Milan Patrick: Film producer/director in the making

BY Dexter McCree, Feature Writer

ST. PETERSBURG — In 10 years, Milan Patrick can see herself making films and winning big named awards. She credits her parents, John and Sabrina Patrick, for teaching her that it’s better to aim high and miss than to aim low and hit. She will accept nothing short of greatness.

Milan Patrick

“We believe that God gave Milan the gift of creativity and she must keep him first,” said her mother. “It guarantees that she will be successful.”

Milan envisions walking the red carpet of the Oscars knowing that with God, her family and loved ones, she has every right to walk on that stage and accept an award.

She practiced her Academy Awards walk when she took center stage in receiving her high school diploma as a 2016 graduate of Dixie Hollins High School at Tropicana Field.

“Graduation is definitely a memory that everyone carries with them. Sitting down inside Tropicana Field and waiting, very impatiently and nervously, for my name to be called is an unexplainable experience,” said Milan.  “However, I know that graduating high school and getting my diploma, although it was a long road, was just the first step to a difficult and yet exciting journey.”

At Dixie Hollins, Milan was enrolled in the Academy of Entertainment Arts, which led her to the college and career path that she has chosen. The academy enforced her love for film, directing and editing. In film, she won the Gold Key Regional Scholastics award, the Silver Key National Scholastics award and placed third place in the West Palm Beach Student Film Festival with over 10,000 other film contestants.

“High school definitely presents a lot challenges, but one of the biggest challenges I faced was comparing myself to other students,” said Milan.

As an artist she learned that her creative vision was different than others and that every person has their own style. That doesn’t necessarily make one person’s piece of work better than hers, which was a concept she struggled with in the academy.

“My family naturally played a large part in my success in school, academically and artistically. They never doubted my ability in anything and constantly stood by my side,” she said.

Another set of people that played a large part in her life during high school was her photography teacher, Kristen Pineda, and her film teacher Michael Pineda. In her they saw the talent and challenged her to be creative.

Milan said they acknowledged her strengths and helped to work through the weaknesses. It was their teaching methods and charisma that helped gave her the confidence in her abilities as an artist.

Now with family support, confidence in store and a gift in her hand, Milan has plans to attend Savannah College of Art Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Ga., where she received a scholarship. The school is recognized as one of the best art schools in the country.

“They have amazing programs and great facilities, faculty and equipment,” said Milan with excitement.

She plans on majoring in film and television with a minor in photography while gaining as much real world experience as she possibly can.

“SCAD makes sure that students get as many opportunities as they can in their field, and have a lot of award-winning professionals come in to help. SCAD has their annual Film Festival and TVFest, which goes from “The Walking Dead” and “How To Get Away With Murder” to talking about acting and behind the scenes. I’m going to love it!”

In 10 years, look for another film producer from St. Petersburg making films, winning big name awards and walking the red carpet at the Oscars. The first credit goes to her parents for teaching her to aim high and accept nothing short of greatness. The next credits all belong to Milan…look at the bottom of the movie screen.