Filmmaker Statement

You can think of Family Life Education as the origin story of the world’s worst Sex Ed teacher. Making Family Life Education, I wanted to use comedy to explore the cyclical nature of poorly run education programs, showcase the consequences of bad sexual education, and beg the question “What happens when a person who’s been failed by the system, goes back into the same system in a position of authority?” Originally written as a 3-minute sketch, Family Life Education ballooned into a short film when I started discussing the role with lead actor Zac Brancifote. We had gone to the same Middle School and High School and recalled how bad our school-led sex ed had been. Our teachers had made awkward jokes to avoid uncomfortable topics, they’d laughed at our questions, and the entire curriculum focused on fear-induced celibacy rather than other realistic solutions to ensure safe sex. In fact, our whole sex-ed program discouraged sex and sexual exploration so overtly, that it was aptly named “Family Life Education” - the implicit message being ‘this is an activity for those ready to have families, and no one else’. Rather than using a more systematic tale, I wanted to explore sexual education as a slice-of-life story. Yes, our education system is broken in so many ways, but this piece in particular affects the most private, intimate parts of our lives. I built the protagonist as a vehicle to explore these consequences and cycles. He’s sexually inexperienced, but starting to explore, he’s been failed by his own sexual education, yet now he’s in charge of teaching it, he wants respect from his students, but can’t even say the word “orgasm”. So while I hope Family Life Education makes you laugh and cringe at the same time, I also hope it encourages you to bring an open dialogue to those around you while we all navigate the weird, funny, lovely, awkward, and awesome experience that is sex.