World's Lamest Teacher is an urgent film, crafted by a collection of diverse filmmakers based in Central Arkansas. The story comes from the personal experiences of the director, but the sentiment of the film is held by both cast and crew: that teaching is nuanced, difficult, and to be celebrated.

LOGLINE: A young high school teacher begins to question his career choice after a day filled with fistfights, drugs, and a student's self harm.

I feel guilty everyday that I’m not in a highschool classroom. I was making a difference in student’s lives and in my community. I felt like the work I was doing was important, and that I was good at it. But there were enough reasons that made it impossible for me to stay. Reasons that feel universal within the teaching profession that never get talked about or highlighted. This is what my film is about. Everyone has an educator that made a massive impact on their lives. Someone who inspired them or was there for them when no one else was. It is a shared experience that our lives are better for having some of the teachers we had.

Yet the profession is held in a contradictory esteem. The pay is criminally low. The hours and workload are grueling. The job is entirely thankless. The highest praise or admission of respect for teachers that I often heard was, “I could never be a teacher. Must be incredibly difficult. Kids are so bad these days. I could never keep 30 kids in line and behaving all day.” To think that the most difficult part of the job is getting kids to behave is incredibly reductive. “But teachers get summers off, so they shouldn't be complaining.” Roughly half of all teachers quit within their first five years of teaching. Summers off obviously aren’t enough to keep teachers around. There are a myriad of reasons teachers get pushed away, and the difficulties of the profession shown in movies are usually surface level ones. 

The film I aim to make looks to illuminate the reasons that I walked away. Potentially deeper and darker reasons. That micro morality decisions are constantly being made in the classroom. That doing what's best for a student overall can be incredibly nuanced and difficult. That monitoring your students' mental health is a much bigger part of the job than anyone wants to talk about.

This is a small film, about the occurrences of just one day, and the relationships that exist within it. There are both warm moments and chilling ones within the experiences of a few characters. But I hope that it reflects the isolation and weight that can be placed on the profession. That a culture of burnout is constantly at war with the desperate need to be there and care for students. 

Darren Ford, a high school teacher in a lower income school, edges ever closer to complete burnout. Desperate to educate and inspire his students, he must navigate the normal hurdles of the profession, as well as the more intricate ones his students Lucianna and Dylan throw at him, all while keeping a watchful eye on their physical and mental well being. 

Darren Ford: A media teacher in his mid 20's. He has great relationships with his students and works tirelessly to make his class enjoyable. Sometimes his morale compass doesn't align with that of his school and can lead to tough decisions. He teachs with a deep empathy that can also work against his own mental health. 

Lucianna Ortega: A 15 year old sophmore in Mr. Ford's class. She's beyond sarcastic and has a razor sharp wit. Her home life is difficult and she has a history of self harm. 

Dylan Johnston: A 14 year old freshman in Mr. Ford's class. He's a soundcloud rapper. Very intelligent, but very stubborn. He finds it difficult to see the point in many of the things he's learning and doesn't have an issue questioning them.

Angie Evans: A high school counselor. Will fight you in the parking lot for her students. She works hard to make sure the teachers on her staff feel valued. 

The script is locked and we are in the casting process. We are aiming to shoot in mid to late August, with post production going throughout the end of the the year. Upon completion, we plan to submit to dozens of film festivals around the world. 

We're raising $10,000 to fund the production of World's Lamest Teacher. 
Here is a brief breakdown of what the funds will cover. 

• CAST & CREW
  • Compensation, lodging, transportation.
  • Upwards of 30 student extras will be needed.
• LOCATIONS
  • Expenses related to renting a school for production. 
• PRODUCTION DESIGN
  • These expenses can rack up quickly and includes costuming, hair, and makeup as well. 
• CATERING & CRAFTY
  • Everybody needs to eat!
• PRODUCTION INSURANCE
  • We can't make any of this happen without production insurance!
• EDITING
• SOUND DESIGN & SCORE
• COLOR CORRECTION/ COLOR GRADING
• FESTIVAL ENTRANCE FEES

HOW TO SUPPORT US:

1. MAKE A CONTRIBUTION! 

Directly support our project by making a pledge - any amount helps! Plus, we have some SWEET incentives for our contributors, ranging from a social media shout out, a chance to honor a teacher who impacted you, and Executive Producer credit! 

2. FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA

You can follow us here on Seed&Spark, Facebook, and Instagram. Tell your friends to follow us too!
@Worldslamestteacher 
https://www.instagram.com/c.floyd_22/
https://www.facebook.com/WorldsLamestTeacher

3. SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT US

Tell your friends, colleagues, family and followers about World's Lamest Teacher. You can also share our posts, campaign page, and project updates.

The only way we will reach our crowdfunding goal is if we reach beyond our networks. If you’d like to be a part of supporting young indie filmmakers and stories supporting educators, YOU can make the difference in our success!

Please share our campaign via your social media, email, word-of-mouth, however you want!  We can't do this without you!

Here are some examples.  Feel free to copy and paste!

Help filmmaker @c.floyd_22 by supporting their heartfelt thesis film "World's Lamest Teacher" about the experiences and hardships of being an educator today.  Join them on @seedandspark: www.seedandspark.com/fund/worlds-lamest-teacher

The team working on "World's Lamest Teacher" is an awesome creative collection! I'm excited to see thier  new project. Join them on @seedandspark: www.seedandspark.com/fund/worlds-lamest-teacher

4. FOLLOW OUR CAMPAIGN! 

Visit our Seed&Spark page regularly to stay updated AND help us increase our chances of being featured on the platform!

 

COVID-19 GUIDELINES:
Safety is very important to us. We will be taking precautions needed to keep everyone in our cast and crew safe.
All of our cast and crew will be vaccinated. Testing will be made available for everyone along with the needed care.