In Joey Travolta Film Camp at OU, Kids Find Rhythm, Make Movies

Inside a bright and airy atrium on the campus of , a Travolta is leading a group of 50 students in an early morning dance party.

But this is no disco. And, to clarify, it's Joey Travolta — not his Grease-is-the-Word brother, John.

And as much as you may want to make this a story about the Hollywood name and his dance moves, it's really about the kids he's teaching to love the art of film.

'Kids with autism teach us'

Joey Travolta is the director of Inclusion Films, a movie-making workshop for children and adults with developmental disabilities. It's based in California, but Travolta and a staff of nine travel the country to bring two-week intensive camps to settings like the Oakland University Center for Autism Research, Education and Support (also known as OUCARES). 

This is Travolta's seventh summer film camp at OU.

"To do this every two weeks in a different city — that's what this is all about," said Travolta, 61, who wears dark glasses and knows each of his students, and many of their parents, by name. "Kids with autism teach us. They make us better people.

"They teach us tolerance and patience."

Travolta's big screen credits include directing (Vegas Vice, Enemies of Laughter), acting (Beverly Hills Cop III) and even singing (he appeared on Donnie and Marie). He is John's older brother. But before Hollywood, he was a special education teacher.

"This is a way for me to be able to be creative and to be able to help kids at the same time," he said.

Travolta first started Inclusion Films as a side project. He has since built it into a growing network of programs supporting individuals with special needs.

Dancing and filming

Travolta's mission is a perfect match for OUCARES. Director Kathy Sweeney said the film camp is so popular there's a waiting list soon after the camp fills up each spring. The cost is $700 per student. 

"It's all about collaboration," Sweeney said. "It's so rewarding for these kids, and most of them come back year after year and make friends." 

OUCARES provides innovative programs for teachers, programming and counseling for individuals and their families living with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Over the past six years, OUCARES has served more than 1,150 families through different programs (including ).

For the film camp, kids ages 10 to 20 spend five hours every day on the OU campus learning about movie-making. Travolta's staff includes cameramen, editors and teachers. But his own vision and imprint is on everything they do — right down to the way the day beings.

"There's a rhythm to music, just like there's a rhythm to life and a rhythm to film-making," said Travolta.

That's why he starts each morning with 20 minutes of dancing. On this particular morning, the soundtrack is Black Eyed Peas and Katy Perry. He dances alongside the students as they find their rhythm before beginning the day's work.

The film they're making is a combination of 60 Minutes and Entertainment Tonight, Travolta said. Some of the kids are cast as news anchors, and they interview kids cast as movie stars from popular films.

Jackson Montano, a 13-year-old camper from Troy, is cast as "Mrs. Doubtfire."

"This is his first year of the camp and he loves it," said Jackson's mom, Dawn Montano. "He loves movies more than anything. This is a such a great program."

Rose Polzien's son Adam, 19, of Sterling Heights has been coming to the camp for five years. She agreed with Montano. "Adam looks forward to these two weeks every year," she said.

"And Joey is so wonderful. Especially with his background being in special education, he is really someone who understands them. He gets it."

Learn more about OUCARES at www.oakland.edu/oucares/ 

Joey Travolta returns to OU on Oct. 27 for the camp's film premiere. The public is welcome to attend; tickets are $25 a person. To purchase tickets click here.