Pickerington High School North senior Justen Turner is like any other high school student. He earns stellar grades, runs track and plays in the orchestra, but there are two things that set him apart from others. First, his signature dreadlocks, and second, the quickly expanding list of award-winning and nationally renowned short films that he and his brother, Julien Turner, have written, directed, filmed and released through their film studio, Dreadhead Films.
Dreadhead Films is Turner’s creation, an ambitious idea turned burgeoning reality that allows him and his brother to stretch their creativity to new heights, improve their storytelling and cinematography skills, and actualize their ultimate goal with each film they produce – to make movies with a message.
“Me and my brother just want to inspire and uplift the viewers,” says Turner. “We want to do that through telling honest stories and portraying social issues that we see in the community.”
He wants every viewer to take something away from his films, whether it’s confidence and inspiration or an important lesson about social issues that impact black communities.
“We don’t want to alienate others through our stories,” he says. “We want to portray the message to them so they can have a better understanding of what a lot of African Americans go through.”
Justen Turner and his brother (left), Julien, created and run Dreadhead Films.
A Life-changing Action
With the dedication Turner shows, you’d think that making movies had always been his dream, but the 17-year-old didn’t realize his passion for filmmaking until his teenage years. He says that it slowly grew on him over the years as he created high school football game recaps every season, new short films that cast his talented classmates and eventually, one-minute-long educational segments for Sesame Street.
“There wasn’t necessarily pressure to become (a filmmaker), but I enjoyed it, and it was something every year I continued to do,” says Turner, “and I was like, ‘If I’m good at this now, if I keep working, then I can get a head start on it while I’m young.’”
And Turner’s already had quite the head start. His first high-production short film, iWitness Christmas, a light-hearted Christmas story about a Santa-themed extra credit assignment, garnered immense support from family, friends, community members and Lakeview Junior High, whose administrators allowed him and his crew to film in the building during winter break.
His biggest supporter and greatest inspiration is his mother, Dr. Cynthia Turner. Recently, she put together a special screening of the film that made Turner realize that filmmaking is his calling. He recalls posing for pictures in front of the custom-made iWitness Christmas poster on a small red carpet with family and friends at a local Marcus Cinema, and sitting down in the cozy theater chairs to watch his movie on the big screen.
“When (my mom) did that, I was like, ‘Okay. I’m a filmmaker now,’” says Turner.
Justen Turner (right) working on a cinematography project.
Dreaming of the Future
While Turner has already achieved much success, he’s excited for what the future holds for him and Dreadhead Films. After high school, he hopes to attend a film school – namely the University of Southern California or the University of California, Los Angeles – or a historically black college or university like Morehouse College to major in marketing or creative writing with a minor in film.
As for the future of his film career, the best is yet to come. With the success of their superhero short film, Nia’s Shadow – which screened at TCL Chinese Theatre on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this fall – he and his brother hope to produce their passion project and first feature film, Nia Knight.
As for the recent short film, an action-packed, superhero prequel to Nia Knight inspired by the Turner brothers’ love for superhero movies, it introduces the title character, a young black woman with superpowers.
“We were really able to put what we’ve been dreaming of onto film,” he says. “This is a culmination of everything that we’ve been working toward since we were younger.”
He says that working on this project and getting to create his very own superhero was a dream come true. Hopefully, the feature film will prove to be that dream come true and fulfill Turner’s goal of being a major source of empowerment and representation for everyone who sees it.
Young Justen Turner capturing content for the local high school football game recaps.
Aiming for the Stars
While Turner is grateful for the opportunity to work with a strong cast of professional and acclaimed actors for his latest project, Nia’s Shadow, he’s also excited to expand his network to include some of his favorite actors and actresses as he creates future projects and grows in popularity.
Members of his Dream Cast
Mahershala Ali - “We love his work. Me and my brother were super psyched when we found out he was playing Blade in the upcoming Marvel media.”
- Jake Gyllenhaal
- Viola Davis - “She’s always been someone that we’ve looked up to because me and my brother both used to watch How to Get Away with Murder.”
- Tom Hardy
- Tessa Thompson
- Chadwick Boseman
- Joaquin Phoenix
- Zendaya
- Lakeith Stanfield
Tatyana Tandanpolie is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemedigroup.com.
