5 Things: Sarasota Impresses James Woods, TV Me and more

1. Emmy Award-winning and two-time Academy Award-nominated actor James Woods told Patch that he would "be very excited doing business here" in Sarasota if the cirumstances are right. Find out more about what he says is swaying in the favor of folks outside of Hollywood and New York who want to make movies and how Ringling College of Art and Design is helping that mission.

2. Will Midnight Pass Road see safety improvements after a DUI crash claimed a longtime Siesta Key resident's life last weekend? Sarasota County Commissioners are asking the Florida Department of Transportation to take a look at the curve a drunken driver had whipped around before proceeding to kill Donna Chen.

3. Aspiriging TV show creators have until Jan. 31 to enter a nationwide contest run by the Sarasota Film and Entertainment Office where you can win a chance to pitch your show to executives in Los Angeles. Grand prize is VIP Full Access attendance  to the InkTip Pitch and Networking Summit in LA.

4. S/ART/q, a local artists group, will curate an exhibition of its artwork called Avant Garden in the Museum of Botany and the Arts at from Thursday through Feb. 20. The 13 artists have been granted access to Selby Gardens to observe and study the botanical collections, and to gather knowledge and inspiration from their experiences to make original works of art. The museum is open 10 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. daily.

5. It's been quite a career for State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota baseball coach Tim Hill Sr. He's calling it quits at the end of this season. He is Florida's all-time leader in junior college career wins and a National Junior College Athletic Association Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. The coach led his team to surpass dozens of, for the dozens of records in his 31 years as head coach at SCF.