‘Grand Hampton’ Series Headed To The Big Screen

Annette Simmons-Brown, who plays the evil Dr. Annette, and Antony Capers co-wrote the Season 3 premiere that shot part of its episode at the Tampa Theater on July 1. (Photos: Charmaine George)

Here’s something that Grand Hampton resident and multimedia artist Antony Capers never imagined happening when he started shooting his campy, convoluted and creepy YouTube-based horror series during the pandemic — “Grand Hampton: The Movie Series” is headed for the big screen.

What began as a 45-second video clip of Capers’ son Merric and became an online series with two seasons and 27 episodes filmed exclusively in the Grand Hampton community with local residents mostly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, is now going to have its Season 3 premiere — an hour-long movie — shown at the iconic Tampa Theater in downtown Tampa in October.

Part of that premiere was shot at the Tampa Theater Friday afternoon. 

Filmmaker Antony Capers (with hat) and some of the cast members of his “Grand Hampton: The Movie Series” at a recent table read.

Capers, a freelance designer who owns his own production company, Reelistic Tales, continues to be humbled by the rection to his horror series, which is about a community filled with people in the witness protection program, whose children are disappearing as part of an organ harvesting plot run by an evil doctor and assisted by strange alien creatures. The show has more than 250 subscribers and 15,000 views on YouTube. While it has allowed Capers to build strong friendships in the Grand Hampton community, his primary goal when he started the series, it also could pull open some curtains for the 46-year-old filmmaker. 

The first curtains to open will be those at the Tampa Theater. Last year, Capers attended a horror movie viewing of “The Conjuring 3,” starring Tampa’s Patrick Wilson, at the old movie house in downtown Tampa as part of a “Film Tampa Bay Presents” series showcasing the work of local writers, directors, actors and crew who are from the Tampa area.

During the Question-&-Answer session after the movie, Jill Witecki, the Tampa Theater’s marketing director, says there was a lot of discussion about the Tampa Theater’s mission to celebrate area films and filmmakers, and it struck a chord with the New Tampa filmmaker.

The next day, Capers and Annette Simmons-Brown, who plays the evil Dr. Annette, harvester of children’s lungs, in the series, emailed Witecki about the Grand Hampton project.

“It was fascinating to us,” Witecki says. “Not only because he was a local filmmaker, but because it was really something different. It was a great example of some of the creativity that came to light during the pandemic.”

Witecki says Tampa Theater officials and Capers had a number of conversations about working together. One idea was to have Capers speak to the theater’s summer campers. 

“The film camp program is learning how to do exactly what he did, which is take what’s around you, take the people and the locations, and turn it into a movie,” Witecki says.

The other idea was to fit “Grand Hampton: The Movie” into the theater’s October horror series, “The Nightmare on Franklin St.,” where classic horror movies have been shown the last two weeks of the month for the past nine years.

Antony Capers.

“It seemed to be a good fit,” she says.

Not only did Capers jump at the chance, but he also talked the theater into letting him film part of the premiere inside the Tampa Theater.

Capers and Simmons have written the script for the Season 3 premiere together. They wrote a small part for Witecki, as well. And, Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, who attended the Season 2 premier at the Grand Hampton clubhouse and helped give the show some of its initial publicity, also has a small role.

While Season 2 had to end abruptly due to the opportunity with the Tampa Theater, Capers says it is giving him a chance to revamp the series. Instead of it focusing on one family — him and Merric — each episode will be a 45-minute tale about a different family, which Capers compares to the way the old “Tales of the Crypt” series was filmed.

Season 3 begins with the parents of Grand Hampton going on a date night to the Tampa Theater, and while they are gone….well, you’ll just have to watch.

“A lot of action takes place back home during date night,” Capers says. “The new way of doing ‘Grand Hampton’ is pretty cool, if it works. It’s still ‘Grand Hampton,’ still the same characters, no paid actors, still 100-percent community involvement. It’s just revamped.”

The opportunity at Tampa Theater has Capers dreaming big. 

He says a showing at an iconic theater will put new eyes on his series, which is a thrill. And, he’d love to get into the Sundance Film Festival, get on Netflix or even just get the chance to pitch the idea to a streaming service. 

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” he says. 

And, for Capers,  Simmons and other Grand Hampton cast members, the chance to be seen on the big screen and then answer questions from the audience about what it’s like making a series and a movie will be the thrill of a lifetime.

“Branching out at an iconic location like Tampa Theater is going to be great,” Capers says. “I can’t wait.”

To view all episodes of the series, visit YouTube.com and search “Grand Hampton: The Movie”.  

