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To say first time director Michael Eldon Lobsinger, from Port St. Lucie, FL, was surprised at winning two awards at the Rochester Film Festival is an understatement. His first film "Miss Fyer" won Best Audio and Best Female Performance at the Minnesota-based festival this past November.

His film tells the tale of a man struck with grief after the death of his wife one year ago who befriends a gun, only to be saved from a sure untimely end by answering unexpected knocks at his front door by a surprise visitor, a damsel in distress, played by the incomparable Carole Wood, who was recently cast as Tipper Gore in HBO's movie "Recount" starring Laura Dern and Kevin Spacey about the 2000 presidential election. Wood has played in several local productions in the past, including many short films at the Palm Beach Film School.

In response to the success of his project, Lobsinger commented, "I am absolutely overwhelmed. I never thought my film would do as well as it did. The Palm Beach Film School Premier Screening gave it such a much-appreciated warm welcome, but this blew me away."

This successful project almost never was. Originally, the rough script he wrote was called "Soul-inmates," but he decided that it had too many locations. So, the night before the final treatment was due, he spent about six hours writing the rough script for "Miss Fyer," finishing it at 4 a.m., to turn it in to Dr Herb Sennett, screenwriting instructor at the Palm Beach Film School, for approval.

Not only did Lobsinger direct this film, but he also starred in it-a challenging task made simpler by his top notch crew, who allowed him the opportunity to get into character. "My D.P. [Director of Photography], Darin Perron, did an awesome job on the camera and gave me quite a bit of time after 'action' was yelled on set to help me get into the emotions of the character."

Shooting the film with a Panasonic DVX 100A and the addition of a few simple effects in editing made a huge difference in the film. For example, showing the image of Jesus in the sky was a great addition. This, he explained, was a spontaneous idea that was thought of during editing and was not originally in the script. Most shots on this project were straightforward. The storyline and emotion spoke for itself.

When it came to editing, Lobsinger said, "It was a blast. I was not familiar with Final Cut Pro at all so it took a lot longer than expected. The dreaming sequence took about five hours, trying different effects." For lighting, he said, he got lucky. Originally, he was going to present the film in black and white to set the mood of the main character and then change to color later in the film. But because of the way that the lights were set up; especially in the bedroom, during editing, he decided to keep it the way. He loved the results, a dimmed in-color presentation that set the mood perfectly, off set by the brightness of natural sun when Miss Fyer (Wood) arrived.

"Carole really made the turning point of this film real for me, portraying her character vibrantly. We met while performing on stage in a musical. She had the lead role. And while I was writing the rough draft of my film, I felt she would fit the role of Miss Cameron Fyer very well, not knowing she would exceed my expectations. She definitely deserved the award in Rochester!"

Lobsinger, 46 years old, became involved in the film business idea in 2006 when he was invited by an actress friend to check out the film school when they auditioned elsewhere to act in a short film. Now he can't imagine doing anything else. In fact, he is looking to go into it full time, in addition to his other passion as a musician and songwriter (he's the guitarist for the Christian Rock band 'Godwired'). He said, "The first day I sat in Jim York's office at the Palm Beach Film School, I knew this was the place for me," referring to the "open house" the school has to invite newcomers the opportunity to explore what the school has to offer.

As for what is next for "Miss Fyer," it is still traveling the festival circuit. He sent it to the Nashville Film Festival, Delray Film Festival (both held in April) and the first annual Treasure Coast International Film Festival in Stuart (held in February.)

The Palm Beach Film School teaches students of all ages to write, shoot, direct and edit their own short, character-driven drama, comedy or horror films in 8 or 16 weeks at an affordable tuition . Visit PalmBeachFilmSchool.com or call 561-242-9190 for more information.