Coming Soon to Netflix

Students in Liz Peyton-Levine’s English 9 class wrapped up their fall semester by pitching an original Netflix series about adolescent experience to a panel of “industry executives.”

Eschewing a conventional term-paper, Ms. Peyton-Levine challenged her students to work in small groups to develop a storyline that engages specific elements of what it’s like to be a teenager in 2025. Their deliverables included several written components alongside a short trailer for their series and final pitch presentation, an approach where students could demonstrate their abilities across several different creative modes whilst also foregrounding the meat and potatoes of English, being a thoughtful reader and communicator of ideas.

After each group presented, the panel of “industry executives,” composed of Dublin seniors, voted on their favorite series concepts by offering “seed money.” Congratulations to the three groups who received the most funding.

“Rumors," created by Dash B., Naima F. C., and Baker H., won this year, receiving 35 million from the producers.

Coming in second, “Torn Adolescence,” created by Will G., Alec J., and Austin R., took home 31 million.

Coming in third, "Facing Death," created by Joanna R., Zsofia S., and Marissa R., took home 25 million.

Imagine a thirty-something like Sam Levinson, director of the HBO series Euphoria, isn’t responsible for the cultural encoding of adolescent experience. What does a TV series about teenagers and by teenagers look like? Here’s a look at the trailer for “Rumors.”