A documentary/horror/thriller following a teacher as he uncovers a vast conspiracy to destroy public education in America.
Synopsis
Class Wars follows a charismatic teacher as he quits his job and sets out to find out why the public education system in America is being rapidly dismantled. His journey takes him across America and eventually to Berlin where he uncovers a Lovecraftian reality far beyond anything he imagined: a complex and highly coordinated plan spanning many decades, involving the highest levels of office, the most powerful titans of industry, Nazis, and a diabolical death cult attempting to summon an ancient god to destroy the world. Yes, this is a true story. The truth is more frightening than fiction.
Unfolding like a conspiracy thriller/horror film and featuring interviews with world renowned educators, philosophers, politicians, students, and tech leaders, Class Wars delivers a dire and complex story about our failing education system in a clever way that is as funny as it is frightening.
Synopsis
Class Wars follows a charismatic teacher as he quits his job and sets out to find out why the public education system in America is being rapidly dismantled. His journey takes him across America and eventually to Berlin where he uncovers a Lovecraftian reality far beyond anything he imagined: a complex and highly coordinated plan spanning many decades, involving the highest levels of office, the most powerful titans of industry, Nazis, and a diabolical death cult attempting to summon an ancient god to destroy the world. Yes, this is a true story. The truth is more frightening than fiction.
Unfolding like a conspiracy thriller/horror film and featuring interviews with world renowned educators, philosophers, politicians, students, and tech leaders, Class Wars delivers a dire and complex story about our failing education system in a clever way that is as funny as it is frightening.
Class Wars “School House Rock” inspired short-sleeved tee
Class Wars “School of Rock” inspired logo, hand drawn by video game pioneer and Portland-based artist Paul Culp. High-quality, soft Bella Canvas shirt with art that doesn’t crack – designed with the comfort of front line workers, students, and teachers in mind. This one’s gonna be in your weekly rotation for years and years.
Printed locally and ethically in beautiful Portland, Oregon, each order is shipped with care by hand, and includes stickers buttons while supplies last.
All sales go toward covering production costs for the Class Wars documentary project. Your purchase helps support the educators, artists, and engineers pouring their hearts out behind the camera to make this film a possibility.
Jx
Oklahoma is not o.k.
Writer/Director/Producer
Joseph Erikson
Joseph Erikson is a former Social Studies teacher with a working-class background placing his persona between George Carlin and Michael Moore. His disarming charisma, inquisitive nature, and comical disbelief as he Charlie Chaplin’s his way through a harrowing journey makes him a perfect stand in for the audience. On the flipside, his deep understanding of the history of race and class in America, along with his oratory skills as a teacher, allow him to shepherd the audience using critical thinking, without thinking about it.
ART Director/Producer
Paul Culp
Paul has spent 30 years in the game industry as an Art Director, Animation Director, and Producer, as well as the CEO of several studios with credits on franchises like God of War, Star Wars, The Walking Dead, The Matrix, Borderlands, as well as multiple Disney Projects, to name a few. His personal art and animation credits include The Watchmen, Fight Club 2, GTA, and Harry Potter. He is decidedly, not a teacher.
Featuring interviews and commentary by luminaries in the know.
Dr. Cornell West
American philosopher, theologian, political activist, politician, social critic, and public intellectual.
Dr. Susan Neiman
American moral philosopher and culture commentator at the juncture between philosophical enlightenment, metaphysics, and politics.
Rep. April Berg
State Representative, WA-44 (D); Everett School Board member
Bryan Chu
Mic Crenshaw
Portland-based recording artist, political activist, American educator, and social equity and racial justice champion.
Lois Weiner
Researcher & author “The Future of our Schools: Teachers Unions and Social Justice”
Wayne Au
Dean, University of Washington school of Educational Studies; author “A Marxist Education”
Jennifer Berkshire
Journalist; educator; co-author “A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door”
David Archibald
Professor of Political Cinemas (Theatre, Film & Television Studies) in Glasgow, UK.
Jana Nelson
2020 Oklahoma State Teacher of the Year
Jack Schneider
Director of Education Policy, UMASS Amherst; co-author “The Education Wars”
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
Path to Launch
After 2 years of filming all around the US and abroad, the unscripted portion of Class Wars has wrapped shooting and is moving on to editing. Concurrently, preproduction for the scripted scenes and animation has officially begun, putting us on track for a fall 2025 release.
MILESTONES COMPLETED
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
APRIL 2022-APRIL 2023
ON LOCATION FILMING
APRIL 2023-FALL 2024 IN BERLIN, Portland, Seattle, TULSA, OKLAHOMA CITY, GLASGOW, BOSTON, CHICAGO, EDINBURGH
OVER 24 INTERVIEWS
Featuring world-class experts on education, fascism, technology, and standardized testing, as well as chilling testimony from public school teachers, students, and community organizers
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THE ROAD AHEAD
CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN
q4 2024 VIA SEED & SPARK WITH 501C3 fiscal sponsorship with film independent.