Local filmmakers draw on city for talent, inspiration

The poster for ‘Go,’ a short film by Dru Scott Productions(Dru Scott Productions)

BY RUSSELL BRICKEY

Sixty years after “Route 66” rolled into Youngstown, Dru Scott wants to be a movie star. “I’m 34-years old and first caught the acting bug when I was around 22,” he said. “I started doing plays from 2012 to 2017. I did a couple of plays at the Powers Auditorium and I did plays at the Youngstown Playhouse.”

As do many artistic types when they catch The Bug, Scott dreamed big. Then he put his dream into motion.

Scott is now the main force behind the company that bears his name, Dru Scott Productions, which has brought filmmaking to the streets of Youngstown.

Scott uses local talent and locations, and works with his director of photography, Kwai Daniels, the owner and producer of D.P. Visual Media, to craft stories based on the people, struggles, and landscape of his hometown. “I didn’t want the typical movies that someone from my background would make,” Scott said. “I wanted to come up with something unique.”

But Youngstown is not yet a film city. Scott and Daniels have decided to change that, at least until they get their big breaks in Hollywood.

Both write true-to-life, gritty scripts based on their own experiences in the region. “I decided to come up with my own content, basically,” Scott said. “I didn’t want the typical stories.”

His first movie, “About Face,” which was shot in Youngstown in 2017, premiered at the Encore Cinema in Niles. “About Face” concerns a soldier returning from deployment in the Air Force and facing post-traumatic stress disorder.

Scott, whose brother is a U.S. Marine, has seen the effects of PTSD firsthand. He brought home stories of his fellowsoldiers who suffered the after effects of combat. Scott was moved to turn these stories into a narrative. “I just wanted to touch upon the issue,” Scott said, “and give it some light.”

The production company’s next film, “Go,” was shot in 2019. As with all the company’s work, “Go” deals with economics and how they affect people. The story revolves around business-partner brothers who, according to the Internet Movie Database, must settle their differences “once money and greed enter the picture.”

Scott believes this is a particularly local theme. “Not too many people out here who are millionaires or who are born into money,” Scott said, “and we’ve all seen the bills stacking up and wondering what we are going to do.”

So far, all the movies produced by Dru Scott Productions are “shorts,” or movies under 40 minutes. Scott and Daniels use friends’ houses, the streets of Youngstown, their own apartments, or abandoned lots to set up their shoots. Most of their actors are amateurs who perform for bragging rights on social media and for the thrill of performing. “This area is not exactly a film town,” Scott said. “It’s L.A., New York, or Atlanta, and that’s what makes it exciting. We are bringing something into the city that is something new.”

Not having the restrictions of a major city is actually a boon to filmmaking. “For the most part it is pretty easy,” Scott said. “People do see us filming, something they don’t see all that often, and they are like, ‘I’m very supportive of what you are doing,’ ” Scott said. “It’s exciting. It’s very exciting.”

Scott’s current project is “Cam’s Story,” which was scheduled to premiere in August. This project is also a “real life story,” Scott said, which revolves around money, a favorite theme of Dru Scott Productions and a typical issue for many Americans.

The title character, Cam, played by Scott, is an out-of-work insurance agent. His wife, Camara, played by local actress Lisette Encarnacion, is an out-of-work nurse. Their answer to economic woes is a typical twist for action-thrillers: crime. But (no spoiler alerts!) “Cam’s Story” is a movie about people ultimately making the right choices. “I want something with a message at the end,” Scott said. “Something uplifting.”

“Cam’s Story” was slated to premiere at the Golden Star Theater in Austintown. Scott will be presenting his movies to Youngstown State University students in the fall followed by a question-andanswer session. He said his other movies will soon be available on Amazon Prime.

In addition to filmmaking, Scott is involved with HYER Magazine, a region fashion publication which covers the Youngstown and Warren areas. “It’s basically a magazine that displays local talent, local models,” Scott said, “just to give them a platform to show their faces.” HYER Magazine is edited by Tae Stubbs, who frequently collaborates on scripts and co-starred with Scott in “Go.”

For his part, Kwai Daniels is also an independent filmmaker. He makes his living producing local television and YouTube advertisements and writes and directs his own feature films. His work includes an ongoing TV sitcom.

Daniels said he started as a novelist and transferred his story-telling into “gritty street tales” for the screen. Daniels’ 2019 film, “Body Bag, Ohio,” is a crime drama set in Youngstown. The story revolves around the war between police and drug kingpins for control of the streets.

Daniels is a self-taught film maker. “I just basically bought a camera and started doing it,” he said. He honed his visual style by shooting unscripted events such as weddings and local events. “You can go to a school and learn book-wise,” Daniels says, “but in the business you get hands-on training by just making your own films.”

Like his partners in this tight-knit artistic community, Daniels artistry is a labor of love. “It’s not a job to me,” Daniels said. “I just love doing it. And I get paid.”

The same can be said of Scott and his big dreams. Even if he beats the long odds and makes it in Hollywood, Scott pledges to never forget his hometown. “We want some positivity, you know, coming this way, man,” he said. “I’m just a guy from Youngstown who want to get his name and represent Youngstown in a good light.”

Scott, Daniels, and other colleagues are in the vanguard of people vying for film business in the Mahoning Valley. Recent film regional events include “Youngstown Shakedown” (2011), a crime thriller, and “Jamie Marks is Dead” (2014), based on the horror novel by YSU English professor Chris Barzak. The Youngstown Regional Film Commission has begun to lobby for tax credits to attract production companies.

The entertainment industry can mean big business. For instance, the Pittsburgh Film Office has projected $1 billion worth of TV and film projects in the area for 2021 according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The question presents itself, why not Youngstown?