By Don Bradley
Something about being invited back to the old elementary school can turn an adult back into a kid.
Take Morgan Cooper. He’s a successful Hollywood producer who’s written a new children’s book and the plan was for him to show up at Martin City Elementary and read to first graders.
He was late and his mom had to get up and do the reading for him. Now, tardy — that’s going back to school.
“My son, Morgan, went to school here a long time ago and sat right where you’re sitting,” Janet Smith told the class gathered in the library.
The kids didn’t mind the stand-in. And when Cooper did show (stuck in traffic), he wowed the first-graders with his tale of Nora Rose, a little girl who decided to make a movie because her grandpa hadn’t been feeling well and couldn’t go to the theater anymore.
The story of the children’s book “I Can Make a Movie”, released last week, began, he told the kids, with a vision.
“Vision is the most important thing you will have in your life — not just your eyes but your heart,” he said.
Worked for him.
He was driving on U.S 71 highway one day a few years ago when he had an idea.
Okay, a vision.
How about a reimagining of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, the hit comedy starring Will Smith that ran six seasons in the 90s.
Only instead of a comedy, this would be a drama.
He pulled off the highway, found a coffee shop and scribbled down his idea. He then spent $25,000 of his own money to make a video short of his vision.
Went viral. Will Smith — the fresh prince himself, saw it. And he liked it.
“Bel-Air” begans its fourth season Nov. 24 on Peacock.
Cooper is listed in the credits as creator, writer and producer. Another producer of the show: Will Smith.
Cooper, 33, is also an award-winning filmmaker and is getting ready to direct his first feature film. He said he’s also in talks with Amazon about a project.
He finished Martin City Middle School in 2006 and attended high school in Lee’s Summit.
After graduation, foregoing college because he knew what he wanted to do, he bought a Canon T2i and went to work shooting low-budget music videos and even a few weddings.
Then came the vision of “Bel-Air.”
But even Hollywood bright lights don’t diminish the feeling of walking into the old school.
“It was incredible to retrace those steps and have all those memories flood back,” Cooper said.
He settled in with the kids and librarian Tiesa Smith and he told them about imagination and the power of “made up stories.”
Like some of the books in the library. He told the class about when he was there and read titles like Captain Underpants and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.
“My favorite part about filmmaking is I get to be a story-teller –to give a glimpse into other worlds,” he told the kids.”
Later, after the class, Cooper talked about why he wrote the book. He knows how much time kids spend on phones these days.
“Information overload,” he said.
So, his book is about a little girl who uses her phone to actually make something.
“Cell phones are movie-making machines,” he said. “Nora made a movie and did it connecting with her family.”
He gave the class a copy of the book and they gave him hugs.
As for his mother reading the book until he got there–“She probably did a better job than I would have.”
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