Harrison Arts School Alumnus Makes It To Cannes Film Festival

LAKELAND, FL — A 2020 Harrison School for the Arts alumnus is a finalist in this year's "Emerging Filmmaker Showcase" at Cannes Film Festival, the Polk County Public Schools district said.

Josh Ceranic, 18, is the writer and director of “David Isn’t Here Anymore,” a horror comedy about a struggling real estate agent who confronts malevolent forces while trying to sell a notoriously haunted house.

The house Ceranic's movie was filmed in is the Victorian house seen in "My Girl" in 1991 that starred Jamie Lee Curtis and Dan Aykroyd. It's located in Bartow and said to be haunted.

Ceranic told the Polk County Public Schools district during filming he and his crew had some odd paranormal experiences, but they weren't as troublesome as technical issues that occurred on set.

“It’s like the film takes on a mind of its own and doesn’t want to get made,” Ceranic said. “That was something I learned at Harrison: There’s always going to be problems, so you just have to welcome them and keep on going and don’t let it stop you from making what you want to make.”

Ceranic is a freshman at Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts.

For more information about Ceranic's film work, check out his IMDb page.