Friends Life Studio Zoom

Friends Life Community is a Nashville-based organization with the mission to provide opportunities to teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (Friends) to grow personally, develop socially, and enjoy community together.

Friends Life Community is partnering with an incredible group of advocates to bring one of our newest workshops to Chattanooga, Studio Zoom.

Friends Life Community

Studio Zoom

Studio Zoom is a workshop through the program, Advocacy Through the Arts, led by Sarah Edwards, a licensed drama therapist. Sarah and her team of professional teaching artists lead the Friends through a process of 1) finding their voice, 2) telling their stories, and 3) connecting with others through a shared experience.

The last Studio Zoom class created a sketch comedy called "The Friends Life Daily Show". Click that link to see the result of all of the participants' weeks of fun and work. Friends Life Is looking to replicate this program in Chattanooga. See below for details.

Details and Application Process:

Start Date: Chattanooga will kickoff on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at 10AM at Signal Centers.

Weekly meetings: There will be 10 weekly meetings, most likely on Tuesdays 4:00-5:00 PM through April. There will also be a "film weekend" for in-person filming.

Participants: Enrollment is limited to 12 adults. Participants must be 18 years or older and complete the application.

Cost: $250 and partial scholarships are available.

What to Expect:

First Day: Participants will meet in person on Saturday, February 5, 10:00-2:00. They will meet Friends Life staff, Sarah Edwards and J. Robert Lindsey in person, get to know each other, choose the outline of the script, and practice some warm-up exercises so that they are successful as they write their scripts and develop their characters.

Weekly Meetings: Each Tuesday, via Zoom, participants will meet weekly for one hour to work together and write the script, create characters, and rehearse lines.

Filming: Participants will meet for a film weekend, Saturday and Sunday, and will be required to attend. They will film in front of a green screen and learn about the filming process. The skills they have developed will be obvious as they grow in confidence and self-advocacy through the process of the workshop.

Premier: The completed film will be premiered to family, friends, and the community in May 2022.

Thank you to the growing list of community partners in Chattanooga:

Dagan Beckett, Beckett Media
Dave Buck, Chattanooga Autism Center
Stuart and Jackie Benkert, parents
Diane Miller, parent
Chyela Rowe, CHI Memorial's Arts in Healthcare Program
Martha Summa, educator and musician
Simone Davis, Signal Centers
Rick Rader, Orange Grove Center