Scenarios USA

Specialties

Founded in 1999, Scenarios USA is a national non-​profit organization that uses writing and film to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-​expression in students across the country, with a focus on marginalized communities.

Real Deal Education

Professional Teaching Workshops

Real Deal Common Core Aligned Curriculum

Teaching Artist Program

Real Deal Films

Thousands of students who go through the Real Deal curriculum submit stories to the Real Deal writing contest. Stories are chosen, and the young writers are partnered with acclaimed Hollywood filmmakers to transform the stories into short films for national distribution. Showtime, bet, mtv, Mundos, hbo

Real Deal Youth Leadership and Engagement

Advocacy Projects

Public Speaking Opportunities

Youth Conferences

Mentorships and Internships

We believe that by valuing youth and their stories, we strengthen academic achievement, promote civic engagement and support young people in becoming engaged citizens and healthy individuals.

History

Established in 1999.

In 1999, with support from Scenarios from the Sahel, Maura Minsky and Kristen Joiner started Scenarios USA in 2 high school classrooms, one in NYC and one in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas. Students were asked to share their ideas & write stories about coming of age in the era of AIDS. Those stories would become Scenarios USA’s first films.

Scenarios USA grew from two classrooms of 50 students to engage over 100,000 students in our REAL DEAL program in our first decade. Students have responded with an outpouring of their stories — dramatic, comic, and sometimes tragic. Those stories have gone on to engage award-​winning screenwriters and movie directors who have collaborated with the young writers to produce a growing library of films.

The REAL DEAL films get seen by an estimated 15 — 20 million a year in classrooms with lesson plans in all 50 states; they have aired on Showtime, BET, mun2, MTV, Oxygen, NYC Media’s Channel 25 and numerous cable access stations.

Meet the Business Owner

Maura M.

Business Owner

Maura Minsky is the Co-​Founder and the Executive Director of Scenarios USA, an educational non-​profit organization based in Brooklyn, NY that uses writing and the arts to foster youth leadership, advocacy and self-​expression in students across the county with a focus on marginalized communities. As a former film and television producer, Maura knows that everyone has a story that deserves to be heard and that young people need to be part of the conversation around issues that shape their lives. Scenarios USA is built on the belief that by valuing youth, listening to their opinions, and strengthening their critical thinking skills, we can promote healthy relationships and help lower the rate of HIV, STDs and pregnancy among teens.