Travolta Brother Starts Film School: Actor to Open School for Adults with Development Issues
Actor Joey Travolta, older brother to John Travolta, announced plans to open a film school this September that will cater to the developmentally disabled.
After attempting a summer film camp over the recent months, Joey Travolta has announced that he will open a new film school in Sacramento, California that caters to adults developmentally challenged. Speaking about the summer camp experience, Travolta said that the idea of the camp was to develop a film through a collaborative process, teaching kids skills for teamwork.
"It's more than just a film-making camp. We create a safe environment to communicate, collaborate and produce something to share. When our campers see the finished product at the red carpet screening, they have a sense of accomplishment as well as community. It gives them a voice," he said of the summer camp held in Pittsburg.
In conjunction with Inclusion Films, the new film course will extend for a period of 20 weeks. Described as a vocational, the class with serve as an introduction to the film world. Travolta has already set up Inclusion Films workshops in Burbank, Livermore and Bakersfield.
The class description states: "Inclusion Films Practical Film Workshop is a 20 week vocational program designed to provide adults with developmental disabilities an initial entry-level working knowledge of film production and related industries and then build those skills over subsequent 20 week workshops."
Travolta earned a degree in special education and worked as a teacher before spending time on his acting career. The new film school will be Travolta's first attempt at a permanent set up.
The former actor began his entertainment career in 1978 as a recording artist on Casablanca Records. The following year he made his acting debut starring in the feature film Sunnyside for Filmways Productions. As a director he has worked with talent like Eddie Murphy and Sylvester Stallone.