Video series reveals a love for Shreveport
A project by a local film team in coordination with the Downtown Development Authority is set to raise interest in downtown Shreveport through a new mini-documentary video series that will be published online throughout the summer.
The series will highlight local business, restaurants, locations, public events and personalities with the overall goal of raising interest in the downtown area and showing people in this region and around the world all Shreveport has to offer.
Liz Swaine, executive director of the Downtown Development Authority, conceived the project in February after seeing a video created by film director Chris Lyon for Day Old Blues Records, a vinyl record store located downtown at 609 Texas St.
“It really nailed what he was trying to do and what it was all about. I thought, ‘we need that for Shreveport but bigger and expanded to show off our city and how fabulous it is,’” Swaine said.
Swaine said the DDA and the film team put a great deal of thought into whom and what to feature that would exhibit the best of Shreveport. The first video in the series is currently on YouTube at “DowntownShreveport,” and is titled, “Sevendipity Cafe: Downtown’s Delicious Little Secret.”
“The subject matter for the videos will focus on why people are drawn to downtown and the vibe there and what makes it a great place to be,” Swaine said. “It’s really about bigger stories than just one individual business or specifically promoting just that. These are individuals who discovered a home and friends and community. This is what’s special and unique downtown. You get things there you don’t get anywhere else.”
The videos are being produced and shot by Chris Lyon and Mindy Bledsoe, who met while working together on “Haynesville,” a documentary about the Haynesville Shale.
“This will give people a bigger look around downtown Shreveport and identify it as a place where people can not only do business but they can shop and do so much more,” said Lyon, who has been in the film industry in Shreveport since 2005. “There will be a whole video, for example, about the music culture, where music happens, the styles played there and when it’s available and who is involved. ... This shows the opportunity and the culture mixed in with the individuals and their businesses.
“Most of this will be by word of mouth,” he added. “We’re hoping this will activate the community to promote itself and what it offers. The success of this hinges on people’s willingness to share what they enjoy.”
The target audience is the social media crowd, and there will be about 10 to 12 videos posted to the page over the summer. Some of the other subjects currently lined up for the series include film centers and art galleries, the West Edge music culture and the Texas Avenue Makers’ Fair and Farmers’ Market.
Each episode will be about five to six minutes, Lyon said.
“It’s tough to keep people’s attention. If you want to stay in the social scene online, you have to say it quick, between three and five minutes. We anticipate having a little give with that since this is local and people will have more interest,” he said.
The project is being funded through the DDA and a British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon grant. The videos are being posted as they are completed on a new Downtown Shreveport Channel on YouTube.
“There are some wonderful business and cultural events happening downtown that should be putting Shreveport on the map,” Bledsoe said. “The series is a reminder that there are all these amazing things going on and they need to be part of it.
“We all love our community and what it offers, but we want it to grow. We’re very excited, and we’ll be opening some people’s eyes to things they didn’t even know about downtown.”
To see the videos, go to “DowntownShreveport” on YouTube. You can also check out behind-the-scenes looks on Lyon’s blog at www.chrisplyon. com.
– Eric Lincoln
