> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The show must go on - URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-show-must-go-on/ - Published: 2007-02-12T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T00:02:27.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *SMC course provides brain injury victims with a creative outlet* SANTA MONICA COLLEGE One year after sustaining a brain injury that resulted from an aneurysm, Brian Fitzgerald was sitting at home watching “Million Dollar Baby” when something clicked. He saw many parallels between himself and the main character, Maggie Fitzgerald, played by Academy Award-winning actress Hilary Swank. The two shared the same last name, they were both Catholic and were both struggling with a life-altering injury — Fitzgerald was suffering from an acquired brain injury that prevented him from speaking coherently, and Swank’s character was paralyzed. That was where the similarities end. Swank’s character died in the movie. “I’m alive,” Fitzgerald thought to himself. Soon after, Fitzgerald decided to take some action to improve his life and enrolled in the “Connections” class at Santa Monica College (SMC), a course designed to help reintegrate students with acquired brain injuries back into the world. Today, the 50-year-old Fitzgerald, of Culver City, can now speak clearer than he ever could in the three years since the aneurysm. Stories like his are told every day in the “Connections” class, which resumes today for the start of the second full semester at SMC. As part of the Acquired Brain Injury Program, the “Connections” class helps affected adults who want to assimilate back into society rework skills that might have been destroyed by the incident that caused the brain injury.Students are welcome to take the course as many times as they please, and about 12-16 students enroll each semester. In Fitzgerald’s case, his barrier was to speak clearly. Though the class has helped him substantially, he occasionally has trouble articulating his thoughts, and often tells himself to slow down during conversations. “We get involved in projects and learn activities that are going to either increase the skills they have now or retrain for different skills,” said Professor Jami Evans. Such skills include language, temporal, motor and spatial skills. In the past few years, the class as a whole has taken on filming projects that require every student to be involved from conception to the presentation of the final product. The students are involved in all aspects of the film, including screenwriting, filming, producing and editing. It’s an enjoyable way for students to work on their language, temporal and motor skills, according to Evans. The class has completed two films so far and are in the middle of filming a third, entitled “Avalon Dreaming.” Once the third project is completed, the film will be released to the SMC campus in a Hollywood-like event in which the students will all receive replica Oscar statues. Interestingly, many of the students come from the filming and entertainment industry. “We have a former photographer, former cameraman, and a couple of producers,” Evans said. “I really see that they are really enjoying the creative aspect of the project.” Fitzgerald was a cameraman for ABC and filmed shows like “Ripley’s Believe it or Not” and “American Detectives.” Though Fitzgerald has been able to participate in the shooting and editing portions of the film, he is still constrained in that the injury caused blindness in his left eye and tunnel vision in his right. LET’S PUT ON A SHOW The idea for a film project came a few years ago from student Bartley Bard, the owner of Lunchbox Theater, a theatrical production company in Calgary, Canada. Bard was injured in the renowned Farmers’ Market crash of 2003 — an incident that caused him to temporarily lose most of his life memory. Though Bard, of West LA, does not believe the class played a significant role in helping him acquire the majority of his memory back, he does believe it provided a good connection with other students. He was sitting in the class one day, concentrating on a topic for an essay when he asked Evans if he could write the essay in a screenplay format. “I turned around to the class and asked if anyone wanted to be in a screenplay that was about five minutes long and every hand went up,” Bard said.“That was the first film.” The first film was about a swimming pool party, and the second, which premiered a few months ago, was about a group of people with acquired brain injuries who were trying to move on with their lives. Sustaining brain injuries from a corrective surgery gone awry, Jonathan Fox, 37, of Culver City, has enjoyed his time in front of the camera, where he has played the role of a newspaper editor and a computer hacker in two different films. Fox has suffered from seizures his entire life and underwent surgery at the age of 21 to try and correct the problem. But complications with the surgery caused him to lose his short-term memory and have difficulty with concentration. The class gives Fox a regular activity during the day since his acquired brain injuries do not allow him to work. “It’s been fun,”Fox said.“There are a lot of nice people in the class.” The class has also expanded into the area of television. The students recently completed a 30-minute spot on Public Access Television, titled “Progressive Minds.”The show is meant to introduce the public to the “Connections” class and provide exposure to the SMC program. “It’s very exciting to think we have now moved into television,” Evans said. The Connections course is open to students who have acquired brain injury. For more information, contact ABI Program Director Sandi Burnett at (310) 434-4442. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/021207-05_01.jpg) ANTICIPATED SEQUELS: Jonathan Fox (wearing apron) and his classmates from the Connections course at Santa Monica College film a scene from their upcoming film ‘Avalon Dreaming.’ (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 12, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021207.pdf?ref=smdp.com)