The first time I met Elam Stolzfus of Live Oak Production Group (based in Blountstown) is where I’ve met other people who’ve changed my life: Clyde Butcher’s annual Labor Day Weekend Muck-A-Bout in the Big Cypress Swamp. Elam and his friend Sammy Tedder were there to help promote a film that he, Clyde, and Richard Bickel collaborated on; Sammy scored and performed the original music. The film, Apalachicola River: An American Treasure, was a truly remarkable and detailed look at this grand river of the Florida Panhandle.

Elam was working on another project, too, and we watched as he climbed up a tall ladder in the middle of the swamp to get a birds-eye view of us swamp walkers out on our treks. That project has culminated in a new documentary that many of you are sure to enjoy.  The Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades. Here’s a sneak peek before the premiere.