A giant, continuous light and diffuser filled a room inside the Fort Worth Community Arts Center Feb. 9.
The light source illuminated scenes designed by production company Adam and Elliott Moving Pictures, which was hired to create a fundraising video for the National Juneteenth Museum.
“It’s going to be a history of Juneteenth, so there’ll be a part of the video that discusses how Gen. Granger came down, stepped on the shores in the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston,” said Elliott Gilbert, a co-founder of the production company. “There’s going to be elements of how the museum will feel. Basically, it’ll be information about what’s in the museum, and then showing how it’s going to impact communities.”
The fundraising video began shooting this week at the arts center and plans to conclude by the beginning of March, Gilbert said. Last year, the city of Fort Worth pledged more than $15 million to develop the National Juneteenth Museum in the Historic Southside neighborhood. The video will hope to raise the remainder of the funds needed to open the museum.
The production company documented the Juneteenth Walks for Freedom in 2021 and 2022, Gilbert said. Over the past five years, the production has also worked on a documentary of the life of legendary Fort Worth activist and “Grandmother of Juneteenth” Opal Lee.
Museum leaders have trust in his production company, Gilbert said.
“We care about the whole story of Fort Worth, and how that goes out into the world,” Gilbert said. “For one, I’m African-American. Two, I grew up in the suburbs, so I’m not from Fort Worth, I grew up in Arlington. I was born in Nashville. So, I’ve lived across the South, and I know the history.”
Gilbert’s previous work includes a 2013 documentary on climate change activism that followed a group as they traveled through Texas, Arkansas and Washington, D.C. He’s eager to tell everyone’s stories.
“We bought a building in the Poly area and it’s being renovated right now because we wanted to be in that community — we wanted to tell the stories of the people in that community,” Gilbert said.
Cristian ArguetaSoto is the community engagement journalist at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him by email or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Noncommercial entities may republish our articles for free by following our guidelines. For commercial licensing, please email hello@fortworthreport.org.
