Sunscreen Film Festival Gets Mid-term Boost from Master Impressionist at Clearwater’s Fort Harrison

CLEARWATER, Fla., Nov. 17, 2016 -- On Saturday, the 12^th of November, film actor and master impressionist, Jim Meskimen, performed at the Fort Harrison for “Six [Months] ‘Til Sunscreen” to benefit the Sunscreen Film Festival. Mr. Meskimen’s impressions were a hit, as could be told by the continual laughter of the 220 guests in attendance.

Master impressionist and actor Jim Meskimen performed in support of the Sunscreen Film Festival for 220 guests at the Church of Scientology’s international retreat, the Fort Harrison in downtown Clearwater

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/24f37312-8d13-4512-80fc-75f7b09a1bd0

The Fort Harrison is the international religious retreat for the Church of Scientology located in downtown Clearwater. The Church regularly makes the Fort Harrison available to non-profit community groups for their events.

Jim Meskimen is an accomplished actor, improviser and voice artist whose work is well-known to TV and film audiences. His resume includes appearances on the British TV Series Whose Line is it Anyway? as well as a recurring role on the Fresh Prince of Belleair. More recently, viewers have seen Mr. Meskimen as Pawnee’s Mayor Martin Housely on Parks & Recreation. He has worked with director Ron Howard on five of his films, including The Paper (1994), Apollo 13 (1995), Edtv (1999), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) and Frost/Nixon (2008).

On Saturday night, Mr. Meskimen lent his incredible talent in performing dozens of impersonations of celebrities and American presidents – this included  singing in a wide range of voices from Frank Sinatra to Tom Jones to Mumford and Sons.

The event closed with a live auction of a very unique item. The guests who bid the highest received a personalized voice mail message recorded by Mr. Meskimen in any celebrity voice they wanted. Winners’ phones now greet callers in the voices of beloved film stars.

The Sunscreen Film Festival is organized and presented by the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Film Society Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to education, economic development, informing the public about the art of visual storytelling, enhancing opportunities for local filmmakers to develop their craft and art, and increasing the public’s awareness and support of local filmmaking as a cultural and economic asset.

The Film Festival, which is headquartered in St. Petersburg, will be held April 27-30^th 2017. For more information about the festival, please go to www.sunscreenfilmfestival.com.

The Fort Harrison Religious Retreat:

Since its construction in 1927, the Fort Harrison has been the home for many community events and charitable organizations. The Fort Harrison’s current owner, the Church of Scientology, has hosted over 500 community events there since a top-to-bottom restoration in 2009. The Scientology religion was founded by humanitarian and philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard, and incorporated in 1954. To learn more, visit www.Scientology.org.

Dylan Pires 
(727) 467-6860