Los Angeles teens act in their own television show

Web posted on:
Tuesday, December 22, 1998 4:04:50 PM EST

From Correspondent Dennis Michael

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- An innovative new program in Hollywood is using the magic of television to help kids get interested in reading and writing.

Called "The Story Project," it was created by actress Dina Merrill and her husband Ted Hartley, head of RKO Pictures. Offered as a series of classes at the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the program teaches young people how to conceive, write and produce their own TV show.

"We're not trying to develop people here for the entertainment industry necessarily," says Merrill. "This is just the hook that we're using to get them interested in writing, in reading and being literate. And it's working."

The class -- assisted, Hartley says, by "a number of writers and directors" in Hollywood -- follows a 16-class syllabus, getting students to keep journals while putting their project together.

"I'm doing better in English now since I've been in this program," says Dana Walters, a student in the project. "It has helped me with my poetry as well as writing scripts."

"With 'The Story Project,' it's a chance for me to put my creativity out there for everybody to see," says student Daquita Bailey.

The classes range from photography to improvisation, but the emphasis is on writing and reading.

"Definitely you see a growth mentally because they learn things they've never been exposed to before," says Dallas Jackson, a mentor in the program. "We've seen that a lot of grades have improved, a lot of students have done better in school."

This year's students were recently treated to a premiere of the new movie "Mighty Joe Young," which benefitted the program.

"We're now at the end of our second year and what started with a group of 16 students is now well over 150 and now in three locations and we have applications to broaden it even more," says Hartley.