This is a guest post from Steve Olpin, Turning Point director. Watch the newest episode of Turning Point on Monday, Jan. 23, at 10:00pm ET/8:00pm MT.
The Circus Project is an organization started by a woman in Portland, Oregon to help homeless and at-risk kids get off the street by teaching them circus arts. When I first was told about this story in a pre-production meeting I could not wipe the smile off my face…and the smile stayed on my face every time we shot anything to do with this episode of Turning Point.
The kids in this episode are legendary kids, strong kids, funny kids, kids full of life, kids that let their passion show on the circus equipment high above the gym floor. Jenn Cohen, professional circus performer and the founder of The Circus Project, mostly has her feet on the ground these days as she helps kids and leads them into a better life by teaching them the wonderful world of the circus. Jenn expects a lot of these kids, and the kids we filmed had accepted the challenge. Our crew of three, producer Rich Patch and second cameraman Ty Arnold, followed the story of these kids by filming them in the gym, the train, the parks of Portland and the freeway overpasses that some of them slept under. We also filmed Chinese circus legend Lu Yi in San Francisco.
After 20 years of documentary filmmaking, Turning Point has been the most rewarding project I have worked on, and focusing on these kids as they made this important step was inspiring. Watching people like Jenn Cohen can change your life; she changed these kids’ lives and I would guess that she has been changed too. Get ready to smile and enjoy the story of a big-hearted superstar in another episode of Turning Point, and see some cool circus stuff too.
Watch Turning Point on Monday, Jan. 23, at 10pm ET/8pm MT on BYUtv.
