From time to time the Grand Cinema has held special screenings of movies by local filmmakers, but according the Grand’s Executive Director Philip Cowan never for one as young as 14. That’s going to change at 10 a.m. Thursday when Tiger Paulsen’s 90-minute feature “Our Favorite History Experience” will light up a screen at the Grand.

It’s a homemade movie by a homeschooled teen from Puyallup. Written by Tiger’s mom, Sylvia, with help from Tiger, his 10-year-old sister Sydney and Katy Riddle, a 16-year-old friend of the family, “History Experience” is a mini-epic based on the hugely popular line of American Girl dolls. Sylvia says she teaches a class called American Girl Theater, and the movie was a logical outgrowth of the course.

It is indeed an epic, spanning the years 1764 to 1944 and telling the stories of the historical dolls from most of the eras covered by the series of best-selling books based on the characters. Daughter Sydney is a huge fan, and Sylvia said she conceived the idea of doing the movie as “a way to involve both her and her friends and my moviemaking son.” Close to 25 kids ranging in ages from 3 to 16 were in the cast, many from Sylvia’s American Girl class. Sylvia made more than 20 costumes.

They shot in the Paulsen home, at Sunset Lake Youth Camp in Wilkeson and at the historic Meeker Mansion in Puyallup. The filming at the mansion was the high point of the weeks-long production period. “The girls enjoyed making hand-cranked ice cream and playing croquet in the Meeker gardens,” Sylvia says.

The movie was shot with a Sony camcorder. Tiger edited it on his home iMac. It wasn’t the first picture he’s made. He’s been shooting short films for the past three years including one featuring animated clay characters. He shot an earlier American Girl movie last year featuring children from his mom’s class. “The kids all had so much fun they begged me to do it again,” Sylvia said. So they did.