The Aquarena Springs Amusement Park was the actual location of the resort in the 1978 film Piranha, directed by Joe Dante.
Famous fantastic film directors have already honored the NIFFF with their presences, including George A. Romero, Joe Dante, John Landis, Terry Gilliam, Hideo Nakata.
"The Screwfly Solution" was adapted into a television film by screenwriter Sam Hamm and director Joe Dante for the Showtime network's Masters of Horror series, premiering December 8, 2006.
Joe Cocker | Dante Alighieri | Dante | Joe Louis | Joe Henderson | Joe Satriani | Dante Gabriel Rossetti | Joe Biden | Joe DiMaggio | G.I. Joe | Joe Frazier | Joe Lovano | Fat Joe | Joe Dever | Joe Walsh | Joe Manchin | Joe Zawinul | Joe Namath | Joe Lieberman | Joe E. Brown | Joe E. Brown (comedian) | Joe | Joe Paterno | Joe Clark | Joe Bonamassa | Joe Dante | Joe Montana | Trader Joe's | Joe Sample | Joe Lynn Turner |
At around this time he was approached to write the script to the film Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990), which was directed by Joe Dante and produced by Michael Finnell.
In this way, Ackerman provided inspiration to many who would later become successful artists, including Joe Dante, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Stephen King, Donald F. Glut, Penn & Teller, Billy Bob Thornton, Gene Simmons (of the band Kiss), Rick Baker, George Lucas, Danny Elfman, Frank Darabont, John Landis and countless other writers, directors, artists and craftsmen.
He also designed the opening title sequence for Joe Dante's film The Haunted Lighthouse, a featured attraction at SeaWorld.