鈥淭ime Out,鈥� released in 2023, is a feature-length dramatic film based on a story by Jalen Cater, now 18 and a junior at the Cleveland School of Science and Medicine on the John Hay campus.
Cater came up with the idea in 2022, when he was a middle schooler at Harvey Rice. At the time, coming off of the isolation from the COVID-19 outbreak, Cater was dealing with a lot of feelings from the experience.
鈥淚 couldn't go anywhere, couldn't do anything,鈥� he said. 鈥淓verything was so familiar, and it was like ... just going in circles.鈥�
He wrote down what he was feeling, not knowing it would later become a film with the help of Art of Me, a Cleveland-based nonprofit organization that works with people of all ages, but primarily youth, to tell personal stories through film, writing and podcasting.
Art of Me runs a contest each year to find student stories that they can make into films. Cater鈥檚 story was selected and produced in 2023, becoming the organization鈥檚 first feature-length film after a series of short films.
Cater鈥檚 story fit with the type of stories Art of Me Executive Director Stephanie Wahome Lassiter said they want to bring to the public.
鈥淪tories that really paint the picture of who they are and who they want to be. And at times, it's also stories of hope,鈥� she said. 鈥淯se the power of the pen, the power the pencil, the power of typing to change your ending.鈥�
Once Cater鈥檚 story was selected, he was connected to writing and production professionals who helped flesh out the script and produce the film with local crew and actors.
鈥溾�楾ime Out鈥� is a story about a high school student who is struggling to feel as though he is succeeding, doing something to make himself proud, to make his family proud as well,鈥� she said, describing the delicate nature of an adolescent in mental health crisis.
The film premiered at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 2023 and more than 400 people attended.
鈥淲atching it by myself and then watching it with others was two different things. I cried watching it myself, I did, because I was able to hone in my own emotions,鈥� Cater said.
Outside of that event, the film has largely been unavailable to the public other than Art of Me engagements, until recently coming to the free streaming channel Tubi.
鈥淲e're excited that 鈥楾ime Out鈥� is our very first feature film that is on Tubi. So we are excited for many people across the world to get a chance to see a story that just came out of Cleveland, and it connects to many of us through mental health,鈥� Lassiter said.
