Part 1:

How (Not) To Teach

At his best friend’s wedding reception, 30-year-old Mark meets his dream woman. Eager to impress her traditional Sicilian family, he lands a job posing as an Italian teacher at the local school. The catch: he’s never spoken the language, nor has he any idea of the culture. As Mark encounters his misfit students and co-workers, the harder he realises it will be to keep up the act… Will he be able to maintain the lie, balance a clueless class and most importantly, win the approval of the esteemed Lombardo family?

The show will take form as a dramedy, with Melbourne’s northern suburbs as the main setting, specifically Brunswick, and will run as 40-minute episodes. The TV world type that drives the narrative takes form mainly as an office/9-5 (school classroom) hybridized with Family Matters (Julia’s close knit traditional family), with ‘Man with a Plan’ as the story engine.

The protagonist Mark is a rather affable, charming guy who has always gotten away with doing very little. He has always lacked a sense of real ‘drive’ in life and deep down is rather insecure (his flaw). His last long-term relationship ended after he was dumped for having no business plan or passion, which he has always struggled to find, and he has a rather strained relationship with his parents as he did not live up to their standards (wound). After he meets the woman of his dreams ‘Julie’ at his friend’s wedding, things quickly change. He develops a newfound spark never experienced prior and finds himself lying about his profession to impress Julie and her family (want). After landing a job by fooling the head of school with his rushed Duolingo skills, Mark initially hates the job – but overtime, he develops a fondness for his students (who come from all walks of life) and desires to help them with his teaching and better himself, establishing empathy, compassion and understanding (need).  Mark’s transformation embodies the theme of the show, where pretending to be someone else, can often force us to realise who we really are, how authenticity is far more important than conforming to something (or someone) else. The main conflict he’ll come up against will be maintaining the lie of this constructed identity and impressing both his love interest and her family, but also his own inner conflict of self-doubt. He’ll deal with imposter syndrome and fear his lacking sense of belonging in the world.

Mark’s transformational map is as follows:

A charming but insecure guy, Mark, learns the power of authenticity and empathy when he poses as an Italian teacher educating a bunch of misfit kids, and transforms into a grounded individual who owns who he is.

I think the show’s core idea of ‘finding yourself’ is what speaks to me personally. Feeling out of place and often having no concrete idea of your future can be quite scary, particularly when others around you seem to have it all worked out, and so seeing other stories of one’s own personal growth and self-discovery really mirrors that. I think portraying someone who is an inherently flawed character, but evolves over time also reaches out to me, because it feels authentic and is quite relatable.

I think now is the right time for this show as currently there is a newfound interest in fraudster stories like that of Belle Gibson’s (portrayed through Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar). Although con artists have always been the subject of curiosity, in this online age it’s much rifer due to social media. Of course, my show’s subject is quite a toned-down version but could still explore topics of appropriation and the ethics of  deceit. I feel that unlike these other narratives where the protagonists are in fact the anti-hero, it would be great for audiences to watch a character go through a redemption arc and grow as a person.

The show’s audience will be intended for 20–30-year old’s, due to its themes of identity and uncertainty in the career field. I feel that this demographic will be able to relate more to the struggles of relationships, job changes as well as the internal struggle of an identity crisis.

Part 2: Reflection

When I first started developing the show’s concept, I wasn’t too sure what would make Mark (the protagonist) active in the show and thought he would perhaps be a passive character. By giving him a driving force, (impressing a girl and her family) there’s more at stake and therefore makes me want to watch it, as it feels more layered.

I think it’s the perfect blend of comedy and romance, with elements of drama. I’m a big fan of Ted Lasso, which is often tonally light, but sometimes shifts to a darker tone, and I think it makes these moments more powerful. I think this is what my show would incorporate, and it would make it a rather compelling story, that would be watched to be related to – personal struggles, mistakes made and the constant dread of self-doubt.