The Aviary is a senior thesis short film from students of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
ABOUT THE AVIARY
Kidnapped from her bed in the middle of the night, sixteen-year-old Naomi is driven hundreds of miles to a remote wilderness program, with a methodology that's as incoherent as it is catastrophic.
Behind The Story
Throughout their upbringings in the California Bay Area, both Tatum and Amelie saw numerous peers be taken to Wilderness Programs throughout the country, and come back completely changed. When one of Amelie’s close childhood friends told their story publicly for the first time, she was exposed to the negative methodologies of these programs, and realized these survivor’s stories needed to come to light. The team brought on the talented writer (and friend), Aiden Carere, to write the script. Pulling from first hand testimonies by former survivors and parents –as well as various documentaries and exposés on the programs– Aiden created the character of Naomi. As a 16 year-old struggling with a drug addiction, Naomi is sent to a remote Wilderness Program, where she is exposed to the insensible and destructive practices of the camp programmers.
Unfortunately, Naomi represents one of over 6,000 adolescents taken yearly to wilderness programs for a minimum of three months, most often under involuntary and sometimes unsafe conditions. The troubled teen industry racks up over 1 billion dollars in revenue across their multiple forms of “rehabilitation” per annum. Furthermore, after making it through these wilderness programs, kids are often taken to a therapeutic boarding school, where conditions become more severe (testimonies from survivors can be found here). Influential members of society such as Paris Hilton, Kat Von D, and Misha Osherovich have also courageously told their stories, and our film aims to add to this wave of support for those affected by these camps.
Unfortunately, Naomi represents one of over 6,000 adolescents taken yearly to wilderness programs for a minimum of three months, most often under involuntary and sometimes unsafe conditions. The troubled teen industry racks up over 1 billion dollars in revenue across their multiple forms of “rehabilitation” per annum. Furthermore, after making it through these wilderness programs, kids are often taken to a therapeutic boarding school, where conditions become more severe (testimonies from survivors can be found here). Influential members of society such as Paris Hilton, Kat Von D, and Misha Osherovich have also courageously told their stories, and our film aims to add to this wave of support for those affected by these camps.
Our goal in creating this short film is to shed light on the negative impacts of Wilderness Programs and the traumatic effects they have on youth’s mental and physical well being.
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