Adam McKay Gets Serious, Signs On To Produce Docu About Education System

COMMENTS (13)

• topic that desperately needs attention, but don’t know if he’s the guy to kick the tires.

  the ending credits of OTHER GUYS were pretentious, off-putting, and totally ridiculous to be bookends for a comedy film – i don’t look to comedy directors to “learn” about the financial crisis.

  Comment by hmm — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 8:10am PDT  Reply to this post

  • When drama directors are unable to deal with the financial crisis, I’d say a comedy guy has some right to talk about it.

    And, thanks to the picture, I know now who would play a 45-year-old Harry Potter in an eventual sequel.

    Comment by Dwigt — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 8:44am PDT  Reply to this post

  • Wrong! Wrong! Wrong, hmmm. Adam McKay is very smart and extremely well informed on a lot of topics other than TV and movies. Listen to his Maron podcast. He’s perfect to look at this topic.

    Comment by The Right Coast — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 8:44am PDT  Reply to this post

• Unfortunately, director Davis Guggenheim and producer Lesley Chilcott already studied the failures of the public education system in the outstanding documentary film, “Waiting for Superman.” The film received the Audience Award for best documentary at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival as well as the Best Documentary Feature at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.

  Oddly, “Waiting for Superman” was snubbed by the Oscars in the feature documentary category. The claim was made that members of the Academy saw too many problems with Guggenheim’s assertions in “Waiting for Superman.” However the same bunch seemed to have no problem with the mis-characterizations, deceptions and outright lies that fill much of Michael Moore’s work.

  In his film, Guggenheim created a comprehensive investigative report card on the American public education system. His film shed light on the fact that many schools are no longer institutions of learning but rather “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes.”

  Comment by AaronSch — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 9:37am PDT  Reply to this post

• Heard him on Bill Maher and he was terrific. Very smart. Education is the future of the planet. I appreciate anyone willing to shine a light on this. It’s essential.

  Comment by To Sir with Love — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 10:05am PDT  Reply to this post

• I’d concur. I worked with (or rather NEAR) Adam years ago when he was at Second City. While he is an immensely talented comedy writer, at his core he’s a guy with razor wit and the political insight to bring a very valid contribution to this project.

  As the husband of an out-of-work educator, I’m thrilled Adam is working on this. Good luck, guys.

  Comment by Bart Heird — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 2:18pm PDT  Reply to this post

  • I’ve worked near Bart Heird. He too, is a comic genius.

    Comment by Paloma Pigeon — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 10:31pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Our local school district just skipped an entire day of school and bussed students to the football field to break the Guiness Book of World Records for the biggest game of duck-duck-goose ever. What really gets me is that all the parents think it’s the best thing ever and are enjoying the bragging rights. Where are the people who know we don’t have a day to give up?

  Comment by Jackie — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 2:27pm PDT  Reply to this post

• The education system is so vitally important, and yet completely overlooked, it’s absurd. I’m just glad someone’s shedding light on it.

  Comment by Sam — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 4:52pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Is the education system really that overlooked? The knee jerk reaction of people to look to presidential candidates for every issue is dangerous and socially ignorant. Not every problem can or needs to be solved by the federal govt. No President should receive more heat than local officials on local education issues

  Comment by Anonymous — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 7:19pm PDT  Reply to this post

• As someone who was working with a nonprofit dealing with this issue, there are a lot of people focused on this problem. The trouble is there is no consensus on what to do about it. Why this is not a topic of the presidential debates is beyond me. How are we as a nation going to compete with China and India if our high school dropout rates remain staggeringly high?

  Comment by Paloma Pigeon — Tuesday October 11, 2011 @ 10:34pm PDT  Reply to this post

• About time someone put this issue front and center. The education system needs a major overhaul!!! Our kids are being taught the bear minimum, and most of it is so they can pass the standardized testing. Some cities have charter schools and sometimes it’s impossible to enroll a child that just moved to that area, besides we shouldn’t need this schools if the public schools were doing their job!!! Thank you Adam McKay for having the balls to bring this issue to the lime light. It’s about time!!!!

  Comment by Marcia sharp — Wednesday October 12, 2011 @ 4:35am PDT  Reply to this post

• It’s about time. Comedy, drama, or cereal commercial actor, this is a topic that needs to be addressed. I taught middle school and had to stop teaching when it became apparent that the government is dumbing down students little by little so that they can create an easily manipulated, uneducated population of underachievers. It’s NOT the kids fault.
  If someone does not put a magnifying glass on what’s happening to the education system RIGHT NOW, our future is completely screwed.

  Comment by Reb Red — Saturday October 15, 2011 @ 1:55pm PDT  Reply to this post