Local 2022 Campaign Season Heating Up

Fentrice Driskell, the new Democratic party leader of the Florida House, will headline a pair of townhalls in New Tampa over the next two weeks.

The first town hall will be at the New Tampa Regional Library on Thursday, June 30, at 6 p.m., followed by a town hall at Tampa Palms’ Compton Park on Wednesday, July 6, also at 6 p.m.

Rep. Driskell will be joined by District 7 Tampa City Council member Luis Viera and State Sen. Janet Cruz, who is seeking reelection in Senate District 14, a district that recently has been redrawn and now includes New Tampa.

Sen. Cruz, a Democrat, is running against Republican Jay Collins, who dropped his bid for Congress last week to challenge Cruz and picked up a quick endorsement from Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

That effectively forced Hunter’s Green resident and fellow Republican Shawn Harrison, who had filed to run against Cruz in April, from the race,

Like Cruz, Driskell is running in a redrawn district, although it still includes New Tampa and USF. Instead of House District 63, the seat she won in 2018 and 2020, Driskell is now looking to secure House District 67.

She will be opposed by Democrat Dawn Douglas, who filed to run in May, and Republican Lisette Bonano, who filed last year.

Bonano, an Army veteran, is a New Tampa resident.

For First-Time Business Owners, KRATE Is Special

Heidi Esquivel

Yummy Tablas

As a little girl in Costa Rica, Heidi Esquivel would make salads for her parents because it was all that was in the house.

She would pour her heart and soul into each bowl of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumbers, often cutting up red peppers to make them look fancy and shaping other simple vegetables to look like beautiful flowers.

“I wanted to make my mom and dad proud,” Heidi says. “It was my way of saying ‘I love you,’ with food.”

It took years for Heidi’s artistic skills to manifest themselves as a caterer specializing in elaborate and gorgeous charcuterie and cheese boards, but today, as the owner of Yummy Tablas at the KRATE at the Grove Container Park in Wesley Chapel, she has found her calling.

Although she started her business online during the pandemic, and grew a large following thanks to Instagram — “my best friend” she calls the social media app — she now has fulfilled a dream by owning a store of her own.

“To see the people come through the door, to see the faces, the reaction, it’s just wonderful,” Heidi says, pointing to a couple sitting outside, enjoying a glass of what she calls “the best wine at the KRATEs” on the outdoor patio. “It’s her birthday, so he brought her here for a little glass of wine. She is so happy. Those moments make me so happy.”

Developer Mark Gold says he didn’t start the KRATE just to fulfill his own personal dreams — he did it in part to help make the dreams of others more accessible.

When he announced his project in October 2019, offering converted shipping containers as business opportunities with monthly rents starting at around $1,500, he instantly received a flurry of emails and phone calls from small business owners. Or, in the case of Heidi, prospective first-time folks who couldn’t otherwise afford to rent a space for a business of their own.

In fact, roughly 30 percent of the nearly 50 businesses that make up KRATE at the Grove are run by first-timers. 

“I saw the price and the whole thing looked so cute, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, I can afford that!,’” Heidi says. “I came here right away and fell in love with the whole project. And now, I’m here.”

Before that, Heidi had struggled for years waiting for her opportunity, cleaning homes and working in construction. When she went out with husband Ronnie, a physician she married five years ago, and people asked what she did, she was mortified.

“It was so sad, it was embarrassing,” Heidi says. “I just didn’t want to continue saying that. I wanted to be somebody…I was almost 40 and I needed to find my passion.”

While entertaining friends and family, Heidi always presented her food with flair. Her guests always raved about her displays, and Ronnie also encouraged her to start her business online. 

Her concept of “grazing boards,” where friends and family could gather around while nibbling on meats, crackers, cheeses, fresh fruit and honey and jam, struck a chord with people during the pandemic, when people were stuck at home.

“My friends were right,” she says. “It just took off.”

But, when she read the first story about the KRATEs in the Neighborhood News, she knew a “little shop” is what she really wanted.

“Mark Gold was excited about it, and I’m so excited about it, too,” Heidi says. “To have people come and have some cheese and a glass of wine, share memories, laugh, tell stories, spend time with family….that’s what I’m really excited about.”

Tracy DiMillo

Urban Sweets

Heidi’s path is similar to Tracy DiMillo’s, who had built a large local following — in two different states — with her decadent desserts. She, too, was entertaining a friend when it was suggested in October 2019 that she open her own place.

“She asked me if I had read about this guy who just bought The Grove and was going to do containers,” Tracy says. “She sent me the link to the story, I read it on a Sunday, emailed them on Monday and was in their offices talking to them on Friday.”

On Dec. 6, 2019, Tracy and her husband John signed a lease for Urban Sweets, a KRATE container specializing in cupcakes and layered desserts.

