Zoptions: Focusing on Your Future (lost Canadian children's educational film; 1990s)

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19921103 Squamish Times-15 (Thumbnail).png

An ad by the Canadian Minister of State for Youth in the Squamish Times mentioning Zoptions for “Canada Career Week 1992”.

Status: Lost

Zoptions: Focusing on Your Future (also called Zoptions : L'objectif : votre avenir) is a short educational film about showing children possible career paths created for the Canadian government in the early 90s to be shown across Canadian schools and accompanied by a curriculum and workbook.


Synopsis

Zoptions is about a group of five children at a video arcade playing a cabinet called “Zoptions” that shows them possible career paths and futures that they could pursue and teaches them about the importance of completing their education so that they get said jobs. It promotes ideas of entrepreneurship, life-long learning, and sound career planning. Teachers’ guides also mention its use in anti-dropout prevention, which goes with the idea of completing one's education. It was part of a module in Albertan schools called Stay In--You Win[1]. There was likely a sort-of mascot for the game called “Zoppy”, an eyeball.[2]


Background

According to a page on the Canadian government’s TERMIUM Plus database, “The video was produced in 1989 by R. Charbonneau Productions, Inc. for Employment and Immigration Canada, now Human Resources Development Canada.”[3] The site also claims that the film is an “International award winner”, though no proof of this could be found. A WorldCat listing also lists the Canadian Ministry of State for Youth as another author for the film. While the TERMIUM page lists a production date as 1989, the WorldCat article gives a copyright date of 1991[4], though an Albertan teaching guide says 1990[5], other given dates may vary.


Availability

It was released on VHS in both French and English, with a runtime between 10-15 minutes (One listing has 12 minutes[6]), running for 20[7]-24[8] minutes including the French version seemingly sometimes included on the tape. The Zoptions video was likely also shown with other videos, such as Rap-O-Matics and Borderline High[9], in some schools, which is possibly why one source lists the run time as 57:38[10]. That and that this is possibly a TV broadcast recording.

It was given out to schools across the country as a teaching aid and in some provinces came with a "Facilitators Handbook"[11] which was used with teaching modules and packages called Stay In–You Win that focused on dropout prevention. The Stay In–You Win program was made for Alberta, though the Zoptions video was shown in schools around Canada, evidenced by newspaper articles from B.C and NewfoundLand[12] and a Québecois history society. It was, again, produced in Ottawa and there is an anecdotal account of it from P.E.I.[13]

A listing for Zoptions on Library and Archives Canada officially has the run time as 23:45 and has the production and release date as 1989[14]. It also has Les Productions R. Charbonneau Inc. as the production company and the government as its sponsor, which is the same as the TERMIUM Plus listing. With its language being listed as both French and English it can be assumed that this has both versions of the film on the same tape, though it is unknown why some WorldCat listings have varying runtimes and release dates.

One WorldCat listing for Stay In–You Win specifically mentions a Zoptions VHS in its contents, with a runtime of 25 minutes[15]. This is the longest runtime given for just the Zoptions tape. Along with the four module packets, it makes mention of the facilitator's handbook, again.

The document from the Québec historical society mentions Zoptions and its aforementioned 57-minute runtime lists a YouTube link that is supposedly a recording of Zoptions and whatever else made up the nearly one-hour runtime. The video is private and no archives of it exist. This source also gives the year 1992.

Lastly, the Library and Archives Canada page shows that it is possible to buy a copy of the film with the express written permission of the current copyright holder.


Gallery

  • An ad for Zoptions in the Squamish Times.

    An ad for Zoptions in the Squamish Times.

  • Zoptions mentioned Stay In–You Win module three.

    Zoptions mentioned Stay In–You Win module three.


See Also


External Links


References

  1. ↑ Stay In–You Win module one project overview (1992). Retrieved 6 Aug '22
  2. ↑ 2007 Slap Magazine forum post on "stupid movie ideas". Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  3. ↑ 1997 TERMIUM Plus database page on Zoptions. Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  4. ↑ WorldCat listing for Zoptions: Focusing on Your Future. Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  5. ↑ A Journeyman's guide to preparing career talks (1993). Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  6. ↑ WorldCat listing for Zoptions : L'objectif : votre avenir. Retrieved 1 Apr ‘23
  7. ↑ WorldCat listing for French and English Zoptions VHS. Retrieved 1 Apr ‘23
  8. ↑ Different WorldCat listing for bilingual Zoptions VHS. Retriever 1 Apr ‘23
  9. ↑ November 1992 Squamish Times newspaper. Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  10. ↑ Société d'Histoire et de Généalogie Maria-Chapdelaine digital directory. Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  11. ↑ 'NEADS Career Choices For Youth With Disabilities, July 1997 resource package. Retrieved 1 Apr ‘23
  12. ↑ April 1993 issue of Newfoundland Le Gaboteur. Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
  13. ↑ Reddit post mentioning a library in Charlottetown, PEI which had Zoptions. Retrieved 1 Apr, ‘23
  14. ↑ Library and Archives Canada listing. Retrieved 1 Apr, '23
  15. ↑ WorldCat listening for Stay In–You Win with Zoptions. Retrieved 6 Aug ‘22
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