AS YOU KNOW JUST BY LIVING HERE, THERE ARE ENDLESS STORIES TO BE
TOLD IN SOUTH FLORIDA, MAKING IT THE IDEAL BACKDROP FOR MOVIES.
BUT WITHOUT HELP TO FUND THEIR PROJECTS, MANY LOCAL FILMMAKERS
OFTEN STRUGGLE TO GET THEIR STORIES TOLD.
BUT ONE GROUP HOPES TO CHANGE ALL THAT.
THE NON-PROFIT OOLITE ARTS-- FORMERLY - ARTCENTER SOUTH
FLORIDA-- HAS LAUNCHED ITS LATEST INITIATIVE CALLED "THE
BLOCK," AWARDING A TOTAL OF $32,000 TO FIVE DOCUMENTARY
FILMMAKERS, EACH WITH A UNIQUE STORY ABOUT THEIR LITTLE CORNER
OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY.
HERE TO SHARE MORE IS OOLITE ARTS PRESIDENT AND C.E.O.
DENNIS SCHOLL.
YOU'VE SEEN HIM ON THIS PROGRAM BEFORE.
AND FIRST PLACE WINNER-- FILMMAKER DORIAN MUNROE-- WHO
TOOK HOME $14,000 TO MAKE HIS FILM "THESE KIDS THIS CITY."
GENTLEMEN THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR BEING HERE.
THANK YOU FOR HAVING US.
LET'S START WITH THE NAME CHANGE FIRST, OOLITE WHAT DOES
THAT MEAN AND WHAT IS THAT?
OOLITE IS EVERYTHING THERE.
OOLITE IS THE BEDROCK OF WHAT WE SILT ON.
IT'S LYME STONE.
WE WANT, WITH OOLITE ARTS, WE WANT TO BE THE BEDROCK OF THE
MIAMI ARTS COMMUNITY SO.
THAT'S WHAT SIGNALS OUR NAME CHANGE.
THERE YOU GO.
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE BLOCK AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO THE
COMMUNITY AND HOW YOU CAME UP WITH THE IDEA.
WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE NUMBER OF FILMMAKERS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
-- NARRATIVE FILMMAKERS , DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKERS , SHORTS
AND IN ADDITION TO THAT AS YOU SAID THIS IS A TOWN
WITH A LOT OF DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS AND A LOT OF
DIFFERENT STORIES.
SO WE WANTED TO GIVE LOCAL FILM MAKERS A CHANCE TO TELL US WHAT
INSPIRES THEM WITHIN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
WE GOT 129 RESPONSES OF PEOPLE WHO SAID, I WANT TO STAND UP
BEFORE A FIVE PERSON JURY AND PITCH MY FILM.
WE CHOSE FIVE OF THEM AND THE WINNER IS SITTING NEXT TO ME.
THAT'S AMAZING.
LET'S GET TO YOU DORIAN.
FIRST OF ALL, CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING SELECTED.
I HEARD YOU WERE FAR AND AWAY THE BEST.
THEY KNEW RIGHT AWAY WHO NUMBER 1 WAS.
CONGRATULATIONS.
THANK YOU, AND THANK YOU DENNIS FOR PUTTING TOGETHER THIS
AMAZING OPPORTUNITIES.
DEFINITELY SOMETHING NEEDED IN SOUTH FLORIDA SO THANK YOU.
THE FILM IS CALLED THESE KIDS THIS CITY.
BEFORE WE TALK ABOUT IT WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT A LITTLE CLIP.
LET'S TAKE A LOOK.
BUT IT IS MORE OF THE MOVEMENT, IT’S A DEEP CONNECTION WITH
-- MARTIN LUTHER KING.
I THINK IT'S WANT PEOPLE TO BE FREE RIGHT?
THESE ARE PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHO THE FATHER OF AMERICAN
GOVERNMENT.
WHAT WE DID NOT HAVE NOBODY, THAT'S THE BEST THING.
PROJECTS WERE UPGRADED YESTERDAY.
HOLDING A GUN.
VERY COOL.
