Film and production group Best Read Blind sets up in Bay County
By John McDonald

PANAMA CITY BEACH
Best Read Blind is ready for Bay County.

The question, however, is Bay County ready for Best Read Blind?

Led by founder Antonio "Red" Hernandez, Best Read Blind is a full-service video and film production company, hailing from New Mexico.

"The boys are really off the scale," said Julie Gordon, Bay County's representative on the Florida Film Commission. "I'm working really hard to get them based here" to help promote the area.

And they want the work.

"We get things done," said Greg Sawyer, a Best Read Blind crew member and Rutherford High School graduate.

Recently, Sawyer, Hernandez and Alexandro Paz met with Gordon at the Visit Florida road show in Panama City Beach. Gordon came away from the meeting convinced that Best Read Blind could do the job, so she sent the trio out on assignment for the commission.

In the business, that's called filming B-roll.

"The country needs to see that we've changed," said Gordon, about Bay County. "We're upper-scale now."

To promote the area, Gordon is often called upon to send B-rolls to media outlets from coast to coast. After meeting with the guys from Best Read Blind, Gordon would like to see the company re-locate from Las Cruces, N.M.

"Part of my job is not just to get filmmakers here but to procreate business," Gordon said. "A lot of their connections in the business are huge."

Founded in 2005, Best Read Blind has made its name through the world of animation and cleverly produced Internet videos.

The company is quick to acknowledge its association with Chris Kientz, the award-winning director of "Raven Tales," a popular Native American animated series.

"You have to be cutting edge in this business," said Hernandez, who discussed his trade recently over sweet tea at Reggae J's Island Grill in Pier Park.

It might come as a surprise to some to learn that Hernandez is legally blind and suffers from cornea lattice and granular type dystrophy. That handicap, however, hasn't slowed his passion to create.

In fact, he said the flip-out display on modern digital cameras makes it possible for him to see his environment more clearly. Mostly, he is able to distinguish only color and shapes.

"You can't play zone defense on Red," said Dr. Michael V. Martin, president of New Mexico State University, where Hernandez went to school. "You have to play man-to-man."

Mar tin has many stories about Red and his "gang" and his endorsement almost sounds like a warning.

"They push the boundaries and challenge convention," Martin said. "And that can be a good thing."

A simple search of YouTube turns up several Best Read Blind productions, including an on-the-street interview with former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, now serving a federal prison sentence in Louisiana.

"That 's serendipity," said Paz, who filmed Hernandez's chat with Siegelman. "We just happened to be in the right place at the right

time."

And Gordon is hoping Bay County will be the right place for Best Read Blind to open its new film studio.

"It would be a good investment for Panama City Beach," said Martin. "And it would be a good place for them with all of the growth that's going on there."

Hernande z already has a few irons in the fire. Topics ranging from sunken treasure ships to Native American arts, are on his radar.

"Red has the ability to tell stories," said Paz.

Negotiations with a few television studios, including WBIF-RTN, are under way, said Gordon to bring the New Mexico crew to Bay County. And Hernandez is hoping to strike up an agreement with Florida State University, an institution he praised for its film work.

"When came here, I was amazed at the potential," Hernandez said.