Phi proves the landlocked state of Oklahoma has excellent seafood options as she visits Masa Ramen & Sushi and Rococo in Oklahoma City. I love how this episode of Take A Bite with Phi turned out with the behind-the-scenes stories at these restaurants.
Expand your horizons by starting your free trial at The Show Starts Now Studios. I’ve decided to add the Uncovering Oklahoma series to The Show Start Now Studios’ streaming platform. Now you can enjoy new episodes and select timeless stories ad-free and algorithm-free! As a welcome bonus, subscribers can enjoy The Wing Episode early before YouTube. Join Apollo Woods of OKC Black Eats as we travel to three different restaurants for a focus on wings. With the Super Bowl and March Madness coming soon, now is the time to sample some places before ordering big.
Oklahoma City has a rich history in the bioscience industry and economy, dating back to organizations such as the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF). To further develop the bioscience sector in the state, a group of partners, including the Oklahoma City Chamber, came together to explore the possibility of creating a bioscience corridor between Norman, Oklahoma City, and Stillwater. However, over time, the organization recognized the need to reexamine its model and focus on external storytelling and local support.
As part of this process, the organization brought in local expert Gene Hopper of Mettise to conduct a grassroots analysis of bioscience opportunities in Oklahoma. This analysis coincided with the launch of the Economic Development Administration’s Build Back Better program, which aims to fund projects expanding capacity and addressing domestic challenges in various industries.
“Through a collaboration of many, many community partners, including the innovation district, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State University, Echo Investment Capital, I mean so many partners, I’m not going to give you all of them, but so many partners, Stephenson Cancer Center, really conceptualized eight projects we thought would sort of lend themselves to expanding the bioscience capacity of the region but also meeting some domestic challenges that we saw inhibiting Oklahoma’s growth and the nation’s growth in this space,” said Jeff Seymour, Executive Vice President of Economic Development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.
Jeff Seymour has been working in economic development since 2006. He started out studying business at a junior college in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and had the opportunity to intern at the Blackwell Chamber, where he discovered his passion for economic development and community engagement. He has held several economic development positions, including his current role as a leader of the Oklahoma City Chamber, where he leads business recruitment, helps existing businesses grow and be sustainable, and leads research on retail recruitment, aerospace support, and innovation. Seymour is particularly passionate about the work he does in innovation and inclusive economic development.
The Greater Oklahoma City Chamber is a unique organization that serves as an economic and community development leader. They go beyond the traditional role of a Chamber of Commerce and focus on economic development leadership, community development leadership, and overall community enhancement. They are an umbrella organization with various functional areas such as economic development, government relations, marketing and events, education, convention and visitors bureau, and criminal justice.
“We do a lot of things that really says, ‘What does the landscape of Oklahoma City look like today?’” said Seymour. “Where can we and should we exert influence with the power of our memberships and our investors in our community partnerships? And how can we make Central Oklahoma better?’”
As the analysis for OKBio was concluding, the EDA Build Back Better regional challenge grants had come online. Their grant proposal was successful, and the group was awarded one of 60 phase-one grants out of 529 applicants. This grant has allowed them to examine several projects further and determine which ones should move forward to phase two. The grant’s focus is primarily on capacity building in the region, aiming to promote growth in the bioscience industry.
“Four are in partnership with the University of Oklahoma,” Seymour summarized. “Those are bio startup programs, reaching deep into the community to find new founders and ideas, bringing those to market. Bioprocessing core facility, which is a partnership with the OU Engineering department to produce both a stronger talent pipeline, but also a stronger partnership between industry and the university to bring IP to the market. Center for Development Therapeutics and a clinical trial center. Those are two projects at Stephenson Cancer Center. And then a bioscience workforce, biopharmaceutical workforce training center in partnership with the innovation district that will be housed inside Innovation Hall.”
Jennifer Hankins will join Seymour from Tulsa in a panel discussion on the Build Back Better grants. Jennifer Hankins serves as Chief of Strategic Partnerships for Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL). She joined the team in January 2020 and brought with her nearly ten years of direct economic development experience. Working to convene myriad stakeholders across multiple industries, she is responsible for helping shape TIL’s strategic direction, organization, mission, investments and, in particular, is responsible for securing and managing its cross-sector partnerships with corporations, philanthropies, and other entities.
“I think what I’m hoping to share is that A, give a little bit more of a sneak peek behind-the-scenes on what’s embedded in this Build Back Better grant,” said Seymour. “What I think we’re trying to do right now is continue to foster opportunities for partnership. One of the things that has been really prevalent in our conversations around the bioscience industry is that so much of the IP and patent creation that’s occurred has been on the research side. It’s at the research institution’s side. And we really want to continue to use this as a catalyst to foster private sector partnerships.”
