ST. CROIX — A youth filmmaking initiative created in Frederiksted to redirect young people away from gun violence and toward the arts has grown from local red-carpet premieres into an international distribution pipeline, with films made by Virgin Islanders earning festival recognition across four continents and securing placement on six streaming platforms.
Film Over Gun Violence, or FOGV, was founded in 2023 by the Center for Educational Growth and is produced with Blue Tarp Productions and other local partners. Teenagers and young adults write, shoot, act in and crew original Virgin Islands stories before seeing their work premiere at Caribbean Cinemas on St. Croix. Four films have since traveled from those local premieres to festivals across four continents, while the program reports 19 festival outcomes during the 2025-2026 cycle.
The initiative is designed as both an arts program and a violence-prevention effort, using filmmaking to provide young people with technical skills, creative outlets and potential pathways into the entertainment industry. Participants study social issues affecting their communities, including gun violence, before moving through scriptwriting, acting, directing, cinematography, lighting, sound, editing and on-camera performance.
“We're changing the scene — redirecting youth and communities away from gun violence to the art of filmmaking,” the program states.
FOGV Director George W. Cannon III said the broader goal is to give young Virgin Islanders a platform to tell their own stories while developing skills that can carry into future careers. “Our young people have stories to tell, and filmmaking gives them a powerful way to share them while building skills they can carry into their futures. Where they come from does not limit where their creativity can take them.”
Organizers say the program is also attempting to build the foundation of a local film industry where little formal production infrastructure currently exists. Local filmmakers, actors, technicians, educators and counselors work directly with participants, while families, schools and businesses become involved as cast members, crew, locations, sponsors and audience members. The objective, according to the program, is to produce Virgin Islands stories told by Virgin Islanders, reflecting local dialect, roads, folklore and social pressures.
The process is structured around four stages: researching and reflecting on local history and social issues; writing and performing; shooting and editing; and finally premiering, distributing and discussing the finished work through festivals, school tours, streaming platforms and community events.
From St. Croix Premiere to Global Distribution
The program’s first premiere at Caribbean Cinemas sold out and required a second showing, with 17 Virgin Islands youth in the first cohort. Organizers said students not only see their films projected on a commercial cinema screen but also participate in red-carpet events, press interviews and post-screening discussions.
Among the returning participants are Solé Rogers and Darines Sanchez, who worked on Verified and Bulletproof Dreams. Ms. Rogers, a FOGV scholarship recipient, has since gone on to major in film at university and produced work during her first year that was later screened at Caribbean Cinemas.
Distribution partner FilmWorks Global has helped move the work beyond St. Croix by preparing films for professional delivery specifications and placing titles before networks and streaming services. Three platforms are currently carrying FOGV-related titles, while three additional launches are being prepared.
Fall and Verified are streaming on Fawesome, while Fall and Bottled Love are available through OG Network. Bottled Love is also streaming on Your Channel Network. Amazon, Gritz and Premiere Television Network have selected titles for upcoming release, while Tubi, YouTube TV & Movies and Vyre remain under review.
The broader slate includes eight titles associated with CFEG FOGV and Blue Tarp Productions, including Fall, Verified, Bottled Love, Bulletproof Dreams, Control, Grace, Defeat and Delilah.
Awards and Festival Recognition
The program reports 19 festival outcomes during the 2025-2026 cycle across the Caribbean, United States, Canada and Europe. Those results include awards, finalist placements, nominations and official selections.
At the 11th annual Urban Film Festival in Miami earlier this month, Verified screened at Silverspot Cinema alongside nearly 200 independent films. The delegation returned to St. Croix with two awards, for Verified and SAND.
Fall has also won Best International Narrative Short at the Urban Film Festival and received Best Short Film International and Best Caribbean Film honors at the International Black & Diversity Film Festival in Canada. Bottled Love and Verified have earned finalist placements, while the broader slate has accumulated official selections at festivals in Istanbul, Los Angeles, Trinidad and elsewhere.
Two New Productions Coming in December
FOGV is now preparing two new productions for a December 18 red-carpet premiere at Caribbean Cinemas on St. Croix.
The Goat Foot Woman is a student-made horror film inspired by Virgin Islands folklore about the cloven-hoofed woman said to walk the roads at night. Organizers describe it as the program’s first genre film and an effort to turn local oral tradition into commercial horror.
The second project, Ginger Thomas, is a mockumentary series named for the Virgin Islands’ national flower. Co-written by Angelina Lang, the project marks FOGV’s first attempt at a serialized format intended to continue beyond a single episode. Episode one is scheduled to premiere alongside The Goat Foot Woman on Dec. 18.
Behind the program is a team of Virgin Islands filmmakers and educators that includes Mr. Cannon, Diana Dias, Sansara Cannon, Kevin Moolenaar, Angelina Lang, Justin “JHodge” Hodges, Malik Gomes and CFEG founder Sandra Cannon. The release describes Blue Tarp Productions as a St. Croix-based group of independent filmmakers who work across production roles while teaching those same disciplines to students.
CFEG itself was founded in Frederiksted in 2019 by Ms. Cannon after 32 years as an educator, counselor and advocate. The nonprofit school says FOGV has become its flagship youth arts initiative, built around the idea that geography and circumstance should not determine the limits of a young person’s future.
