Sex Ed Brings A Whole New Meaning to ‘After School Special’

Sex Education. Two words that make for lots of controversy and thumbnails that are hard to skip over. That is exactly what Sex Ed: The Series aims to do: expose everybody through debate and shock. The ten-episode web series is self-described as a cross between The Breakfast Club and Sex in The City. Risqué, while being current, this series embodies, quite literally, the hormonal and embarrassing dilemmas faced by our modern college population. At the same time, it fearlessly challenges the lack of practical sexual education given to young people.

Playboy magazines, vibrators, bathroom masturbation, yoga balls and one-night stands is where this sexually-charged series begins. We find ourselves in Anywhere, USA on the first day of class where a group of college students have enrolled in a sex education course for an easy ‘A.’ Their bold and antagonistic professor, played by Joanna Cassidy (6 Feet Under, Blade Runner), unworried about the future of her career, runs the class like a benevolent dictatorship. Professor Trevasse sets the tone by explaining their assignment: pair up and sculpt each other genitals. “You’re all having sex one way or the other,” says Trevasse. “I mean after all, that’s what you’re supposed to be doing.”

On the surface this is a show about sex; but digging deeper, this series deals with serious issues faced by young people. When you consider that more than 700,000 teenagers in the United States will become pregnant this year alone, and half of all sexually active people will have a sexually transmitted infection by age 25, shouldn’t there be a more thorough discussion about sex in our school systems? Tons of popular shows like Desperate Housewives, Glee and Gossip Girl, feature teens having sex-related problems – but they are clearly glossed over. Sex Ed takes a humorous look at sex education and tells it down and dirty.

The series’ notable cast, led by Cassidy, includes other recognizable faces such as: Matt Barr (One Tree Hill, Harper’s Island, Gossip Girl), Annie Abrams (Cold Case, Veronica Mars), and prominent YouTuber, Stevie Ryan. Each character handles the thought-provoking assignment, in spite of their own idiosyncrasies and troubles. With all the different personalities onscreen, we can’t help but relate to one or more of the students.

The brains and brawn behind this humorous battle of testosterone and estrogen is producer/director Tamela D’Amico and writer/executive producer Ernie Vecchione. Its polished look was captured on a donated Panavision HD camera package… and a lot of favors. The intention was, and still is, to make the series “television ready.” Originally filmed as a forty-five minute pilot, Sex Ed: The Series was an official selection of the ITVFest where it landed an exclusive distribution deal with KoldCast TV.

D’Amico and Vecchione captured the true embarrassment and discomfort these students are forced to deal with in order to pass, and more importantly, learn about themselves. Ironically, this fictional series provides a whopping amount of sex education… delivered the old fashioned way… through video.

Andrea Ball worked this past year as staff editor at VidOpp and as a guest writer for Tubefilter News. She is currently the in-house community manager for MWG Entertainment. Andrea periodically co-hosts for This Week in YouTube and Life From the Future with Stuart Paap. If she’s not watching a web series, she’s probably sleeping.