Merit Badge Workshop: Movie Making

MOSI is hosting a Movie Making Merit Badge Workshop on Saturday, February 20, in Tampa. It's a four-hour session that runs from 10 AM to 2 PM, and it's designed for scouts to work through the merit badge from start to finish in a single morning. The whole point is to actually make something: scouts plan, shoot, edit, and premiere their own films right there.

That's a lot to cover in four hours, but the workshop is built to handle it. The planning phase comes first, then the shooting, followed by editing, and it all wraps up with a premiere where the scouts get to see what they've put together. It's a hands-on way to walk through the basics of filmmaking—from the initial idea to the final cut—rather than just reading about it in a manual.

Running the session are counselors who are registered with the Boy Scouts of America, trained by MOSI, and certified by the BSA. They've all completed BSA Youth Protection training and come from STEM backgrounds, so they're familiar with both the technical side of the work and the requirements of the merit badge. The fee covers the hands-on activities and materials, access to digital workbooks, and a blank Blue Card. One of the better perks is that admission to the museum is included after the workshop, so you can spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the galleries once the filmmaking is done.

It's $28 per scout. If you're bringing a scout under 13, they'll need an adult chaperone—at least one for every ten scouts. The workshop runs from 10 AM to 2 PM on Saturday, February 20, at the Museum of Science and Industry.