More than just the new Spike Lee joint brought moviegoers out to Brooklyn’s Alamo Drafthouse on a rainy night last Wednesday, Aug. 20. A new crop of local auteurs from the city’s “Flip the Script” program premiered their 11-minute film “Click” and fielded questions during a Q&A session.
The screening culminates the current 12-person cohort’s work from the city-funded apprenticeship for Brownsville youth, ages 18-24. But the program’s curriculum centers as much around dropping a gun, as holding a camera. Participants stem from socially challenged backgrounds, some who joined with alleged ties to local rival crews. They receive “intensive” six to one guidance from credible messengers — mentors who leverage former gang ties and neighborhood reputation — followed by a year of aftercare.
Flip the Script, which operates out of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ), pays each participant $20 an hour throughout the program. Almost everyone shows up and graduates, with many finding jobs and some enrolling in college after. More than 10 open felony cases were cleared and no one from the cohort has been involved in a gun violence incident since joining.
Earlier this summer, Mayor Eric Adams announced $500,000 towards Flip the Script programming from the city budget. Comparatively, incarcerating a single person for a year on Rikers Island boasts a similar price tag.
“This is the culmination,” said MOCJ director Deanna Logan. “Because they think about it, you invite them for the internship [and] they are skeptical — they don’t trust because there have been a lot of times where they’ve been disappointed, and then to see their face when they realize that this is different…we work with you at your pace where you want to be and then your vision is on the screen. It’s amazing.”
“Click” hits home as a film about friendship and gang violence in Brownsville, inspired by the collective experiences of the cohort and their mentors. The participants wrote, produced, directed and filmed the movie. And in classic Alfred Hitchcock fashion, they also act in their work.
“When I did this film, I was thinking about how we could put film, in real life, together,” said participant Koran “KJ” Campbell. “So we really made the film about real life: what’s going on [and thinking] before you react. That’s what it’s all about.”
Campbell both acts and co-directs the film. While he seemed like a natural during the Q&A, he thought the crowd could sense his nervousness. Another participant and co-director named Shawn (who asked to withhold his last name), believes Flip the Script helped him and others break out of their shells.
“You got people stepping out of their comfort zone just for the movie,” he said. “When it comes to standing in front of people to talk, I’m shy. [When] I’m outside I’m a very interactive person.”
Flip the Script’s ongoing efforts in Brownsville coincide with six decades without a movie theater in the historically Black Brooklyn neighborhood. But Logan says there are plans to bring “Click” home.
“We’re thinking about being able to do [a] rooftop scenario where we have the park and the projector,” she said. “And then maybe using some of the churches [and] all the different things already in the community [like the] schools.”
follow Flip The Script and support our movement on Instagram and socials: @flipthescriptnyc