Hutchins rolls out red carpet for Lodi students
Students debut ‘Twilight Zone’ homage filmed under tutelage of filmmaker Joey Travolta
Lodi — It’s 6 p.m. on a Monday, and white limousines pull up to the Hutchins Street Square, carrying students from Lodi Unified School District’s high schools, all dressed to the nines in elegant evening gowns, stylish suits and dignified tuxedos. These are the graduates of Joey Travolta’s Inclusion Film Work Shop, and they stroll down the red carpet to thunderous applause from friends and family, some coming from as far as San Luis Obispo in the case of one grandmother. Wherever they come from, they’re here tonight to celebrate the premiere of several short films made by the students.
Founded in 2007 by Joey Travolta, older brother of actor John Travolta, Inclusion Films holds workshops across California to teach filmmaking to children and adults with developmental disabilities. Through the process of filmmaking, the students learn skills such as teamwork, leadership, self-advocacy to empower them to enter the workforce and live independent lives.
Inclusion Films offers two main types of courses: short film camps in spring and summer for teens and adults with high functioning autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and longer vocational film workshops for adults.
During a two-week period, campers work together to write scripts, act in and direct short films, with camps taking place across the United States.
In the semester-long vocational film workshops, adult students develop and shoot a thesis film, along with smaller video assignments. The goal of these workshops is to prepare students to work in film and media, along with teaching them independent living skills.
The vocational workshops currently only take place in California, with offices located in Bakersfield, Livermore and Sacramento, where they partner with Futures Explored, as well as San Diego and San Bernardino, where they work closely with Options For All (formerly Employment and Community Options). Both Futures Explored and Options For All provide life skills and job training to adults with developmental disabilities.
Monday marked Inclusion Films’ second visit to Lodi, having debuted in the area last year for a shorter one-week session. Although this year’s program is larger than last year’s, with about 50 students from Lodi Unified high schools participating, the goal remains the same: teach students the confidence and life skills they need to find themselves while learning to make a film.
In keeping with the program’s dedication to inclusivity, students from both general and special education backgrounds sacrificed their two week spring break to collaborate on their own short films for a “Twilight Zone” parody titled “The Bizarre Zone,” inspired by Joey Travolta’s love of the old science fiction series.
They also filmed several public service announcements (PSAs) about random acts of kindness for a fictional television channel, the Sci Why Fi Network, to be shared with local elementary schools in the future. The six-minute short films share a common theme of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), along with the stipulation that each film must use specific props bought at Walmart.
The list of props includes a magic eight ball, a calculator, a miniature robot, a toy car and a portable speaker that responds to vocal commands. Even the plastic bag that the items came in, and at times the receipt, were used.
Joey Travolta first brought Inclusion Films to Lodi in 2016 at the request of Liz Zastrow, a LUSD program coordinator who helps set up career and vocational training to special education students in the school district. Zastrow, who had seen Travolta give keynote speeches at conferences that she organized, chose his program because she was impressed with his passion for helping children, describing him as a true teacher at heart.
Travolta, who holds a degree in special education from William Paterson University in New Jersey, takes pictures with all of the students as they enter, taking a brief rest to answer questions.
“Lodi kind of picked me,” Travolta said of his decision to host workshops in the city. “It’s a great city with some great kids.”
Travolta also announced that Inclusion Films will return to Lodi on June 19 for a week-long program called “Camp Kindness,” building off of the message of this session’s PSA.
Copies of this year’s films are available on DVD, and a link for online viewing will be up and running shortly. For more information, contact Liz Zastrow at 209-3317086.