If you haven’t seen the Shape of Shreveport, you’ve undoubtedly heard about it. This series of short documentary films, which premiered this summer, took aim at our city’s history in a way that’s never been done. The films, each only 15-18 minutes long, covered topics like economy, epidemic, founding fathers, segregation, and rock and roll. They told dense but highly-entertaining stories about how we came to be.
I have been privileged to be a part of the Shape of Shreveport series as its producer and editor, working with executive producers Will and Jim Broyles, director Chris Scott, and fellow filmmakers Mindy Bledsoe, Rob Senska, and Jeremy Spring to bring stories we all believe hold key insights into how our city came to be. Hardships and triumphs, missteps and moments of opportunity – we have been through the ringer. And telling those stories grew to become our very personal odes to our city and its people.
To say the response from the public was phenomenal would be an understatement. You and your friends packed the house at the historic Strand Theater, followed by sold out showings at the Robinson Film Center. Each of these benefited the two community icons to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars that were needed to help accomplish goals for each organization – a new roof for The Strand and a new marquee for the Robinson. So, it was decided, we definitely had to move forward with our plans to continue the series.
We’ve been laboring for six months, and on January 28th, 2016 a new set of films will be released. They promise to be very different than the original four, but keep the spirit of the series intact. Personally, I’m extremely excited about them and can’t wait to share. So here’s what you can expect:
Baseball – Shreveport has a vibrant sports history, especially in baseball. This episode will include discussions about how we can lose a vision, lose focus. Legendary sports man Tim Fletcher (aka “Fletch”) will be co-executive producing this episode. As we know, sports are coming back to Shreveport, so we think getting a look back at some of our sports history will be really fun and revealing. In addition to the film, the Strand will be selling soft serve in helmet cups Captains-style, to get you in the right mood.
Barksdale Air Force Base – Not all of Shreveport’s history comes with a note of sadness or regret. Sometimes we do get it right. This episode will talk about how the city rallied together to give an important part of our national defense a home.
Civil War – In today’s world it might be a touchy subject, but the challenges faced by residents here were tremendous. Some fought for freedom, some to survive, and still others fought for completely different reasons. This episode will look objectively at the events that happened near the end of the war that shaped our city.
Lead Belly – Most documentaries about this huge (but until recently unknown) star from northwest Louisiana talk about his influence on music, from folk legends to rock and roll. This episode will talk about how Shreveport shaped Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter – a controversial character who created a revolution and committed murder.
Films aren’t the only thing on the docket for January. Will Broyles said that the response to SOS in June was so great that they’ve decided to expand the program in several ways off-screen.
“Our goal is to see Shreveport grow. To do that, we think it’s important to know our history. Whether you grew up in Shreveport, lived here your whole life, or been here for a short bit, one thing you realize is that we lack a cultural identity.”
In order to correct this, they are launching a speaker series in February, which will be a live oral history series featuring experts and historians. The first theme will be “Heroes and Villains.” The second initiative is a collaboration with the Shreveport Downtown Development Authority, which will work with the Broyles to create an organic group of people to collaborate on projects to better the city. No more details were given on either, but we expect that all will be unveiled on premiere night.
The premiere of the next four episodes, along with these spinoff events, are slated to premiere Thursday January 28 at The Strand. Once again, tickets will be $20, and once again, all proceeds will benefit the Strand. Doors at 6 p.m., and the show starts at 7 p.m. Tickets will go on sale at thestrandtheatre.com and shapeofshreveport.com on December 1st.