Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT
In a first for Native film students and filmmakers, a studio run by two longtime Native creatives has partnered with Tyler Perry Studios and the Georgia Film Academy to offer educational programs and film production to Native Americans in the television and film industry.
Studio of the Americas is believed to be the first full-service, privately owned space to guide students through the process while also giving them hands-on experience on current productions. There are studios owned by tribes — such as Tesuque Pueblo’s Camel Rock Studios in Santa Fe and the Cherokee Film Studio in Owasso, Oklahoma — as well as the Native filmmaker mentorship programs run by the Sundance Institute.
With a focus on preserving and sharing Indigenous perspectives, the studio will develop original scripts, train Native talent, and produce films and series that will keep Native stories alive for future generations.
The two founders — chief executive Robert Wilson, Ottawa, and chairman Clifton Chippewa, who is Saginaw Chippewa — joined forces using Wilson’s award-winning novel, “Crooked Tree,” as a starting project.
“We’re a studio in a production company,” Wilson told ICT. “This is a new model.”
‘Blockbuster entertainment’
Actor/producer Tyler Perry acquired the 330-acre lot in 2015 in the heart of Atlanta on the historic grounds of the former Fort McPherson Army base. The Tyler Perry Studios campus, now one of the largest production facilities in the country, showcases 40 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, 12 purpose-built sound stages designed to meet specific requirements of film production, 200 acres of greenspace and a diverse backlot.
Studio of the Americas will have access to all of the facilities and is dedicated to producing groundbreaking films and television series that authentically portray Native American stories, culture, and traditions.
With a slate of 15 major feature films and streaming projects in development, the studio hit the ground running.
“Crooked Tree,” their first project, explores ancient Native spiritual practices and modern struggles with identity and evil as a shape-shifting Bearwalker takes possession of an Ottawa woman.
Another project, “Smoke Alarm,” is a documentary narrated by Eugene Brave Rock, a Blackfoot Canadian actor, that traces the journey of tobacco from its ceremonial origins to its modern commercialized impact.
Brave Rock will also appear in “The Groves of Ares,” a 20-episode streaming series. He plays a wildlife naturalist who works with a news reporter to uncover a conspiracy stealing resources from a national park. The two are forced on the run as they work to clear themselves and identify the politicians and corporate leaders behind the conspiracy.
“The work and vision of Clifton Chippewa and Robert Wilson of Studio of the Americas align with a deep sense of cultural storytelling, creativity, and purpose,” said Brave Rock, actor in “The Revenant,” “Wonder Woman,” and “Dark Winds,” and creator of the Oki Language Project.
“Their mission to cultivate emerging voices and honor cultural narratives is truly inspiring,” Brave Rock said. “And the stories they tell are flat out blockbuster entertainment.”
A new direction
In collaboration with the Georgia Film Academy, Studio of the Americas has also launched a training program for Native American students, providing them with hands-on experience in film production.
“We have our offices within the Tyler Perry Studios complex,” Wilson told ICT by Zoom from Atlanta. “It’s the largest in the country, larger than Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers all put together. It started with a project of ‘Crooked Tree,’ which was based on a novel that I had written that was optioned by Warner Brothers and William Friedkin was going to direct. I was introduced to Clifton through that.”
Then the project took a new direction, he said.
“After it had gone through a couple of different efforts, it collapsed,” he said. “I decided to produce it myself. That began a process of developing a screenplay, bringing people together. One thing that I wanted to do was to make sure that since the ‘Crooked Tree’ is based upon Native beliefs and traditions, I wanted to make sure I had brought in as many people experienced in the industry that could be part of what we were trying to do.”
Along the way, Studio of the Americas was formed.
“We came up with this concept of a studio but for Native American productions, either stories of Indigenous populations of North and South America, or something that was created by Native creative people, and being able to train individuals from different tribes who wanted to get into the movie business,” he said. “They could make whatever they wanted to make.”
The pair were introduced to the chairman of the Motion Picture Association in Hollywood, who suggested they reach out to Perry.
“They invited us here,” he said. “Cliff and I came and met with the CEO and spent some time with them; we developed a very good rapport. And at the end of it, he invited us to establish Studio of the Americas here.”
Originally, the duo was seeking to raise money to build the studio in a soundstage, but suddenly they didn’t have to do that any more.
“It’s all right there,” Wilson said. “We have everything at our disposal. We’re not part of Tyler Perry, we’re a separate company. But be that as it may, we are in probably the best studio complex in the world … And here in Georgia, we have the benefit of the 25 percent to 35 percent incentive. More movies are made in Georgia now than in Hollywood, because of the incentives and a huge cadre of experienced people here.”
Looking ahead
Chippewa said he was drawn into Wilson’s script.
“My whole career started as a crew member,” Chippewa told ICT. “As time went on, I thought, ‘Why can’t we start a Native film school, film studio and everything else?’ I met Robert through a costume designer that I worked with. He sent me his script and I thought, ‘Man, why isn’t this thing being made?’
“We have the infrastructure here, but also, we have the intellectual property,” Chippewa said. “We have the content. We have all these different properties.”
The first film, “Smoke Alarm,” will be out in about a year. Ironically, the film, about the history of tobacco and lung cancer, is being funded by Global Action to End Smoking, a nonprofit initially funded until 2023 by Phillip Morris International, which was required by a court ruling to fund efforts to help people stop smoking.
“We’re in pre-production,” Wilson said, “and we’re working on different aspects of it. We’re seeking additional funding for it so we can get some good CGI [computer generated imagery].”
And they’re aiming high with plans for theatrical distribution and then streaming.
“We want to go inside the body, like ‘Fantastic Voyage,’” Wilson said. “We want [it] to be a feature film documentary, like ‘Super Size Me’ and ‘Searching for Sugarman,’ those kinds of films that go to the theater.
“Nobody’s doing it like this,” he said.