IT'S SHOT REALLY WELL.
I LOVE THE MUSIC.
SO TALK TO US ABOUT HOW YOU CAME UPON THIS STORY.
AND THIS CULTURES IN LIBERTY CITY, CORRECT?
YES.
GROWING UP IN MIAMI, WE ALL KNOW ABOUT THE BIKE MOVEMENT THIS
TAKES PLACE IN LIBERTY CITY, MARTIN LUTHER KING WEEKEND.
I WAS VERY CURIOUS OF IT, WHY LIBERTY CITY AND WHY MLK DAY.
I SOUGHT TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS FOR MYSELF AND WHAT I
SAW WAS FASCINATING.
THROUGH MY INVESTIGATION I KIND OF DISCOVERED THAT THE MANNER IN
WHICH THEE YOUNG PEOPLE RIDE, IT'S ALMOST A FORM OF SILENT
PROTEST.
AND ON A DAY WHERE WE HONOR A CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER WHO MADE A
LIVING PROTESTING NONVIOLENTLY, I FOUND THAT THAT SAME
NONVIOLENT PROTEST CONTINUES TODAY BUT IN THE FORM OF BIKES.
AND THEN TELL US TOO ABOUT THE GUN INCIDENT.
SO TELL US MORE ABOUT, YOU WERE THERE, YOU SHOT THAT, SOME OF
THAT WAS ALSO FOOTAGE FROM THE TELEVISION, AS WELL, RIGHT?
COVERED THIS MANUAL PULLED OUT A GUN ON HIS KIDS.
YEAH.
IT WAS AN UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT.
THAT FOOTAGE WASN'T SHOT BY MYSELF.
THAT'S FOOTAGE FROM THE MEDIA.
THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WENT VIRAL.
AND IT KIND OF CATAPULTED THIS MOVEMENT THE A NATIONAL
SPOTLIGHT.
BUT THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WERE ON THE BRIDGE PROTESTING THE
REDEVELOPMENT OF THE THEIR LIBERTY CITY HOUSING.
AND INITIALLY, LIKE IT'S JUST A TYPICAL GENTRIFICATION, WHAT I
FOUND IDENTITY, BECAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEA LEVEL
RISE, THE LAND OF LIBERTY CITY IS COVETED, WHY?
IT SITS ON SOME OF THE HIGHEST ELEVATED LAND IN MIAMI.
SO IT HAS SOME PRELIMINARY UNDERTONES TO THE STORY AS WELL.
AND WE ALSO LEARN IN YOUR PIECE ABOUT A GENTLEMAN WHO YOU
SAID KIND OF OVERSEES THIS MOVEMENT AND OVERSEES THE VOICE
RIGHT?
THERE IS A GENTLEMAN BY THE NAME OF DWIGHT WELLS.
HE'S A FOUNDER OF THE MOVEMENT CALLED BIKES OF GRAND STONE.
HE'S VERY INSTRUMENTAL IN THE COMMUNITY.
33% OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE IN LIBERTY CITY GROW UP IN SINGLE
PARENT HOUSEHOLDS AND HE KIND OF SERVES AS A GATHER FIGURE FOR
ALLOT -- FATHER FIGURE FOR THESE KIDS.
MAKING SURE THEY HAVE FOOD TO EAT OR TRANSPORTATION TO OF A
SCHOOL ACTIVITIES.
HE'S BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN A LOT OF THESE KIDS LIVES.
DENNIS, TELL US WHAT CAUGHT YOUR EYE AND THE EYE OF THE JURY
BYIAN AND HIS PROPOSAL?
HIS PASSION, ACTUALLY.
YOU COULD SEE THIS IS A PROJECT HE SPENT A LONG TIME THINKING
ABOUT, HAD ALREADY INVESTED A LOT OF TIME IN.
AND WE KNEW RIGHT AWAY THAT WE WANTED TO SUPPORT THIS PROJECT.
WE THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT ISSUE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES.
