Carol of the Bells premiered at the Bentonville Film Festiva. It won the “Audience Choice Award” for “Best Feature Film” at the San Diego Film Festival. It garnered a rave review from Digital Journal, which praised the film as a whole, and described RJ Mitte’s performance of “powerful.”
“Working with RJ Mitte was very special. It was a lot of fun working with him,” Travolta said. “I look forward to doing another project with him.”
On directing Carol of the Bells, he said, “I hadn’t done a feature since 2006. I had done a few documentaries but I wanted my next project to be really special. It was my mission to work folks that are neurodiverse in filmmaking. It was a beautiful experience. Everybody was on board and everybody loved the script and the work atmosphere. Everything about it was special.”
“My big thing is employing folks that are different and neurodiverse,” he said. “Everybody has a gift and everybody is capable of doing things. Everybody on my sets feels like they are a part of it no matter what they do, whether they are my PA or my star. Everybody is treated equally and special, and you get performances out of that, and that’s the fun part. I love working with people with special needs and making films, and it’s the best when you find a way to combine both of those together.”
Travolta acknowledged that it feels very different to be a director in the digital age. “Every film I ever did was always on film. I haven’t done anything on a digital platform. It is exciting in that you can get a lot more done because you can have two cameras running and you don’t have to develop film, transfer and do all of those things, and the content comes out beautiful. The bottom line is that you have to tell a story and the story needs to be good. The process is the same and you need to work together as a team to reach your goals. It’s a family atmosphere and a community.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, he responded, “Beginning.” “It’s just beginning. I have no intention of retiring. I love what I do and we are going to get past the crazy things that are happening in the world. I look forward to getting back to work,” he said.
The acclaimed director defined the word success as ” Carol of the Bells.” “My goal was to train these folks and to make this movie. That’s a success,” he said.
Carol of the Bells is available on such platforms as Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Google Play, YouTube, Vudu, and DirectTV, among others. It is also available on DVD by clicking here.
To learn more about Carol of the Bells, check out its IMDb page.
