Located on Lancaster Avenue in West Philadelphia, the Scribe Video Center functions as a neighborhood laboratory for anyone interested in visual storytelling. Since its opening, the nonprofit has welcomed novices and seasoned creators alike, offering everything from equipment rentals to intensive workshops. Its mission is simple yet ambitious: turn personal experience into documentary articulation and use film as a catalyst for civic dialogue.
History and mission of Scribe Video Center
Louis Massiah, a Philadelphia filmmaker, launched Scribe in 1980 after seeing a gap between the city’s talent pool and the resources available in Boston and New York. Early on the center operated out of free space at the Brandywine Workshop on South Broad Street while Massiah kept a full-time producer role at WHYY. By the early 2000s the organization moved to a modest location near 13th and Cypress streets, and in 2018 it settled into its current, purpose-built venue on Lancaster Avenue. Massiah describes the space as “fundamentally a teaching institution” that gives people both equipment and the collective knowledge needed to tell their own stories.
Hands-on programs that train the next generation
Today Scribe runs a slate of programs that cater to a wide age range. The flagship Film Scholars Program guides adults through a 14-week production cycle, covering everything from planning to post-production. Ashley Whiteside, a therapist-social worker, entered the program in fall 2025 and calls it her “community MFA.” She says, “Scribe is a community place that’s open and available for any person who is interested in telling a story” and adds, “They will always be able to support you.” Whiteside is now crafting a documentary titled Dutiful Daughters about her relationship with her father.
Youth initiatives such as the Documentary History Project for Youth let high-schoolers like Kamani Bright actually shoot, edit, and interview subjects. Bright, now in his fifth year, is producing a film about Tustin Playground in West Philadelphia and dreams of one day working like Spike Lee. The center also welcomes senior creators; activist educator Willa Cofield began filming in her late 70s and has completed three documentaries about Enfield, North Carolina, while legally blind filmmaker David Block has produced a dozen works after taking Scribe workshops.
Funding, grants, and success stories
Independent filmmakers often wrestle with financing, a hurdle that Scribe actively helps to bridge. In 2023, emerging documentarian Kim Dinh arrived with a concept titled American Worker: The Labor to Belong but no technical background. After enrolling in Scribe classes, Dinh received a $2,500 planning grant that funded interview travel, followed by a $3,500 finishing grant for motion-graphics and composition work. Reflecting on the experience, Dinh said, “It’s a bit crazy” and added, “It did feel a little crazy.” The filmmaker credits the center’s existence as the reason the project ever materialized.
Scribe’s budget is a patchwork of local foundations—including the William Penn Foundation, Wyncote Foundation, and People’s Media Fund—public arts agencies such as the National Endowment for the Arts and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and contributions from individual donors. Although NEA and NEH funding were reduced during the Trump administration, the center later regained support at a modest level. Massiah emphasizes that “the people the people who teach at Scribe, and the people who come to learn at Scribe” constitute the greatest asset, a resource that never appears on a balance sheet.
Beyond workshops and grants, Scribe strives to keep film’s civic power alive. Massiah notes that while he enjoys movies at multiplexes and streaming services, “film has a civic value film has a community-building value.” By providing space, mentorship, and modest financial aid, the center ensures that stories—from a veteran worker’s labor narrative to a teenager’s playground portrait—remain part of Philadelphia’s cultural fabric.
