When Jessica Renslow lived in Japan, she saw how the culture respected its elders and admired those who were able to retire.
“Everyone’s required to retire by 65 (years old),” said the Gary resident. “And once they do that, their job is to keep maintaining their health and pick a passion … and then they usually help raise grandkids.”
It is those cultural differences between the U.S. and Japan that Renslow has in mind as she prepares to help with the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District’s Silver Screen Filmmakers Club, a free program dedicated to help those 65 years and older learn the basics of documentary filmmaking.
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The fall 2025 cohort has 12 available slots and will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. for five Mondays from Oct. 6 to Nov. 3 at the Marshall J. Gardner Center for the Arts, located at 540 S. Lake Street. For more information, visit https://shorturl.at/0Qb9S.
“There’s lots of studies about how creative practice can lead to a fulfilling life,” Renslow said. “That doesn’t mean they’re a professional artist … but it can be like the grandma who quilts or has amazing recipes or the grandpa who woodworks. It’s about taking the daily practices about creativity and infusing it in your everyday life.”
Participants will go through workshops to learn the basics of filmmaking and will shoot films on their phone and learn to edit them in Canva. Films will be showcased at the Gardner Center on Nov. 24.
The Silver Screen Filmmakers Club is just one of the Miller Beach and Arts Creative District’s events in the next month. The organization will host the 22nd annual Fest in the First from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The free festival will feature live performances from various organizations, activities and food.
“This event is all about community,” Julia Gibbs, festival co-organizer and executive director of the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District, said in a news release. “It’s about creating space where our community, especially our families, can come together to have fun, get (information) about services, support local businesses and artists, reminding ourselves that joy, art, and connection are powerful community tools.”
Renslow started the Filmmakers club in spring 2024, she said, and she wasn’t sure how it was going to be received, but she said the response was “overwhelming in a good way.” During the cohort, she enjoys seeing the five-minute short films participants create by the program’s end.
Since the club’s 2024 start, 83 participants have produced 50 short films.
“It’s a real variety of projects,” Renslow said. “The goal I always try to steer them towards is positivity, just because personally, I think the more positive stories we have out here about the area, the better.”
As the program goes on, it’s rewarding for Renslow to watch participants understand the filmmaking process and “harness their own narrative.” She believes participants’ stories become more powerful when they have more control over it, Renslow said.
“Teaching folks how to put stories out there that happen to be focusing on some of the nice stuff in our world, it’s teaching them how to make the world a better place,” Renslow said. “That’s very fulfilling for me as a visual media artist.”
Renslow also helps senior adults work on their digital literacy skills, and she said that more are interested in understanding technology and the internet after completing the class.
The Silver Screen Filmmakers Club is funded through fellowship money from Lifelong Arts Indiana, a partnership between the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Aging and the Indiana Arts Commission, according to a news release.
Because of funding changes nationwide, Renslow said it will be difficult to keep the program running after this year.
“This (cohort) was already funded, so we’re OK,” she said. “Unfortunately, it just won’t be sustainable for next year. It’s just not going to happen unless we could probably get businesses to sponsor it.”
She hopes something will change over time, Renslow said, because she believes the program is necessary for Northwest Indiana’s seniors. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important for senior adults to be around others and decrease loneliness, Renslow said.
“There’s been an overwhelming amount of people who have thanked me after this class for getting me to meet more friends in their peer group and be able to have lively discussions,” she said. “We get people coming from all over the place, and they have hard conversations.”
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