James Franco to Lead Film Class for High School Students

Here’s the opportunity of a lifetime for local high school students interested in a film career.

Award winning actor and director James Franco will lead a workshop with Palo Alto High School teacher Esther Wojcicki.

The application form reads:

We are looking for 24 students who are very interested in film making and want to help produce a film that will actually be shown in a film festival at the end of the year (if it is good). You don’t need to have your own camera, but it is helpful.

Applications are due Thursday at midnight. The workshop will meet on the following dates:

• Sunday, September 13, 9 am - 1 pm
• Sunday, October (not determined)
• Sunday, November 15, 9 am - 1 pm
• Sunday, November 29, 9 am - 1 pm
• Sunday, December 13, 9 am - 1 pm

Wojcicki told Palo Alto Online that students in Palo Alto Unified School District will be given priority in the selection process, but all students are welcome to apply.”He’s really passionate about project-based learning, authentic learning,” Wojcicki said.

Franco has previously taught at USC and NYU. He’s a Palo Alto native and a graduate of Palo Alto High School, UCLA, Columbia University (MFA) and is currently pursuing a PhD in English at Yale.

--Image of James Franco announcing this workshop on Instagram