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THE VALLEY BUSINESS JOURNAL<br />
18 www.TheValleyBusinessJournal.com<br />
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2021</strong><br />
JDS Creative Academy Makes Big Splash Winning Nine <strong>2021</strong><br />
International Communicator Awards<br />
When you think about a nonprofit,<br />
you probably think of giving back to the<br />
community, helping others, donations,<br />
etc., but what about a television show<br />
structured to train adults who have autism<br />
and developmental disabilities and<br />
have an interest in video production?<br />
Probably not.<br />
While JDS Creative Academy<br />
(JDSCA) is dedicated to all the above,<br />
it’s all part of the nonprofit’s mission,<br />
to advance education, training and<br />
career pathway opportunities in visual,<br />
performing and digital arts. The story<br />
behind where it all started might surprise<br />
you, and to fully understand what<br />
JDS Creative Academy is all about, we<br />
need to rewind a bit.<br />
Meet Scott and Diane Strand.<br />
They’re a couple with over twenty-five<br />
years of experience in the entertainment<br />
industry, video production and media<br />
marketing, who started their production<br />
company, JDS Video and Media Productions,<br />
Inc., out of North County San<br />
Diego in 2003. They did so after leaving<br />
behind their high-level entertainment<br />
industry careers in Los Angeles. Within<br />
five years, the Strands and JDS had established<br />
themselves and incorporated<br />
in Temecula.<br />
As the business continued to rapidly<br />
grow over the next two years, mostly<br />
by word-of-mouth, Scott and Diane<br />
launched a Drama Club program in<br />
the Temecula Unified School District.<br />
After the overwhelming response, they<br />
decided to create an Actors Studio for<br />
all ages to learn the technique and craft<br />
of acting, which is now known as JDS<br />
Actors Studio.<br />
As they got JDS Actors Studio up<br />
and running, the community began<br />
asking for other arts education opportunities.<br />
This is when the Strands realized<br />
that the area really lacked opportunities<br />
for the arts. In response to this request,<br />
they sought after the idea of helping<br />
students, specifically homeschooled and<br />
independent study students, fulfill their<br />
Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) requirements<br />
per the California Education<br />
Core Standard. By opening their services<br />
to different populations, the Strands were<br />
able to not only allow students to chase<br />
their passions and accomplish education<br />
goals but help them find pathway opportunities<br />
for a career in several different<br />
creative mediums.<br />
In return, this helped put the Strands<br />
a bit more on the map. In 2014, the<br />
Strands and a Board of Directors, consisting<br />
of media and business professionals,<br />
founded the nonprofit 501(c)(3) JDS<br />
Creative Academy (JDSCA).<br />
As if running a nonprofit, a video<br />
production company and an actors studio<br />
wasn’t enough, Diane also sits on the<br />
Board of Directors for Workforce Development<br />
for Riverside County. This year<br />
will be her eighth year. Her involvement<br />
with Workforce led to meeting an individual<br />
who received services from the<br />
county’s Inland Regional Center (IRC).<br />
This person was in a Paid Internship<br />
Program (PIP), and JDSCA was asked<br />
to bring him on as an intern at no cost<br />
or training time of the JDS Staff. This<br />
caused an epiphany. JDSCA could provide<br />
opportunities to more individuals in<br />
the region and offer quality work experience<br />
in a safe, structured environment.<br />
To that end, JDS Creative Academy set<br />
out to write a Title-17 video production<br />
job-training program.<br />
After getting approved, they recruited<br />
a group of talented industry professionals<br />
who could train and mentor,<br />
and the job-training video production<br />
day program began May of 2018. The<br />
organization has come a long way since<br />
its inception in 2014 and continues to<br />
expand. JDSCA is gearing up to have<br />
a PIP program of their own.<br />
Everyone at JDSCA is thrilled<br />
their efforts are being rewarded and<br />
recognized, garnishing nine international<br />
Communicator awards for their<br />
television program Spirit of Innovation,<br />
the training program’s show the SOI<br />
Update, and a radio news program on<br />
102.5 The Vine called the JDSCA News<br />
Update. In 2019, they were also the<br />
recipients of six Telly Awards with one<br />
being in the category of Diversity and<br />
Inclusion! Diane, Scott and the entire<br />
#JDSFamily hold a special mantra and it<br />
truly speaks volumes as to what JDSCA<br />
aims to do: Provide H.O.P.E, Helping<br />
One Person Everyday.