NOTEBOOK B Y MORGAN PHILLIP S A ND JULIE WENGER WATS ON
Voices of Oklahoma
FILM OFFICE AMPLIFIES NATIVE VOICES
TULSAN CATCHES BIG WIN
— Robin Siegfried, co-owner and former co-CEO of the Nordam Group “Voices of Oklahoma” is an oral history project founded by John Erling in 2009. Visit voicesofoklahoma.com. 16
TulsaPeople JUNE 2019
A LOCAL FACE FOR NASA Cherokee Nation citizens Ashley Andoe, Amanda Clinton and Jennifer Loren of the Cherokee Nation Film Office at Netflix studios in Hollywood, California
Storytelling — communicating heritage and history from one generation to the next — has always been a cornerstone of Cherokee culture. The new Cherokee Nation Film Office (CNFO) provides another avenue to share those stories, while promoting northeast Oklahoma and cultivating Native American filmmaking. According to Amanda Clinton, Cherokee Nation Businesses’ vice president of communications, the CNFO has been busy since its launch in January, meeting with Netflix, consulting on film and TV projects, and even finding authentic photos of former Chief Wilma Mankiller for use on the film set of “The Glorias,” a biopic about the life of Mankiller’s good friend, social/political activist Gloria Steinem. Inspired by the success of the award-winning “Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People,” a TV series created, produced and hosted by Jennifer Loren and co-created and co-produced by Clinton, the office wants to provide an outlet and incubator for indigenous talent. The CNFO is working on a database of Native American filmmakers to connect with producers and directors filming in the state and plans to hold workshops to help Cherokees learn the industry. “As more indigenous filmmakers get the opportunity to exercise their skills, more native voices are amplified in a way they never have been before,” Clinton says. The office has already assisted on numerous projects including movies, TV ads, podcasts and plays, with more in the works. — JULIE WENGER WATSON
Cheyenne Smith was named a NASA Solar System Ambassador earlier this year through a program that works with volunteers across the nation to share the latest science and discoveries of NASA’s missions through events that inspire their communities. Smith, an entrepreneur and program assistant at Tulsa Artist Fellowship, will spend her year focusing on minorities in the field of astronomy and astronomy’s applications for astrobiology. She also will host events throughout the year dedicated toward NASA’s astrobiology program, careers in astronomy and the importance of space exploration. “I want to encourage more individuals in minority communities to get interested and involved in the field of astronomy,” Smith says. “I’ve been a space cadet since I was a little girl. My curiosity about life on other worlds sparked my interest.”
VOICES: COURTESY; CHEROKEE FILM: AMANDA CLINTON; UPSHAW: KYLE WOOD/FLW; SMITH: VALERIE WEI-HAAS
“ … One of my standard questions to the customer was, ‘Who is your worst vendor?’ I’d ask numerous airlines this, and they’d always say the same few vendors that they didn’t like because their quality or their service wasn’t any good, or whatever their problem was. … So we go out and develop another, better method for that product or buy the company or merge it or something. And so many of our products we found in the marketplace; we were not engineers that invented a widget.”
Fishing pro Andrew Upshaw of Tulsa won the Fishing League Worldwide Tour on April 14 at Cherokee Lake in Tennessee. Upshaw’s four-day cumulative total of 20 bass weighing 67 pounds, 10 ounces, earned him the first win of his FLW Tour career and $100,000.