In true La La Land style, the second annual Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival coming up June 8-11 has been “leaking” updates since last fall, special events, wine tastings and trailers giving hints of what’s to come.
Now the festival’s chairs are getting attention. With local chef Kitty Wagner as culinary chair, and wine connoisseur Rob Wayne named as wine chair, a film and TV veteran director and newcomer to Vero is heading up the festival itself.
If you don’t recognize festival chair Jeff Woolnough’s name, chances are you have watched something he has directed. His award-winning career spans nearly 30 years, beginning with shadowing the famed “Moonstruck” producer and director Norman Jewison in Toronto. Since then, Woolnough has directed multiple episodes of “Bones,” “N.C.I.S.,” the Syfy channel’s “The Expanse” and the History Channel’s “Vikings,” as well as episodes of “Supernatural,” “CSI,” “N.C.I.S.,” and many more.
Woolnough and his wife, actress Claudette Roche, only moved to Vero Beach in October. As soon as the festival founder and executive director Jerusha Stewart heard the dynamic couple was part of the Vero family, she cast Woolnough in the role of festival director.
“It’s a dream come true for us to have someone with matinee-idol looks and movie-making mojo,” says Stewart. “He is historic in what he’s accomplished in his career.”
Like Stewart, who marvels that so many “talented people with world-class careers” make their home in Vero, Woolnough has encountered a steady stream of interesting people here.
“This is such an incredible place to be involved in the arts,” he says. “You don’t know until you meet them and discover common interests who your neighbors really are and how accomplished they are professionally.”
Looking at Woolnough’s hundreds of film and television credits, he moves from one genre to another, directing everything from police procedurals to documentaries and science fiction to historical drama. Last year he directed “Expanse,” set in the 23rd century, and then did “Vikings,” set in the 9th century.
“In our industry, everybody gets pigeonholed. I’m lucky that I’m able to go across genres in my career,” says Woolnough. “In the course of a year, I’ll go back and forth between genres. I really like that because I’m not a person who just wants to do one thing. I like everything from romantic comedy to horror movies; it all appeals to me.”
Much like the character Ragnar who leads berserkers west to pillage new worlds in “Vikings,” Woolnough’s key role as a director includes leading the cast and crew to fulfill his vision for the project by casting, production design, location selection and the creative aspects of filmmaking.
If you ran into Woolnough on the beach or chatted with him and Claudette at last week’s Taste of Vero, you wouldn’t be able to reconcile the couple with that of the “typical” Hollywood type.
“He’s known as an actor’s director,” say Roche. High praise from his wife. An established actress in her own right, she and her husband have had the opportunity to work together on several shows.
Woolnough and Roche met in Toronto during the 1983 Toronto Festival of Festivals (their first film festival together). It was a match made in heaven and forged over a shared love of film. He grew up in Niagara Falls, Ontario, and she was raised in Montreal. After several years they left their Canadian home for Los Angeles to pursue their careers, Woolnough as a director and Roche as an actress.
Both enjoyed successful careers, but Woolnough found more and more of his work was elsewhere. Roche had transitioned from acting to working with actors as a dialect coach and was able to work from anywhere. When Woolnough was heading to Toronto and then on to Ireland to shoot “Vikings,” the couple decided it was time to find a new home base.
After spending more than seven months in Europe, they stumbled upon Vero Beach while planning a visit with Roche’s 91-year-old mother in Palm Bay. Once here the couple fell in love with the place, according to Woolnough. “Vero Beach has a nice, laid-back, small-town feel. Traffic is not too heavy, and the people are friendly.”
Given his new title as festival chair, it’s ironic that one of the things that really impressed them about Vero was the cultural diversity. “There’s a lot going on here for a small town. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a town this size that has all that happening,” says Woolnough.
Between projects and when he’s not chairing a film festival, Woolnough and Roche enjoy taking their dog Emmett to the dog park, golfing, trying out new restaurants and getting to know the people of Vero Beach.
His work has won numerous accolades including the 2010 and 2013 Outstanding Achievement Award from the Directors Guild of Canada. Woolnough attended Niagara College in Canada with a focus on radio, television and film. His first job was as an on-air announcer in a television newsroom. “I read the farm report on the noon news in Ontario. ‘And next up: potatoes,’” he says with a laugh.
When he decided he wanted to direct, Woolnough moved to Toronto and got a job as a coffee boy on a series. “I started at the bottom,” he warns aspiring directors. “The only way to learn to direct is to direct. Nobody is going to hire you based on your word that you can direct.”
Woolnough will be returning from the set of the show “Cause in Fact” for the film festival; he says he had to promise the producers wine from the festival in exchange for the time off. When not distracted by the view of the ocean’ he is writing a script about his hometown that, pending financing, will be his first feature film.
The Vero Beach Wine and Film Festival will be held from June 8-11. Passes for the festival are available at VBWFF.com. Spring Sale pricing ends April 30.
