St. Pete is celebrated for its fabulous weather, beautiful vistas, world- class food scene, and thriving cultural atmosphere but the people of St. Pete truly make this city something special. In appreciation, each month Green Bench shines a light on one of the many people that make St. Pete unique.
A Renaissance woman, Erica Sutherlin is a filmmaker, actor, poet, and bourbon entrepreneur. As incoming artistic director of Studio@620, she shadows Bob Devin Jones, who retires in June, as she prepares to take the helm of the visual and performing arts hub on July 1.
Local theatergoers may recognize her from stage roles such as Lady Macbeth in “Voodoo MacBeth,” performed at Studio@620 in 2017. More recently, she played central roles at American Stage, where she was the director of community engagement and directed its largest production to date: “Ragtime – The Musical,” in 2023. She was also American Stage’s first black female director with her directorial debut, “Dutchman.”
For larger markets, she directed the Lifetime movie “Kirk Franklin’s A Gospel Christmas,” released in 2021.
A Taste for Bourbon
In addition to her artistic endeavors, Sutherlin recently launched a new bourbon brand, Sinuous, in partnership with Dunamis Premium Spirits, in Zephyrhills. She’s working on getting Sinuous into a local liquor store and selling it online this spring.
Sutherlin hopes to use proceeds from the bourbon brand to make films that elevate women. She says she was inspired by childhood memories of listening wide-eyed as adult family members sipped bourbon and shared lively stories. The liquor is a toast to the strong women who shaped her life including her mother and aunts. “I want to celebrate all those women, and say, ‘I see you. I salute you.’”
A native of St. Louis, Sutherlin grew up the youngest of seven children. Sports and the arts were part of her upbringing. Her much older brother is a fashion designer and visual artist. She credits her parents for encouraging her to try new things. “They never told me no,” she says. “They just said, ‘If you do this thing, you have to do it for a year.’ ”
She took dance and art classes as a child but didn’t dream of becoming an artist. In fact, she wanted to become an aeronautical engineer or a pilot. She planned to join the U.S. Air Force but needed a credit in the arts to graduate high school. She took a drama class.
A Filmmaker is Born
“I was like, What is this world?” Sutherlin laughs and recalls her first drama class. “You mean I can just pretend I’m an engineer?”
Her drama teacher turned her on to Shakespeare by contextualizing his works in everyday life. “The way he broke it down opened it up inside of me,” Sutherlin said. “Then when I first read August Wilson’s ‘Fences,’ I was in love, and there was no turning back.”
Sutherlin earned her bachelor’s degree in theater and dance performance from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She returned to school in her late 30s and received her Master of Fine Arts degree in film and television production from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
In Between Degrees
When she first came to visit around 2009, she told someone, “I will never live in St. Pete.” Six months later, she moved to the Sunshine City. “That’s when I learned never to say never.”
She taught theater for nine years at Pinellas County Center for the Arts (PCCA) at Gibbs High School. Although she enjoyed teaching, she reached the limit of what she thought she could offer her students. A spiritual person, she said she felt directed late one night to apply to USC’s preeminent film school.
She was accepted and entered USC’s program in 2017 as the oldest member of her class. Her experience inspired her to work on a one-person show, a multimedia performance she plans to share at Studio@620. She has big plans for the nonprofit. “It will be a different studio,” she says, “because the leadership is different, but with the same heart.”
