TCU’s Documentary Production course pairs student filmmaking with work for Fort Worth organizations. Charity Robinson launched the course in 2016, and its documentaries serve as service-learning projects, according to TCU Magazine.
The course is limited to 12 students, who take on five leadership roles or join production and marketing teams. Films made in the class have received festival prizes, aired on Texas public television and gained recognition from the Broadcast Education Association, the magazine reports.
A class project focused on Create + Collaborate
One project, Trailblazers: The Create + Collaborate Story, is a 19-minute, 41-second documentary made by TCU students. It screened at the Lone Star Film Festival, the Fort Worth Report reported. TCU’s student work archive says the film also premiered at the BLUU Auditorium during the university’s First Gen Week.
The film features Create + Collaborate, the nonprofit Ricquel Archer founded in 2020 to support first-generation college students. The organization serves more than 200 students at 52 college campuses, according to the Fort Worth Report. Its account also reports that Archer had mentored student Darius Ford since his senior year of high school and that the documentary follows the nonprofit and the students it supports.
Production and story choices
The Fort Worth Report reported that Robinson invited Archer’s organization to take part in the project. TCU students filmed Create + Collaborate activities from late 2024 through spring 2025. Jonathan Stokx directed the documentary and Evan Vaslow wrote it; the two revised it several times as they shaped the film around the organization and its community rather than a single student’s account, the outlet reported.
The Fort Worth Report also reported that the film’s title drew on language used by people interviewed for the documentary. Those details, along with the reporting about Archer and the nonprofit, remain based on that outlet’s original reporting.
