Script to Screen: Tulsa youth debut films at Red Carpet Showcase

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TULSA, Okla.–A diverse class of students who participated in a youth camp for filmmakers will showcase their final projects during the Red Carpet Showcase Saturday, September 21, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Circle Cinema in downtown Tulsa.

To purchase the $5 tickets, visit this link.

Saturday’s showcase is the result of a four-day Keepin’ it Reel: Script to Screen Youth Camp, organized by educator, writer and award-winning Tulsa filmmaker Dr. Tamecca Rogers.

Partnering with Emmy-nominated producer Charla Fonseca, Dr. Rogers, the camp for kids ages 10 to 18 ran from July 29 to August 1.

Sponsored by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (FMAC), Cherokee Film Studios and Black Wall Street Chamber of Commerce, the event will offer an opportunity for the community to encourage a new generation of diverse filmmakers.

“I created that camp because there’s so many people telling our stories and profiting off of our stories, and I saw a need for our stories to be told by us,” Dr. Rogers told the Black Wall St. Times.

Script to Screen Red Carpet Showcase wants community support

The camp utilized Oklahoma’s diverse, professional filmmakers as mentors and partnering with local restaurants for camp meals. Dr. Rogers said she wants Oklahomans from overlooked communities to take advantage of the growing film industry in Oklahoma.

To do that, she says, the youth must be exposed to career and skills training.

“The whole community will come out for our people to do basketball and football. We need that same type of support for our new filmmakers, and we don’t need to wait until they get big, you know,” Dr. Rogers said about Saturday’s Red Carpet Showcase.

In recent years, as Oklahoma has passed laws incentivizing the more locally produced films, the state has experienced a boon in production. “Tulsa Kings” and “Reservation Dogs” represent just two projects that have amplified Oklahoma’s image as a destination for film production.

No stranger to the craft, Dr. Rogers has flown across the country to receive awards for one of her 2024 film: “Ameka and Her Magical Crown.” Produced as an animation, the series uplifts the importance and self-image of Black girls and women by celebrating the very thing that society often demonizes: Black hair.

Now, she wants to expose the next generation, especially Black youth, to a craft they don’t aren’t normally able to access.

“And so I said ‘we need to give our kids opportunity to see, well, you like to do makeup? You know what, you can be a special effects makeup artist on set; You like to write? You could be a screenwriter. And if you like to tell people what to do, you could be a director.” Dr. Rogers recounted telling the kids in her camp.

Parents praise Script to Screen Youth Camp

Meghan Scott is a parent whose nine-year-old daughter Evelynn attend the Script to Screen Youth Camp. Evelynn, who attends Hoover Elementary, likes to write coloring books and chapter books.

“Financially we are not able to support publishing her books just yet, so when I saw the opportunity that Dr. Rogers was providing for children who are into screenwriting; I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to feed her little brain with and support her creativity,” Scott told the Black Wall Street Times.

The Red Carpet Showcase may be the result, but it took days of training to reach this point.

“Evelynn was nervous at first, but became in love with the task of getting up in the morning to help create the group’s storyline,” Scott said.

Nikki Parker, the parent of 15-year-old Jenks Freshman Academy student Taylor, said her daughter has always wanted to act. However, she ended up trying out a new role.

“Initially, she wasn’t interested in taking on a leadership role, but she ended up being stretched into a director position, which she absolutely loved,” Parker told the Black Wall St. Times. “Through this, she developed her leadership, negotiation, and people management skills.

“I believe more parents should expose their kids to programs like this beyond just sports,” she added.

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Hollywood comes to Tulsa

In true A-list style, Dr. Rogers said organizers have arranged for a white Hummer to drop the student filmmakers off at Circle Cinema, a sponsor for the viewing.

“I want to give them the real Hollywood treatment. Make them feel special love, have all the community come out and see what they created in four days,” Dr. Rogers said.

To purchase tickets for the Red Carpet Showcase, visit this link.