I made Left Behind after our son was diagnosed with dyslexia.  At 6 years old he enthusiastically entered first grade only to find he could not understand letters and could not read like all the other kids.

He lost his curiosity, confidence and withdrew believing he wasn’t smart and didn’t belong.  We felt lost, the public school didn’t recognize he had dyslexia, and could not teach him the way he needed to be taught.  I spoke to parents across the country who told me the same story over and over again.

As a storyteller I wanted to be able to tell their story in an honest and true way to bring light to the absurdity of a system denying kids with this incredibly common learning disability an education, especially children from lower income families and  black and brown students. 

I believe every great story starts with great characters.  I think allowing people to tell open up about who they are gives viewers an insight into people, what is important to them, and allows an audience to learn from someone’s else’s life, and ultimately their story.