The panel discussion for Oklahoma Venture Forum Power Lunch members will take place on Wednesday, February 8, 2023. The event will be held at The Venue at Crew in Downtown Oklahoma City from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm and will be open to members and guests both in-person and virtually via ZOOM. Seymour said OVF is one of the vehicles for us to build community and share ideas to see and get a peek behind the tent on what’s going on in the economy.
“Everything we all do is about community,” said Seymour. “Hopefully to think about some of the things that are coming at us that are next generation. And I think a chance for us to have collaborations among funders and founders to also think about ways that we can deploy capital and support the overall ecosystem.”
Showing that science is for everyone, Pallas the Librarian interviews people in various STEM-related careers about their work, performs fun science experiments, and discusses books that have inspired our guests. The entire first season of Yes! Science! has been enhanced and is now available to stream on The Show Starts Now Studios.
Originally filmed as a live-studio audience show in 2019, the enhanced season includes improved 4k picture and audio, a new Science Facts segment, pacing editing, and new graphical elements to tell guests’ stories better. Thank you to SKELETONS: Museum of Osteology and Exhale for working with me on the new Science Facts.
I have some exciting partnerships lined up, and Pallas and I are planning to make a second season this summer. However, I’m working on acquiring funding to pay everyone, build a set for the show, have funds for a marketing budget, and all of the other fun stuff that goes into producing a bigger, better show. Subscribe to The Show Starts Now Studios to watch the newly enhanced season and help support our next season! There is also Yes! Science! merchandise available, too!
After working on New Year’s Eve for the past few years, I’m spending the holiday at home this year, so I thought I would write my annual end-of-the-year reflection.
Starting with client work, my biggest projects included arts educational lessons with the Oklahoma City Arts Council, spending a little over two weeks in Quartz Mountain filming for the Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute, producing a ton of artist interviews at Oklahoma Contemporary, writing articles for the Oklahoma Venture Forum, promoting events at the Myriad Gardens, recording audio for podcasts, and making lung health videos with Exhale (which finally launched this year).
As with 2021, client work was my main focus, but that didn’t stop me from hitting my personal goals.
The Show Starts Now Studios OTT Launched!
I’m going to start my personal recap with the launch of my biggest venture: The Show Starts Now Studios OTT! I mentioned this project in last year’s recap, and I was able to soft-launch the streaming service in October. I’m still in the soft-launch phase as I’m working on getting more of my archives updated and uploaded to the platform. Ending the year, I’ve launched Archiving Contemporary Art, Art & Victory, Creative Burgers, Colorful Escapes, Leadership Board, Take A Bite with Phi, Tales Unveiled, and Visiting Haunts. All the shows focus on expanding people’s horizons and adding adventure to their life, which I’ve been passionate about with Uncovering Oklahoma.
Take A Bite with Phi and Visiting Haunts were two brand-new shows created exclusively for the service. They are some of my best work yet. I’m extremely proud of them. We held a launch party at Rodeo Cinema to premiere the first episodes of both shows. I released three episodes of the food show and one of the spooky haunts series, and there are more episodes in my editing queue, which I’ll discuss later.
Ending the year, I have one subscriber!!! However, one is more than zero, and existing in the first place is a massive accomplishment. Once I get my backlog of videos caught up, I’ll do a massive publicity push. However, there is a ton of great content already available to watch right now, so I would love for you to subscribe as well!
According to YouTube, my videos got 48,914 views, with a watch time of 2.2k hours and 327 new subscribers in 2022. Here are the Top 10 most-watched videos from the year.
Moving forward in the new year, I plan to focus on short content (like Instagram Reels) and promoting Oklahoma stories of my other shows.
The 16th Phoenix Universe in 2022
My story-writing time got converted into video creation, but I still wrote several short stories. I focused on expanding the stories of my serials. I wrote some epic stories this year, including some modernization of some ancient works.
“You Have 3 Unread Prophecies” – A morning news show host receives three tips on his phone about the future as he spends time with his sister.
Snow Shovel Inc. – In 1992, two nine-year-old boys have an adventure filled day saving the planet, shoveling snow, and catching a criminal.
Bleeding Fear – In a fantasy world where everyone gains a power of light on their 17th birthday, a group of adventurers searches for a place to rest for the night after destroying a laboratory performing harmful experiments on people. The boutique treehouse-style hotel they do find has some secrets of its own.
Missing Memories – Rumors of children losing memory while playing on their own in the new Star Light District. After solving two mysteries, Haley “The Sounds” Riot and Robin Bee venture to the Underground Zone of Aequus to uncover the truth.
