Indie Atlantic Films, Polk County-Based Film Company, Celebrates 20 Years of Creating Experiences
Indie Atlantic Films (Indie Atlantic) is a full-service production company based in Lakeland, Florida. Since opening its doors in 2006, the company has built an impressive portfolio of work spanning a wide range of projects for clients across the country. Indie Atlantic specializes in creating cinematic, story-driven content for brands, organizations, and agencies nationwide. The company also produces original projects, including feature-length documentaries and short films available on streaming platforms.
“For 20 years, we’ve built our reputation around a simple philosophy: do good work with good people. Our team brings experience across a wide range of industries and production needs, from concept through final delivery,” said Katie Wiatt, Producer and Director for Indie Atlantic.
In honor of their 20th anniversary, we asked them a couple of questions to learn more about their history in Polk County and their vision for the next 20 years.
For 20 years, we’ve built our reputation around a simple philosophy: do good work with good people.
Katie Wiatt
Producer and Director
You recently celebrated 20 years in business. What have been some of the highlights, milestones, or memorable projects from the past two decades? How has Indie Atlantic evolved during that time?
We’re proud of what we’ve built. What started as a small production company right here in Florida has grown into a team producing work throughout the state and across the country.
Some of our biggest milestones aren’t tied to a single project, but to the relationships we’ve built along the way. We’ve been fortunate to work with incredible clients and some truly talented crew many of whom have become lasting collaborators. We’ve had the opportunity to work with organizations and companies across a wide range of industries, including healthcare, professional sports, tourism, higher education, nonprofits, aviation, agriculture, and economic development, to name a few. We’ve also had the privilege of telling stories with an incredible range of people, from professional athletes and celebrities to farmers, researchers, musicians, and even astronauts.
Our work has taken us from local businesses and organizations to national brands, but we’ve always valued the opportunity to tell meaningful stories right here in Polk County, especially for organizations helping shape the future of our community.
Tell us about your work in Polk County.
Polk County is home, and it has been an important part of Indie Atlantic’s story from the beginning. We’ve had the opportunity to work with many of the organizations, nonprofits, businesses, educational institutions, and community leaders throughout the region. Some of our favorite work has been right here at home, working with organizations we’ve known and supported for years.
We’re proud to show that a creative company can be rooted in Polk County, grow its team, create jobs, and produce work at a national level.
As a business in the creative services industry, how has being a member of the CFDC benefited Indie Atlantic? Are there particular connections, resources, or opportunities through the CFDC that have been valuable to your business?
One of the biggest benefits of being involved with the CFDC is connection. Relationships are incredibly important in our industry, and the CFDC creates opportunities to build genuine connections with business leaders and organizations throughout Polk County.
It also gives us a better sense of where the region is headed and the industries, companies, and people driving that growth. As a creative business, that perspective is valuable. It keeps us connected to the community and helps us better understand the people and organizations we have the opportunity to work with.
What sets you apart from other businesses in the industry? What is distinctive about your approach, your team, or the way you work with clients?
We care deeply about the work, but we care just as much about the people we’re doing it with. “Do good work with good people” has become more than a motto for us; it’s the philosophy we’ve built the company around.
We approach projects as a creative partner, not simply a production vendor. That means asking questions, understanding what a client is really trying to accomplish, and sometimes challenging the original idea if we believe there’s a stronger way to tell the story. With strategy, creative, production, and post-production under one roof, we can take an idea from its earliest stages through final delivery.
We also believe the experience of working with us matters. We want the process to feel collaborative, organized, creative, and enjoyable. Many of our client relationships have lasted for years, and we believe that says as much about who we are as the work itself.
As you look ahead to the next 20 years, what are you most excited about for Indie Atlantic?
We feel like Indie Atlantic has a tremendous amount of momentum right now. Even after 20 years, it feels like we’re still building.
We’re focused on growing our team, expanding our services, taking on larger-scale commercial and branded projects, and finding new ways to tell stories as the media landscape continues to evolve. We also want to continue creating documentaries that bring important stories to a wider audience. And we want to keep proving that we don’t have to leave Polk County to build a nationally respected creative company.
The next chapter is about taking everything we’ve learned over the past 20 years and seeing how far we can take it.
Is there anything else that you’d like to share about Indie Atlantic?
One thing we’re particularly proud of is that Indie Atlantic has grown while remaining rooted in the state where it began. Twenty years ago, we couldn’t have imagined where this company would take us, the people we would meet, or the stories we would have the chance to tell.
We’re grateful for the clients, partners, employees, collaborators, and community who have trusted us along the way. We don’t take that trust for granted. Some of our best team members have come from Polk County colleges and universities. We’re proud to invest in our local community by creating opportunities for talented graduates to build their careers here, as well as giving back through our gifts and talents.
As we look toward the next 20 years, we want to keep building a company that represents Polk County well, creates opportunities for talented people to live and work in our community, and shows that meaningful creative work can come from right here in Central Florida.
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