SCHOOLDEMIC
Four families across the nation adjust their lives to a new normal as the pandemic shut down schools in 2020.
Story Synopsis:
In 2020, Covid-19 ravaged through our nation and began shutting down cities one after another. As cases rose, hospitals were overrun, cemeteries maxed out, and schools began closing their doors to their students in an effort to curb the spread of the disease. Some believed schools would be closed for a few weeks and that things would go back to normal in a few months; however students and families began realizing they had to adjust their lives to a new kind of normal during the age of this pandemic. For students, families, and teachers one thing echoed true through all this uncertainty: schooling and education will never be what it once was. Schooldemic will follow the lives of four different families from different parts of the country who all have varying experiences with remote learning.
Trailer
Topic:
When schools shut their doors in March 2020, some were able to quickly adapt and enjoyed their time at home with their families. Some students enjoyed the quirks of being home: sleeping in, eating whenever they want, finding new hobbies, playing video games, etc. Some students, however, quickly began to feel the isolation that came with shutting down schools. They missed their friends, having social interactions with others, being able to touch paper and pencils or reading an actual book. While some families appreciated the extra time they got to spend with each other, others found it difficult to navigate a work-life balance. Teachers also had their own battles to fight: figuring out how to engage their students and families through a computer screen with all the technical difficulties that came with it. Even as we entered the next school year and some districts claimed to have a better plan in their approach to remote learning, the mental wellness of students became a major talking point for reopening schools. When schools did manage to reopen in a “hybrid” form, computers and wifi became even more essential in a child’s education. Students, families, and schools began looking at the way we teach our students differently--some have learned for the better while others suffered greatly during the pandemic.
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This is a story that is continuously growing, changing, and adapting to the current climate. WIth this story we will be able to showcase how the pandemic affected families in different communities but also how we can find a way to move forward from this pandemic. While things are still looking bleak in our country and the political divide on school safety, this documentary will allow us to see the real life experiences students and families had during the pandemic.
Artistic approach:
The film will toggle between the four families while they describe their experiences during the pandemic. We will begin with their initial thoughts and feelings when schools first shut down in March 2020 and how those emotions have evolved since then. We will then go back to each family to see what their day to day lives are like during the pandemic. We will see how they do schooling (whether remote, hybrid, or fully back to school) and how their families adjust to their schedule.
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Then we will wrap up the documentary with insights from each family of how the pandemic helped their lives for the better. Though this is the basic story structure, each family’s story is so vastly different from one another that the documentary will feel like 4 stories all concluding in the same way. The story will be led through sit down interviews of the students, teachers, and family members. We will see images of students doing their work, engaging in their hobbies, and how parents have adapted their schedules to fit their kids’ schedules. The audience will feel emotional connections to each character through their reflections of their lives during the pandemic.
Project Stage:
Currently, we are in the post-production stage for this project.
We began filming in May and have been in production from May 2021-July 2021. Now we are in post-production with a rough cut of the narrative of the documentary. With a few more rough cuts, we want to have a final cut by December 2021. With color correction and sound correction, we anticipate to premiere the film in January 2022.
Marketing Strategy:
Once completed, I plan on taking the film to different film festivals for screening. The premiere will occur with Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center Film Festival in Hollywood. Moving forward, we will apply for the film to be on Tribeca Film Festival, South by Southwest Film Festival, and American Black Film Festival. WIth a distributor, we will also be putting the film on different digital platforms like Apple, GooglePlay, and Amazon.
Intended Audience:
Our primary intended audience is for school communities and school districts to view the film in an effort to show a personal side to the decisions they make. Through viewing of the film, we hope to instill another perspective when making decisions about remote learning, hybrid learning or schools reopening. My previous films have been screened to a variety of schools across the nation as an educational piece supplementing their health and wellness curriculum. After putting the film on digital platforms, we plan on using these contacts to reach our intended audience.
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More importantly, we also hope to reach anyone who struggles during the pandemic with this film in an effort to uplift their spirits and give them a new perspective when looking at their own stories. Though each family struggled immensely during the pandemic, albeit in varying degrees, each character also found ways to look for the positive in their experiences. Some found solace in family time, some found new hobbies and interests, while others found their love of their job all over again. These emotional stories will connect to any audience member as we have all gone through and still experiencing the pandemic.
Bio:
Director, Alcee H. Walker, attended St. Lawrence University in NY where he graduated with a B.A in Communications, and Film minor in Education in 2011. He then went on to graduate from the School of Visual Arts with a Masters Fine Arts degree in Social Documentary and an MPS Degree in Directing. His film work has been shown at many venues across the country including the Directors Guild of America where he won his first film award for his documentary film. Just a year later Walker again won the 2015 Jury Award also from the DGA for his first narrative film, Inferno.
