Oklahoma's Own Tanner Ray On His Filmmaking With Projects Like 'Connecting the Dots'

Tanner Ray is a documentarian who grew up in Dewey, Oklahoma. 

He first picked up a camera when he was about 8 years old. His film “An Oklahoma Summer,” premiered at the Admiral Twin Theater last year. 

Tanner Ray dropped by the Arca Continental Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages Porch to talk about his new web series, “Connecting the Dots” which he just launched on YouTube. 

Great to see you Tanner, I understand that a lot of people know you as "Wicked Stew" as well.

Yeah, yeah. A few people know me as that.

You launched this new web series "Connecting the Dots" on YouTube. Tell us what the series is about.

“Connecting the Dots” is a documentary series about my transition period from childhood to adulthood and all the things that shaped me into the person I am today. It takes place from ages 18 to 21.

How long have you been documenting your life?

As long as I can remember, ever since I got a camera in my hands, some of the oldest videos I’ve found were from 2011 when I was 8 years old.

What is it about filmmaking that you love?

I love being able to communicate a feeling without saying a single word. “Show, don’t tell” is something I try to implement when I can.

Another film of yours, "An Oklahoma Summer premiered at Admiral Twin. Can you tell what that project was like?

After graduating high school and spending time away from home, I returned and realized that all my friends were gone, leaving me feeling super lonely. To cope with that, I decided to make a film about trying to make new friends in rural Oklahoma.

I ended up trying to make friends in a bunch of weird, unconventional ways, which didn’t really work. Right when I was about to give up on the film, I met a group of redneck kids, "the truck kids," who adopted me for the summer, and we became good friends. I spent a year working on the film, and just before hitting the post button, something didn’t feel right. It was such a genuine story that I had poured everything into it.

I felt like it deserved more than me just clicking upload. A friend of mine asked what was stopping me from calling every movie theater in Oklahoma until one agreed to premiere the film. So that’s exactly what I did. I got a lot of no’s, and a few maybe’s, and eventually, Blake Smith from Admiral Twin got back to me and loved the idea.

I ended up inviting everyone I knew and premiered the film there. Most of the kids in the film had no clue they were even being filmed, so it was really cool to see their reactions when they saw themselves on screen. That premiere made me realize that this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Do you have a new project on the horizon? 

I do. On August 17th, I will be posting a brand new film titled “A Message to My High School Principal.”

That film will be a part of a short marathon with two other filmmakers. It debuts on YouTube