Spend the weekend with the School of Film, Media, & Theater as you experience hands-on film production at Georgia State. This 3-day weekend production workshop is designed to offer high school students a chance to be director, actor, editor, sound engineer, boom operator and camera operator as you work with your team to write and produce a 30 – 60 second Public Service Announcement. Each project will be showcased in a public screening for friends and family.
The Film Workshop faculty will lead you through each aspect of the production process – Pre-Production, Production, and Post-Production – helping students learn new techniques and stretch their skills in storyboarding, script writing, shot lists, location scouting, shooting, and final editing.
With a background in poetry & playwriting, Susan-Sojourna Collier received an Emmy® Nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series for All My Children. A veteran television writer, Susan-Sojourna has written for many daytime drama series, including All My Children, Port Charles and One Life to Live. Susan-Sojourna has partnered with comedian/actor Tommy Ford (Martin, Who Got Jokes & Harlem Night) to produce a series of sitcoms and films distributed by Lionsgate/Grindstone. The first feature film Conflict of Interest – which premiered at the Las Vegas Black Film Festival, BronzeLens Festival and Peachtree Village International Film Festival. The second feature, Switching Lanes, received the Best Feature honor at the Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival. In addition, she pinned the screenplay Get the Show On the Road; an adaptation of a romantic comedy novel, which was a semi- finalist in the Tribeca Screenwriting Festival. Currently, she is finishing, Through My Lens: A Study of Bullying in the African American Community, a documentary partnership with Tommy Ford.
Susan-Sojourna has authored four plays produced throughout the east coast and was a recipient of Playwrights Horizon Theatre’s Black Ink Reading Festival, winner of the New York’s New Professional Theatre’s Writing Festival and Walt Disney Television Writing Fellowship. Her latest musical, Allegory On 125th Street, [music by Grammy nominee Terence Dudley] is being workshopped in Atlanta and New York City.
Susan-Sojourna producing credit includes a series of media projects for NBC/Bravo Diversity on the Set campaign – filmed in various US cities. This garnered her a Gold Aurora Award. In addition, Susan-Sojourna produced and wrote the feature documentary “Charge it to the Game: The Effects of Gun Violence in Brooklyn” funded by the Robin Hood Foundation & Brooklyn District Attorney. It received the Honored Feature at the NY Metropolitan Film Festival & NYC Downtown Feature Festival. She’s a freelance producer for Al Roker Entertainment, Johwarah Productions (LA), MTV and several other production companies – developing, producing & pitching new TV shows and documentaries.
Serving as a mentor for aspiring writers, Susan-Sojourna is an educator and motivational speaker focusing on building self-esteem through writing. Most recently, she was awarded the Writer in Resident at Abu Dhabi Women’s College. She designed their Digital Storytelling course and edited the college’s first book of poetry – Insights into Emirati Life. She has taught film and writing courses at Gibbs School & School of Visual Art. In addition, she serves on the Professional Advisory Committee for the Art Institute – NYC, active board member for Manna House School- East Harlem (creative arts center for the youths) and a mentor for Girls Write Now, NYC (creative writing program for at-risk girls). She developed the creative writing workshop Messages to My Younger Brother/ Messages to My Younger Sister (addressing issues of incarcerated and youth-at-risk) which was implemented at Rikers Island Correctional Facility, Youth and Congregations in Partnership (Brooklyn) & Girls Re-Entry Assistance Support Project (GRASP). She served as an Artist-In-Residence in Dubai and Abu Dhabi for three years.
Currently, Susan-Sojourna makes her home in New York City and Atlanta, GA. She holds a BA in English from Talladega College and a Masters of Fine Arts from Spalding University.
Check-In Begins
Opening Session
What is a Public Service Announcement?
Production Groups
Work with your group to brainstorm, create your storyboard and shot list & scout locations.
Dismissed
Check-In Opens
Production Groups
Review storyboard and shot list, crew position assignments and actors, & prepare to shoot.
Lunch Break
Lunch provided by Georgia State University
Production Groups
Shoot your PSA, edit & add your music.
Dismissed