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He continued to win his third DGA Award with his next short narrative film, Child Support. Walker uses all of his films as an educational tool by holding screenings at schools. He will continue to strive to create stories that address social issues that impact low socio-economic communities the most. His films will tackle issues about families, incarceration, police brutality, violence, and kids in school and bullying. The films created by Director Walker are raw and unfiltered and he aims to make the audience feel uncomfortable so they can question their perspective and beliefs.
Francesco Portinari is an accomplished, award-winning film editor, director, music supervisor and editing workflows coordinator, with experience in a range of genres such as commercials, music videos, experimental films, feature films, short films, feature documentaries, including the acclaimed feature documentary “Tricked”, edited side by side with awards-winning editor Craig McKay. Mr. Portinari has professional and technical experience in Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer, Premiere Pro and Logic Pro X. He has also been a part of the SVA MPS Directing Faculty since 2009
Fundraising:
As we continue to secure funds for this film, we will continue to reach out to different non-profit organizations and community leaders to secure partnerships along with the funds needed to complete the film. In addition, we will be applying to the following grants: Jerome Foundation, Tribeca Documentary Grant, Impact Partners.
Grant Impact:
With the secured funds, we will be able to complete our post-production and create a final cut for the premiere of the film. With the funds we will be able to continue paying for office space and equipment needed for editing. We will be able to pay for the editor and assistant editor. We will also be able to fund color correcting, sound correction, titling, etc
Anthony Patterson, History Teacher - Baltimore, MD
Mr. Patterson, a middle school history teacher, takes the viewers through his mental state when schools were first shut down and how we had to adapt to the new realities of teaching. He incorporated topics of current events and how our history can teach us about our present climate. He began teaching students about self-care, self-love, and mental well being. He learned more about his students and their home lives. At the same time, he struggled being home with his two daughters and wife who was also working from home. All four of them had to find ways to adjust to this new way of working and to allow everyone to have their own space. Despite these struggles, Mr. Patterson walked away from the school year remembering why he loved teaching and the roles teachers play in the lives of their students.
Michelle Saparbaeva, 2nd Grade Elementary School Student - Hollywood, CA
Michelle, a second grader, who was going back to school in a hybrid form, will shock the audience with her witty and matter-of-fact way of speaking. She is aware of her lack of friendships and it is evident that she finds comfort in speaking of rodents and video games rather than making friends of her own age. We will see how the pandemic affected Michelle’s social interactions and the concerns her mother has for her. Noticing that Michelle has lost many friendships during the pandemic and worries that having her older sister as her only friend will be detrimental to her, Michelle’s mother decided to send Michelle back to school despite the safety concerns. Though Michelle is still struggling with her friendships, it is obvious to the audience that Michelle enjoys being back at school rather than being remote. Through following Michelle and her family, we will see how even young kids are affected by the isolation caused by schools shutting down and how families try to find ways to mend that isolation.
J’Den O’Neal, 10th Grade High School Student - Irmo, SC
We will meet J’Den, a high school student who has been completely remote since March 2020. J’Den was able to find enjoyment through remote learning. Considering himself to be very intelligent, J’Den was already used to pushing his own learning and did not find it difficult to push himself when content was not engaging during remote instruction. Being isolated from his friends, he was also able to find passion elsewhere like gardening, creating hair products, and cooking. J’Den will show the audience that remote learning was not perfect for him. He found the content to be unengaging, boring, and lacked the tactile part of learning when they are at school. He explains how communication from his teachers were irrelevant and oftentimes he would complete an assignment without his teacher’s support. However, J’Den looked at this as an opportunity to do more and grow his interests even further. He would complete special projects and share with his teachers. He explains how doing so helped him understand his teachers more and made remote learning slightly more enjoyable.
Lacora Montague, Single Mom of Four Children - West Palm Beach, FL
Coco, a mother of four school aged children who had to navigate being a working single mother and also providing support for her four children with remote learning. With Coco’s story, the audience will learn that remote learning impacted families just as much as it impacted students and teachers. Coco, who was working, ended up losing her job when she could not go to work while also supporting her kids who had to be at home. While dealing with unemployment she also had to deal with 4 different teachers, different online platforms, and had to figure out how to help her kids with content she did not fully understand. When she did find a new job that allowed her to work remotely, she had to find ways to put her kids to work in different areas around the house while she worked. She explains to the audience that her first priority was getting her kids back to school as quickly as possible. Regardless of all the struggles Coco had during the first part of the pandemic, she was able to learn a lot more about her own kids; something she knew she would not have learned if they were not all forced to be at home together.
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