WE THINK THAT DIGGING INTO THAT NEIGHBORHOOD IS A PLACE THAT
PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT AND WHAT'S GOING ON AND THE
OTHER FINALISTS DID EQUALLY BEAUTIFUL JOBS ABOUT ONE WANTED
TO TELL WHEN A KNIFE SHARP INNER IN WESTCHESTER AND --
LET'S LOOK AT SOME OF THE OTHER FINALISTS.
GREAT.
I COULD BE SWALLOWED BY THE SEA IN THE NEXT CENTURY.
START ME THINKING.
ONE WAY TO ERASE AN ISLAND, IS TO FIRST ONE EVER MADE.
START THERE.
OKAY, SO THIS ONE WAS CALLED ISLE OF MINE.
OBVIOUSLY ABOUT SEA LEVEL RISE.
TELL US ABOUT THIS ONE.
SHE CAME TO US AND SAID I WANT TO TELL A STORY ABOUT NORTH
BEACH, IT'S THREATENED BY SEA LEVEL RISE.
I WANT TO SHOW IT THROUGH MINE CRAFT.
THINGS THAT.
IS FACING ON MIAMI BEACH AND I LIVE ON MIAMI BEACH AND WE'RE
GROUND ZERO OF THIS ISSUE.
FILM MAKERS ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT THESE ISSUES, THESE ARE
IMPORTANT ISSUES FOR US AND WE WERE REALLY, REALLY EXCITED
ABOUT HOW EVERYBODY STEPPED UP AND BROUGHT US INCREDIBLE
STORIES.
THE GREAT NEWS IS THANKS TO THE LEWIS WOFERLSON AND FRANCES
WOLFSON FAMILY FOUNDATION WE'RE BACK NEXT YEAR.
SO THERE WILL BE THE BLOCK TWO.
THAT'S WONDERFUL.
OOLITE SUPPORTS ALL ARTISTS INCLUDING FILM MAKERS.
THIS IS A DIRECTION YOU'RE GOING RIGHT?
VERY IMPORTANT.
WITH THIS ADMINISTRATOR PROJECT WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DRAFT
UNIVERSITY EVER MIAMI FILM SCHOOL, THEY HAVE AGREED TO WORK
WITH DORIAN AND THE TWO OTHERS, SECOND AND THIRD PLACE WINNERS
WITH THE FICH CONTEST, HELP THEM WITH THE EQUIPMENT, AND THE
PROFESSORS ARE GOING TO DIG IN AND HELP THEM MAKE THEIR FILMS.
WE WANT TO SEE THESE FILM GET MADE AND WE HAVE A KITE OF
SURPRISE ABOUT THAT.
WE DO.
DORIAN CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING.
WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE PIECE AND I KNOW DENNIS HAS -- WE HAVE
EXCITING NEWS FOR YOU DON'T WE DENNIS?
WE DO.
YESTERDAY I FOUND OUT THAT THE WINNER OF THE BLOCK THAT THEIR
FILM WILL RECEIVE AN AUTOMATIC ACCEPTANCE INTO THE MIAMI
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL.
NO PRESSURE NOW, NOW YOU'VE REALLY GOT TO MAKE A GREAT FILM.
WOOHOO!
CONGRATULATIONS, THAT'S REALLY EXCITING.
THANK YOU.
WE HAVE A FEW MORE FILMING DATES PLANNED, THIS GENTLEMAN IS DOING
COURT MONDAY.
THERE ARE A FEW MORE OF COURSE WE RAVE TO SCORE IT MUSICALLY
AND I'VE TALKED TO LOCAL MUSIC ARTISTS THAT ARE SCORING THE
PROJECT.
IT IS A MIAMI BASED PROJECTS SO WE'RE INTERESTED IN MIAMI BASED
ARTISTS, IF YOU ALL ARE WATCHING THIS OR ENDING UP SEEING THIS
YOU SHOULD RECEIVE A CALL FROM US.
CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE.
FOR MORE ON OOLITE ARTS, YOU CAN CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE,
OOLITEARTS.ORG.
WE'LL HAVE THIS AND MORE ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE,
@YOURSOUTHFL.