Tea Talks With Tomeka

Emelyn Stuart is the first Black Latino to own a movie theater in Brooklyn, "Stuart Cinema and Cafe." Emelyn’s a business woman that loves the arts. She has a background in real estate and business. A friend presented her with a script and she signed on as a producer. She caught the bug and gained a passion to help filmmakers to life. After going to many festivals, she started a film festival, “Ocktober Film Festival.” She want this festival to be about the filmmakers. That later inspired her to open a movie theater, “Stuart Cinema and Cafe.” The model and concept of the theater is to allow independent filmmakers to make money when they screen their movies. Despite her ambition, she faced several challenges in getting investors to buy into her concept for this movie theater. She refused to take no for an answer so she liquidated her assets and birthed her vision and built “Stuart Cinema & Cafe.” It worked out better than Emelyn envisioned because she has total creative control. In addition to screening mo