“Welcome to Pine Lake” is a scathing indictment of the privilege of obliviousness when it comes to class and race.
— Atlanta Journal Constitution
About the Film
“We’re running a country club on a shoestring budget”
To the residents of Pine Lake, Georgia, population 747, their city is an inclusive oasis where nature is revered, artists are celebrated, volunteerism runs high and women lead across government. But in this predominately white community in the Deep South, comfort comes at a cost and those who live outside the city pay the price.
Director’s Statement
“In 2018 I was inspired by the number of women who were running for public office. Like many women, I dared to wonder what would a world run by women look like? After researching counties and cities, I found what I believe to be the only city in the U.S. governed entirely by women, the City of Pine Lake, Georgia. With permission from the city’s leadership, and my own enthusiasm to document female empowerment, I set out to make a film about this unique city and its leadership. As the months passed though, I found that in this forward-thinking city, the past has a tight grip on the present.”
—Elisa Gambino
Where to Watch
News
The Team
Elisa Gambino
DIRECTOR
Welcome to Pine Lake is Elisa Gambino’s directorial debut.
Elisa brings to bear an extraordinary journalistic foundation to her film productions. Based first in Rome and then Moscow, Elisa spent her early career chronicling world events. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Gulf War in 1990 and from the collapse of the Soviet Union, to the wars in the former Yugoslavia and Somalia, Elisa was there. Her work in Somalia was recognized with a News and Documentary Emmy Award. She interviewed Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat, refugees in Bosnia, war criminals in Serbia and South Africans celebrating their first free vote.
Elisa believes in the power of short films and has executive produced award-winning shorts on issues related to human rights, global public health and the arts.
Recent Filmography as an Executive Producer: Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi, A Love Song for Latasha, Quilt Fever, Outspoken, Shadow Life
Neal Broffman
CINEMATOGRAPHER // EDITOR
Neal has spent his career documenting stories around the world. His decade with CNN International based in London, Rome and Moscow took him to Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East where he covered wars, elections, famines and upheaval in more than fifty countries. Working with One Production Place since its founding in 2001, Neal’s work as a director has received numerous domestic and international awards. His 2015 feature documentary Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi has been screened in film festivals around the world and had its international premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto. The film won numerous festival awards and was broadcast on Al Jazeera, the CBC in Canada, Canal Plus in France and in other countries around the world.
Patrick Kirst
COMPOSER
Most recently Patrick Kirst finished the sequel to the 2018 summer hit The Kissing Booth and in 2020, The Kissing Booth 2, both for Netflix, two of the most streamed movies of all time.
Born and raised in Germany, Patrick first fell in love with the fascinating art of film music growing up with 80s film classics such as E.T., Back to the Future, and The Never Ending Story primarily written for full orchestra and created with the newest synthesizer technologies of the day, left a lasting impression on him. Creating the musical landscape for great stories has since become his greatest passion.
He moved to the U.S. in 2000 where he studied jazz at the world-renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, contemporary classical music at New York University, and film music at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. In the epicenter of the film universe, he soon was discovered and hired to write music for Disney's first nature documentary, Earth, based on the BBC's highly successful Planet Earth TV series. This led to many films, documentaries, independent feature films and animations.
Patrick shares classic techniques and new innovations through both his work as a respected composer and as a professor at the University of Southern California.
Wendy Eley Jackson
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
As the Founder & Executive Producer of Auburn Avenue Films, Wendy works to create diverse and positive films. A native of Atlanta, she brings 25 plus years of television broadcasting and film experience to navigate the intersection of creative minds with film, television, and multimedia content creation.
Wendy’s experience spans from SONY Pictures Television to advertising and marketing with Turner Broadcasting. Wendy received the prestigious Producers Guild Mark (p.g.a) for her work on the critically acclaimed, MAYNARD, directed by 2x Academy Award Nominee and six Primetime Emmy Winner, Sam Pollard.
Wendy is a faculty member in Film and Media Studies at the University of California Santa Barbara where she teaches Screenwriting & Crew Production.
Additional Production Team Members:
Co-Producer: Aubrey Aden-Buie // Co-Producer: Layla Bozek // Audio Post-Production: Woody Woodhall, CAS // Still Photography: Danielle S. Ross // Graphic Design: Yellobee Studio // Motion Graphics: Carlton Eden // Key Art: Ithan Payne // Funding provided by the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation
Organizations We Love:
Produced by: One Production Place // We support womxn filmmakers via Studio IX
