Center For Independent Living (TheCIL)

Ben Roberts is organizing this fundraiser to complete the film about his grandmother. The fiscal sponsor of the film is the Center for Independent Living whose status as a non-profit 501(c)(3) ensures that donations are tax-deductible.

ABOUT ZONA

Zona Roberts (1920-2025) is a little-known heroine of our century. In her 100+ years, she experienced a powerful century of critical and important changes in society. Her personal story is equally powerful and important. From a troubled childhood, poverty, an early pregnancy and marriage, she had to face the reality that 14-year-old Ed Roberts, her first-born son, paralyzed with polio in 1953, would be quadriplegic and reliant on an iron lung for the rest of his life. Though the dominant practice at the time was institutional care for the seriously disabled with little help and understanding from society, Zona insisted that Ed be brought home after his long hospitalization.

From that day forward Zona advocated for his right to a full, independent life. She organized her husband and three other sons to help with Ed’s care. She lobbied the public schools, the community college, the university, the medical system, and the state support services. Ed watched and learned from her and went on to become the very first quadriplegic to graduate from the University of California at Berkeley, a global icon, a pioneering founder of the disability rights and independent living movements first in Berkeley, California and then around the world. Zona worked with and beside Ed as he and the “Rolling Quads" were joined by the late Judy Heumann to forge changes that helped transform the lives of millions who had long been invisible. Ed Roberts is widely known as the “father” of these movements, but lesser-known Zona Roberts is the “grandmother”.

Zona's positive, pioneer spirit profoundly impacted the people around her as a woman, as a mother to four boys, an engaged community member and then as a champion and advocate for disabled persons. She became the “Den Mother” of the movement when she opened her home, the “Green House” in Berkeley, where young activists met, supported and learned from each other, and advanced the work of disability rights. Zona became a sought-after speaker and a counselor to other families. But as she approached her journey’s end, she confronted a reality that awaits nearly every one of us – the end of self-sufficiency and the need for many of the supports that she pioneered for others.

THE FILM

Zona's story is unique. Our mission is to bring her story to life through a 40 minute documentary short film. The film will explore Zona’s life story and work through a series of events that shaped the way Zona perceived the world and moved through it with strength and perseverance. We have filmed a series of interviews with sparkling, charming and witty Zona from the age of 99 to 104 years. We have filmed and will introduce several individuals, remarkable in their own right (fellow leaders, activists, students, attendants and advocates), whose lives were touched by Zona and how Zona’s work impacted their own experiences. Her words and the reflections of others tell the history and current circumstances of the independent living, disability rights, and social justice movements, and the challenges that still exist. Viewers will meet, for example, Mark Roberts, the only remaining son of four, Louis Haas, friend of the Roberts family from before and after Ed contracted polio, former California Governor Edmund “Jerry” Brown who appointed Ed as the first disabled director of the Department of Rehabilitation, the late Judy Heumann who describes Zona’s role, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lowell Bergman who brought Ed and Zona’s story to “60 MINUTES”, Jim Lebrecht, Co-Director with Nicole Newnham of Crip Camp, Joan Leon, co-founder with Ed Roberts and Judy Heumann, of the World Institute on Disability (WID) and many more.

The film will combine documentary style live action with animated graphics and advanced editing techniques to bring archival footage and family photos to life. Artistic and animated sequences will create emotion and move the story forward. The art direction and music will change with each decade emphasizing the historical events that were happening at the time. The film will continue to highlight the impact Zona and Ed have had on the world around us. Millions of curb cuts, handrails, braille signs, entry ramps and disabled bathrooms are now spread across America; everyone from mothers pushing baby carriages to senior citizens now rely on them to get around. By subtly pointing out these and other legacies, we build the case that this extraordinary woman, the life she lived, the history she helped to shape needs to be known and celebrated.

Above all, and in every scene, the film is about Zona, her participation and impact through over 50 years of tragedy and triumph. Zona’s own battles for self-realization and independence gave her the tenacity, the passion, the “grit” to fight over the long term despite adversities and enabled her to help Ed, herself and many others fight for and find their own path forward.

Zona’s inspirational story gives our audience the sense that anything is possible!

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The film "Zona" is the centerpiece of an educational and social impact project. The film will be accompanied by a curriculum-based guide for teachers to use for middle-school, high school and college courses and another leader’s guide for Independent Living and other community organizations to use to build inspiration, understanding and support for the rights and needs of disabled persons in the community.

PROJECT STATUS AND FUNDING NEEDED

Film makers have raised funding to complete research, to complete filmed interviews with 20+ significant individuals (over 40 hours of footage), completed a “sizzle” reel (see link above) to introduce Zona, identified archival footage, compiled family and historical photographs, created a board of advisors and launched editing. They are seeking funding to complete subject matter interviews, to complete post-production editing, to license archival footage, to engage a script writer and a narrator, to add music, to create and add effects and to distribute the film. The film team has engaged the Berkeley Center for Independent Living, a non-profit 501(c)(3) as the fiscal sponsor to ensure tax-deductible status for donations.

AUDIENCE

The film will be distributed online and on-demand for screening at Centers for Independent Living and other disability rights and services organizations and through local broadcast and cable. It will screen at international film festivals.

THE FILMMAKERS

Donna Mitroff, Ph.D. is the President and Founder of The Kidvocate Group, LLC and an expert in children and media with nearly three decades of experience in the education and entertainment industries. She joined the staff of WQED the Pittsburgh Public Television station as Director of Educational Services where she met and worked with Fred Rogers of the award-winning "Mister Rogers Neighborhood." Donna moved to Los Angeles as Vice President of WQED West, where she developed projects, supervised both creative and support staff, consulted with numerous networks and production companies and served as Executive in Charge of Production on the National Geographic Specials, a co-production between WQED and the National Geographic Society.

Dr. Mitroff moved on to Fox Family Worldwide as Senior Vice President where she gathered numerous credits on both dramatic and documentary projects. She shares her expertise facilitating in-house seminars on media issues, presents papers at conferences and for several years was Adjunct Professor in the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. Donna and her husband, Ian I. Mitroff, Ph.D., co-authored the book "Fables and the Art of Leadership: Applying the Wisdom of Mister Rogers to the Workplace," (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012). She continues to advocate for quality and purpose in media.

Nina Rappaport Rowan is a leader in the field of live action and animation production for film and video. Producer of the 1998 Academy Award-winning Best Animated Short Film, Bunny, and Executive Producer of Universal's blockbuster animated feature Despicable Me, Rowan is known for her expert knowledge of animation and visual effects and her skill in developing teams that can tackle innovative and complex animated and live action projects.

Ms. Rappaport Rowan is also the President of TOT Industries, located in Marin County, which she founded in 2006. TOT Industries provides the creative and technical aspects of original content development for books, live action, documentary films, toys, animated feature films and animation television production for multiple distribution channels.

In 2008, Rowan invented a line of educational toys called "Kimochis" that teach children and adults how to express feelings and build positive communication skills. The toys and curriculum are widely used in schools across the U.S. (including all Department of Defense schools) and internationally.