Proof of Hades – After her trip to the Underworld, Sally Wilkerson has difficulty convincing her friend of her experience until an opportunity presents itself to her as Hades and Persephone invite her to game night.
The Dragon with the Time-Traveler Tattoo – When a herd of dragons visits the small town of Valley, the mayor decides it’s his civic duty to greet them, only to get caught in a mystery.
The Horror Prompt Card – A writer is gifted with a mysterious card that will inspire them if they toss the card in a fire while sharing a scary story.
Resurrection on the Oriental Express – People from various worlds wake up on a train to solve who is reviving people from the dead in this reverse murder mystery game show.
According to Spotify, which is how I mostly listen to music, this was my 2020 soundtrack. As always, keep in mind I will often repeat a song (or playlist) when writing or for inspiration sessions. Maybe you’ll find a new favorite song!
Plans for 2023
My new year goals align with The Show Starts Now Studios. I am pushing toward giving myself a salary (even if I’m earning a modest $30,000 a year, but shooting for 50k). I want to film something outside of Oklahoma, which will most likely be for Visiting Haunts, as Jeff and I have expressed interest in doing an episode of Eureka Springs. Having the freedom to film anywhere was one of the motivations for shifting away from Oklahoma branding on the new shows. I would also love to have my first employee as Lessa has been a fantastic partner in my new filming endeavor. Got to get that subscriber count way past one to accomplish those goals. 😉
As I mentioned, I have a large video editing queue of works I plan to get on the streaming platform. While client work takes priority, I wanted to share what I have in store for you. Listings are in order by series title and then episode number.
Archiving Contemporary Art
There might be more stories for season 1 as I go through my Uncovering Oklahoma archives to see what I still have saved. One big requirement is that the artist(s) must speak about their work.
1×02 Janet O’Neal – One Thousand Tears, John Raymond Mireles – Neighbors Project, Mildred Howard
1×03 Bright Golden Haze
1×04 Between Art and Quarantine
1×03 Water and Land / Visual Poetry
1×04 Momentum 2021
1×05 Water and Land / Visual Poetry
1×06 Fieldworks – Beyond Measure
1×07 Momentum
Season 2 consists of brand-new content or contains new footage. In other words, stuff filmed with this series in mind.
2×02 Artful Inlets
2×03 Resistance, Memory, and Play – The Work of Joseph DeLappe
Jazz-Based Dance with Samantha Hayne: 04 Pas De Bourree and Pivot Step
Jazz-Based Dance with Samantha Haynes: 05 Drag Step and Tuck & Roll
Jazz-Based Dance with Samantha Haynes 06 Fan Kick and Piqué Turn
Basics of Auditions and Building a Character with Cat Pitt
Contracts with Cat Pitt
Booking A Venue for Your Production with Cat Pitt
Theatre Tech Basics with Cat Pitt
Props and Costumes with Cat Pitt
Marketing Your Local Production with Cat Pitt
Art & Victory: Sessions
Hard Edge Painting with Jason Wilson
Leadership Board
1×03 Be Sell Ready
1×04 Intellectual Property
1×05 Product Development
1×06 Money Sense
Take A Bite with Phi
1×04 Masa Ramen & Sushi and Rococo
1×05 Humankind
Tales Unveiled
Not going to list every single episode, but Tales Unveiled is on the list to be enhanced for the streaming site. Most of season 1 is already uploaded.
Yes! Science!
Before I publish the season, I will re-edit all of the episodes and include some new segments in the episode. This won’t be a simple enhancement like I did with the Art & Victory Discussions and will take more time.
1×01 Arianne Hunter
1×02 Alyssa Grooms
1×03 Lee Fithian
1×04 Elizabeth Smith
1×05 Lily Peppers
1×06 Autumn Loveless
Visiting Haunts
1×02 Stone Lion Inn and Downtown Guthrie
While there is just this one episode, I may hold off on releasing the story until I film others and can do a proper full season.
Movie
An Untitled Documentary about the Asian District (filmed part of this story and need to film more)
That’s a wrap for my end-of-the-year reflection! Thank you for following me in my various endeavors! I wish you all Happy Year’s Year and Happy Adventures!
From the La casa que nos inventamos exhibition at Oklahoma Contemporary, this interview features artist Gonzalo Lebrija. Gonzalo Lebrija discusses the public art sculpture of an American muscle car standing vertically about to hit a pool of water. The work, Breve historia del tiempo, is display outside of the building. The exhibition runs through Jan. 9, 2023. Admission is always free. More info at okcontemp.org
Watch the other videos I filmed for Oklahoma Contemporary, including interviews with more artists from Guadalajara, Mexico.