It was a long journey for Tracy, a stay-at-home mom of three (now grown) children looking for an outlet.

It started in 1999 with a cake decorating class at Jo-Ann’s Fabrics in Brandon, but soon, Tracy was teaching the classes. A Tampa Palms resident at the time, she sold her desserts locally and online as Creative Cakes. When John, a salesman for a major alcohol distributor, was transferred to Fairfield, CT, she jumped on the just-taking-off cake pops craze with The Pop Shop, making and selling the treats out of a commercial kitchen.

The Dimillos moved back to Florida in 2015, with Tracy unsure what to do next. She baked for neighbors and parties and thought often of opening her own shop. She even had business cards made for Urban Sweets in 2018, “just to put it out into the universe and keep my dream moving forward.”

The Dimillos were fans of Sparkman Wharf, a smaller container park on Channelside Dr. in downtown Tampa that opened in late 2018. While strolling around the container park that year, she fell in love: “I told John I see myself in a container at Sparkman.”

A year later, however, Gold rolled into town. Like Heidi, Tracy also read the article in the Neighborhood News and was gobsmacked.

“If you have a dream, let’s make it happen,” Gold said at the time. “This is your mom-and-pop opportunity, your dream….I want to help people come to us. Let me help you.”

Those words hit Tracy like one of her cookie butter cake parfaits hitting your taste buds.

“I read it and I could swear he was talking to me,” Tracy said. “He said things like he was appealing to new business owners, appealing to smaller business owners….after wanting to open a store for 15 years, I just thought, this is it. I felt like it was a lightning bolt.”

In fact, that’s the exact phrase — “lightning bolt” — she used in her email to Gold to describe her interest. She didn’t even have her sugary concoctions thought out yet. But, she had a name, that box of business cards and she was ready. 

“I just knew, after 23 years, I felt like I knew what people liked.”

Urban Sweets opened in late May to positive reviews. With a few thousand people to please for the KRATES’ opening day on June 4 (see page 20), Tracy was eager for her official debut as a business owner. 

“It’s a dream come true,” Tracy says. “I know that sounds super cheesy, but that’s how I feel.”

Monica Russo

Maeberry Co.

Monica Russo has shared a similar dream for just as long, imagining herself as a clothing buyer since she was a little girl.

For years, she envisioned being a children’s clothing buyer for a big department store like Nordstrom or Dillard’s (and she worked at both for a time).

Pregnant and bed-ridden during Covid-19, Russo decided to become a buyer…for herself. In 2021, she started a website, MaeBerry Co., that sold children’s clothing and accessories.

Later that year, a friend told her about the KRATE at The Grove, and thought she should go all the way and open her own shop. So, she contacted the KRATE’s management, was put on a waiting list, and after twice declining because she wasn’t sure she was ready, she took the keys to her KRATE in January.

“I knew when they asked a third time, I had to do it,” Monica says. “I just went with what my heart was telling me.”

The decision has been the right one. With help from dad George Leach, who assisted getting the business going and chips in with babysitting, husband George Rocek and daughter Alyssa, who is 17 and works in the shop, business has been bustling.

Monica says business at MaeBerry Co. has been so good, in fact, she wishes she had chosen a larger container. Her eco-friendly infant and children’s clothing, many made with soft, breathable and chemical-free bamboo, and by high-end companies like Posh Peanut and Itzy Ritzy, have been popular among shoppers.

“This is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Monica says. “So far it’s been everything I have dreamed of.”

Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. Is Nearing The Finish Line

As major road projects designed to ease congestion come to fruition this year — the Diverging Diamond Interchange at S.R. 56/I-75 and the widening of S.R. 54 — another smaller project expected to have a big impact should be completed by the end of the year.

Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. (drone photo, right, by Charmaine George), which will run from just north of S.R. 56 all the way north to S.R. 54, will be fully open by December, if not earlier — if weather and the ability to secure construction supplies is not disruptive — according to Wiregrass Ranch developer JD Porter.

While not as massive as the aforementioned projects, Porter says Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. will play a big role in easing traffic in the area and providing the kind of connectivity the county is lacking. It also will serve as a major thoroughfare for future residents of the Wiregrass area.

“I think the changes, at least on a local perspective, will be as great as they were when S.R. 56 was built through Wiregrass Ranch,” Porter says. “This provides a parallel alternative to Bruce B. Downs, as well as helping with necessary spacing for the S.R. 54/I-75 interchange.”

Mansfield Blvd., which runs from County Line Rd. to S.R. 56, transitions into Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. at the first of three roundabouts.

Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. is located just east of Lajuana Blvd., which provides access to Audi Wesley Chapel, the Fairfield Inn & Suites and the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County.

 It runs north past Chancey Blvd, and currently ends at the entrance to Esplanade at Wiregrass Ranch, a community for ages 55+.

There is roughly a mile of construction remaining. The road will run past the Walmart Super Center and end at S.R. 54.

Wiregrass Ranch Blvd. will be a major artery for the Wiregrass Ranch community. Porter says it’s not just another local road or one merely built for the development of homes, but the kind of game- changing road project that will bring more value to area schools, including Pasco Hernando State College on Mansfield, and provide a significant upgrade for local residents trying to get to the area’s many shopping and dining options.

Once the road is completed at the end of the year, long-awaited development of the Wiregrass Ranch area around the road will begin, including a proposed town center area that will act as the area’s downtown.

“Almost immediately once that road opens you’ll see users along that road,” Porter says, adding that some are already under contract and just waiting to get in. “It is kind of the kick off. There will be office people and retail people. You’re going to see that stuff start to happen.”

So Far, These Are My Favorite Dishes At KRATE Restaurants

So, how many of the restaurants at the KRATE Container Park at The Grove have you tried so far? I have tried all of them, although I definitely haven’t tried every dish at every KRATE eatery yet, so below is a list — in alphabetical order by the name of the KRATE — of my favorite dishes so far at the now-18 open restaurants and bars at the KRATEs. I plan to keep on sampling everything I can at these mom-and-pop eateries, and I will list my favorite KRATE desserts next issue, so stay tuned! — GN 

Bacon Boss HQ — Although I have them put the BBQ mayo on the side, my favorite menu item at the Bacon Boss is the Bugsy Siegel Burger, which features a grilled-to-perfection burger topped with two slices of American cheese, crispy bacon, lettuce & tomato. So good.

Blush Wine Room — Despite its billing as a wine bar, this is definitely one of my favorite KRATE restaurants. I already love the bruschetta, beef & pork meatballs with spicy marinara and the chicken with vodka sauce flatbread (photo, left). The wines (including wine flights) also are great, but my favorite drink is the strawberry frosé — perfect on a hot day.

Cachapa

Chamo Bites Venezuelan Cuisine — I’ve always been a fan of arepas, and Chamo Bites tops them with a great variety of meats and cheeses, but I’m absolutely addicted to the Cachapa (a sweet corn pancake) filled with queso de mano, or “hand cheese,” which is like mozzarella only better.

El Prince Mediterranean — The meat shawarma sandwich, which is delicious, marinated sliced ribeye beef roasted with Middle eastern spices in a pressed pita-style wrap, topped with onions and tahini sauce (that I had them put on the side) is still my favorite at El Prince, although the diced El Prince salad is also a delicious option.

La Creacion Express — You don’t have to be a fan of Puerto Rican cuisine to enjoy La Creacion, although I haven’t yet tried the more hard-core items like octopus or alcapurria (green bananas & taro root) empanadas, I love the tripleta sandwich (with steak, ham and pork).

Mojo Grill Latin Fusion — The menu really is a mix of so many Latin favorites you really can’t go wrong, but my favorites so far are the steak chimichurri sandwich (thinly sliced skirt steak, caramelized onions, melted cheese and house-made chimichurri sauce on a toasted baguette) and the build-your-own bowl with grilled chicken, cilantro rice, black beans and Cuban slaw.

Palani’s Hawai’i Noodles House of Saimin — To date, the only dish I’ve tried is the saimin noodles in a savory clear broth garnished with barbecued char sui pork, kamaboko and crisp green onions, but it definitely makes my list of KRATE favorites. I suggest paying $4 for additional Chinese-style char sui pork. So good.

Shake-A-Salad — Since it was one of the first KRATE restaurants to open, I’ve tried more than one option of all three parts of the menu — the salads (my favorite is The Cobb), the wrap sandwiches (the Chicken Caesar is my fave) and the signature rice bowls (I absolutely love the Asian Marinated Chicken Rice Bowl).

Tacos El Patron — Already a family favorite, we love the savory pastor quesadilla filled with marinated pork, the huge carnitas burrito (filled with pork chunks, rice, beans and cheese) and the asada (steak) taco salad. 

Tasty Ramen — Although I’m not as much into the variety of ramen bowls as I am the appetizers, I definitely love the pan-fried gyoza dumplings and crispy spring roll.  

TJ’s Hot Dogs — Although TJ’s has a great variety of topping for its gourmet hot dogs, I only really have one favorite type — a kosher-style dog with brown mustard and sauerkraut (above) and TJ’s satisfies that craving for me. I plan to try some of the other options…eventually.