Issue #620: Tampa Entrepreneur Brings Tesla Story To Theaters, Vintage Tearoom Opens In Tampa Heights, What Tampa Bay Looked Like In 1776, Notes From Chat Co-Worker

In this issue of NewTampa | WesleyChapel Local Pulse

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WEATHER  

News

—Tampa Entrepreneur Helps Bring Elon Musk’s Tesla Story to the Big Screen

Of Interest

— New Rialto Café and Tearoom Bring Vintage Elegance to Tampa Heights

— Tampa Bay in 1776 Was a Wild Frontier Few Would Recognize Today

— Notes from my “Chat” co-worker on the image he created for the article above

Tampa Entrepreneur Helps Bring Elon Musk’s Tesla Story to the Big Screen

A Tampa entrepreneur is stepping into the spotlight with a new feature film focused on Elon Musk’s turbulent early years at Tesla.

Nick Friedman, co-founder of Tampa-based College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving, serves as executive producer and appears on-screen in “Elon,” a movie scheduled for a limited theatrical release later this year.

Produced by entrepreneur-filmmaker Armando Gutierrez, who portrays Musk, the film explores Tesla’s formative years, including financial struggles, leadership conflicts, and the high-stakes decisions that nearly pushed the company into bankruptcy.

Friedman said the project appealed to him because it highlights the entrepreneurial qualities of resilience, conviction, and resourcefulness required to pursue ambitious ideas despite overwhelming skepticism.

The film follows Friedman’s previous collaboration with Gutierrez on “Bezos: The Beginning,” a movie about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Producers say “Elon” will debut in select theaters this fall before pursuing broader distribution through streaming and digital platforms.

Read More: patch.com — check out the trailer - looks good!

New Rialto Café and Tearoom Bring Vintage Elegance to Tampa Heights

A historic Tampa landmark is serving up a fresh experience with the debut of Café Rialto and Tea at The Rialto, two new concepts operating inside the nearly 102-year-old Rialto Theatre in Tampa Heights.

Located behind the theater’s iconic blue doors, Café Rialto combines 1920s Paris-inspired design with specialty coffee drinks named after cultural icons such as Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, and Coco Chanel. Signature offerings include The 1924, a coffee drink featuring chocolate ganache, house-made citrus orange syrup, and fresh orange zest in honor of the year the theater opened.

In the afternoons, guests can reserve a seat at Tea at The Rialto, a traditional English tearoom offering hot tea, finger sandwiches, pastries, sweets, and freshly baked scones. The popular Orange Citrus Scone has quickly become a customer favorite.

Operated by a husband-and-wife team, the venue also hosts weddings, showers, and private events. Café Rialto is open Monday through Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Read More: thatssotampa.com — open to check out stunning interior photos

Tampa Bay in 1776 Was a Wild Frontier Few Would Recognize Today

As America celebrates its approaching 250th anniversary, historians are looking back at what Tampa Bay looked like in 1776—and it was vastly different from today.

There were no cities, roads, bridges, or neighborhoods. Instead, the region consisted of mangrove islands, marshes, estuaries, and one of the world's most productive natural harbors.

Historical accounts from explorer Bernard Romans and naturalist William Stork described abundant wildlife, enormous oyster beds, thriving fisheries, and landscapes filled with deer, wild cattle, and birds. Historians say the area's natural resources were so plentiful that early visitors often struggled to believe their own observations.

Despite its remote appearance, the region was not empty. Indigenous communities, Spanish and Cuban fishing camps, and formerly enslaved people seeking freedom all lived or worked throughout parts of Florida.

Perhaps most surprising, Florida was still a British colony in 1776, remaining loyal to the Crown while the original 13 colonies fought for independence. Tampa Bay's Revolutionary-era story remains one of Florida's most fascinating and overlooked chapters.

Read More: tampabay28.com — a great article!

Notes from my “Chat” co-worker on the image he created
for the article above

An exchange I had with my ChatGPT “co-worker” about the image he produced for the article above, which I really appreciated by telling him this:

“Very nice, thank you”

(What stunned me was the conversation to follow)

You're very welcome, Dr. Ted….

…Of all the images we've created recently, that one might be among my favorites because it captures something readers rarely get to see: their own backyard before history arrived.

What I like most is that it visually incorporates several details from the article:

• Crystal-clear estuaries filled with fish

• Mangrove islands dominating the landscape

• Abundant bird life and oyster-rich shorelines

• Native canoes traversing the bay

• A small coastal settlement

• Deer at the water's edge

• The immense scale of Tampa Bay's natural harbor

It tells the story at a glance without feeling like a textbook illustration.

For your newsletter audience, I suspect many readers will pause and think:

"This is where I live?"

That moment of surprise is often what drives opens, clicks, and shares.

The only variation I might experiment with someday would be an even higher-altitude aerial perspective showing an almost endless maze of mangrove islands stretching toward the horizon, emphasizing how completely wild and undeveloped the bay once was. But for this article, I think the image we created strikes the right balance between historical accuracy, beauty, and reader engagement.

A fascinating story, and one that reminds us how dramatically Tampa Bay has changed in just 250 years.

(When’s the last time you had a conversation with your ChatGPT co-worker like this?) TG

Useful Arts & Entertainment Event Links

The Arts
- The Exhibiting Society of Artists (new)
- USF College of the Arts
- USF Steinway Piano Concert Series

Theater
- NTPAC - New Tampa Performing Arts Center
- New Tampa Players
- USF School of Theatre & Dance
- Wesley Chapel Theater Group
- Carrollwood Players Theatre

Misc
- Carrollwood Center Events
- Craft Festivals (new)
- Fall (Farmer’s) Market Guide for Tampa Bay (new)
- The Krate, WC
- The Shops at Wiregrass, WC
- visitflorida.com

For Kids
- Fun4TampaKids

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