal Cinema Winter Park theater, viewers may not have realized they were watching the film with one of its producers, Christina Jennings, who grew up right here in Central Florida.

Jennings is in town to celebrate the premier of her new film in the Central Florida market and will be joining her family and friends at the theater for its release.

She graduated from Lake Highland Prep before moving to Austin, Texas to study film at the University of Texas.

As a teenager her favorite haunt was the Enzian Theater where she gravitated toward indie film festivals.

“I wasn’t like other kids my age in my film tastes; everyone else wanted to watch rom-coms and I had other things in mind,” she said.

After film school Jennings said she felt fortunate to connect with “Land Ho!” co-director and co-writer Martha Stephens whose work she had admired while reviewing films for Austin’s annual SXSW Festival.

Stephens co-wrote and co-directed the film with Aaron Katz.

When it came time to produce “Land Ho!,” Jennings and Stephens were already an established team, having worked together on previous projects.

For the film shoot on location in Iceland, Jennings worked with producers Sara Murphy and Mynette Louie to form a surprising (by Hollywood standards) all female team.

“It’s pretty special,” Jennings said. “I liked working with the other ladies, we made a very good team.”

“Land Ho!” is a buddy-comedy in the vein of “The Odd Couple” or “The Bucket List”.

Former brothers-in-law, the unlikely duo Mitch and Colin embark upon an epic vacation spanning the wild and restless terrain of Iceland in search of adventure to counteract the relentless approach of old age.

Produced in record time (almost exactly a year from inception to premier) and on a modest budget, the film opened to acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival in January of 2014 and was promptly purchased by Sony Pictures Classics.

Sony has since shown the film at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City and at the Los Angeles Film Festival prior to its roll out across the country. It made its official Central Florida premier Friday, Aug. 29 at the Winter Park Regal Cinema.

According to Jennings, the comedy following two old dudes’ epic adventures is filled with just the right mix of inappropriate humor and visually stunning settings.

Filming in Iceland was both thrilling and a constant challenge, Jennings said

“Conditions were rough at times – rainy, snowy and windy, but there is something magical about Iceland,” she said.

So magical in fact, Jennings has already made plans to move to Iceland to live and work following the film tour’s conclusion this fall.

“I felt deeply connected to the land, the culture and the people,” she said. “From the minute we arrived, I felt instantaneously taken with Iceland.”

Jennings plans to continue her partnership with Stephens in the future while working in the growing film industry in Iceland and will travel back and forth to produce films.

The 31-year-old producer had this advice for other ladies looking to find their place in the film industry.

“Women are extremely capable filmmakers, producers, anything they want, maybe even more so than men,” she said.

“You just have to get out there and do it, even if you have to start small and grow on your own. It can be a tough industry, but the effort is well worth it.”

“The more women get out there and try it, the better it is for everyone.”