CHARLOTTE, N.C. /Sept 10, 2026 - Johnson C. Smith University welcomed writer, director and producer Mark E. Swinton to campus Sept. 10, 2026, for an early screening of Route 187 , a new series produced through Tyler Perry Studios for Paramount+.
JCSU senior Communication Arts major Jasmine Woosley played a central role in bringing the event to campus. As a member of the 2026 Storytellers Lab cohort, Woosley gained hands-on experience working behind the scenes on major projects and collaborating with Tyler Perry Studios on Route 187 . Woosley helped organize the JCSU screening with Tyler Bunzey and the University’s Cultural Studies Program.
“Being in Storytellers Lab has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Woosley said. “We’ve gotten a chance to learn what it really means to work behind the scenes on huge projects. I’m just glad that I got to bring it to my campus at JCSU.”
Ti-Shea Meadows, founder of Storytellers Lab, said the organization partnered with Tyler Perry Studios and Paramount+ on grassroots marketing for Route 187, with much of the work led by student interns serving as program ambassadors.
“It’s all about giving that access and those opportunities,” Meadows said.
Swinton, senior vice president of Tyler Perry Studios and Executive Producer of several Madea movies and more, joined students and members of the University community for a talkback in the JCSU New Science Center following the screening. The conversation offered an inside look at the four-episode pilot presentation while exploring the persistence, creative vision and professional relationships required to move a project from idea to execution, from the first cut to the silver screen.
Meadows and Eazy the Block Captain helped facilitate the event’s opening conversation. During the talkback, Swinton described Route 187 as a dramatic examination of the challenges confronting an urban community.
“ Route 187 is a television series about a very dangerous bus route that goes through a very difficult community that is suffering from all of the social ills plaguing our society today,” Swinton said.
During the conversation, Swinton reflected on his 18 years as an executive at Tyler Perry Studios, where he has helped produce numerous television programs, films and stage productions. While the tone of Route 187 is urban with an edge, he found inspiration in years of work with Perry’s productions.
After performances, Swinton would return to his hotel room and watch reporters on the screen. They often stood in distressed communities and recounted stories of violence and communities in crisis. Although the landscapes changed, the stories remained the same.
Those recurring reports prompted Swinton to look beyond individual tragedies and consider the larger circumstances affecting urban communities across the country. That reflection eventually became the foundation for Route 187 . Its title carries deliberate weight: The number 187 can be associated with homicide in police precincts. The number symbolizes the bus route and conjures storylines steeped in danger.
Students, through the Storytellers Lab, were able to soak up the lessons in each production decision. Swinton wanted to introduce filmmaking to aspiring writers, producers, and directors at historically Black Colleges and Universities like JCSU.
“The wonderful people of Johnson C. Smith University invited me to come and talk to the students here,” Swinton said. “This was also put together with a group called Storytellers, which is an incredible group of storytellers from HBCUs—up-and-coming filmmakers.”
Eazy the Block Captain was on site at JCSU, too. He said the series captured experiences and circumstances that he recognized from his own community. Its authenticity left him with questions for Swinton about how the writer developed characters and situations that felt so familiar. JCSU Students faculty and staff were able to watch the first episode of Route 187, a sneak peek from the comfort of the New Science Auditorium.
“It was so relatable—you could actually live it,” Eazy said. “You could go outside and say, ‘That happened before.’”
Route 187 is streaming now on Paramount Plus.
