TAHLEQUAH – This Cherokee National Holiday, Cherokee Film is stepping off the set and into the crowd — ready to answer questions, share opportunities, and spark new stories.
Under Cherokee Film are four branches that “work symbiotically to innovate narrative sovereignty,” according to cherokee.film. Those include the Cherokee Film Commission, Cherokee Film Productions, Cherokee Film Studios and Cherokee Film Institute.
Cherokee Film was launched in 2023 to expand and reorganize its filmmaking ecosystem, aimed at creating better representation and building on the tribe’s efforts to become a film and media productions hub.
Loren added that at the Cherokee National Holiday, Cherokee Film is present in the community for people who want more information.
“We’re really here to just answer questions and be in the community, take pictures with people and that’s it,” she said.
A focus of Cherokee Film at the Cherokee National Holiday will be to provide information about the Cherokee Film Institute, launched in 2024.
The institute is a tribally-operated film school that recently graduated its first cohort of 28 students who earned program certificates.
“We’re getting information out there about what the institute is, who can apply, when, how people enroll, when it happens, what classes there are and then (answer) any other questions,” Loren said.
The institute has students taking introductory courses to the filming industry such as Intro to Industry, Intro to Production Office, Intro to Location Management and Intro to Camera Basics.
“We are essentially teaching the basics of what you need to know to get into the film industry,” she said. “If we want to get more Native representation in the industry, then we have to train our Native Americans to be ready for that first job.”
The institute welcomes anyone over 18 years of age to apply.
In June, the tribe declared the Cherokee Nation reservation as Film Ready, which aims to attract more film and TV productions to the reservation.
“A lot of communities and cities will designate themselves as film friendly. What that means is that your community and stakeholders are educated on what it takes to welcome a film or TV show into your jurisdictions,” Loren explained.
She said when productions come in, there will already be protocols in place for filming for things like streets being shut down or permits that are needed for filming in certain areas.
“So, Cherokee Nation, as an exercise of our tribal sovereignty, designated the Cherokee Nation as a film ready reservation, meaning that we have gone through all the steps necessary to welcome any size film or television show into the Cherokee Nation, where they know that we will be able to take care of things in a quick and orderly manner to make the business of film and TV run smoothly,” Loren said.
With the local interest becoming more apparent, the hope is to entice more Native filmmakers who can take their first steps into the film and TV industry.
“Before Cherokee Film existed, I don’t know how many people thought that there was a career for them in media and storytelling,” Loren said. “Our hope has always been that through all of our initiatives and creating this ecosystem, that more people will see a space for themselves … that they start telling stories that increases Native representation.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.cherokeephoenix.org ’
