ABOUT
Welcome to Trauma School, where healing is expensive, everyone has a certificate, and absolutely no one should be in charge.
A darkly comic mockumentary series from Sam Ipema, Trauma School follows a group of wildly underqualified teachers, students, healers, artists, and self-declared experts inside a school dedicated to turning pain into purpose, content, branding, and, ideally, a sustainable business model. Part Renaissance scammer school, part modern wellness nightmare, the series takes aim at the absurd industries built around suffering and asks what happens when everyone is trying to heal, sell, perform, and survive at the same time.
EPISODE ONE: PRONOUNS
A new movement teacher asks the class to share their names, pronouns, and what fruit they feel like today. When Ale misunderstands the exercise, Sarah tries to help, and somehow manages to make everything worse.
CAST
Teacher: Bec Collins
Sarah: Sophy Drouin
Ale: Alessandro Yokoyama Niba
Jackie: Shivani Mathur
Grant: Charlie Jordan
EPISODE TWO: DUCT TAPE
A Scene Study professor tries to give basic notes to a class of increasingly fragile students. After a series of complaints, every new “safety precaution” makes it harder for her to teach, until she can barely move, look, or speak at all.
CAST
Jennifer: Rebecca Knox
Joey: James Nash
Timothy: Dominic Wiliamson
Harriet: Shivani Mathur
Zeek: Alessandro Yokoyama Niba
Rachel: Alex Hedly
Paula: Sydney Tiniente
Candice: Nellie Svensson
Freddie: Jack Lynch
James: Teig Sadhana
Kali: Nuha Izman
Xenu: Vianny Guevara
Security Guard: Aaron Paterson
EPISODE THREE: TO FLIRT, OR NOT TO FLIRT
Two actors get stuck in the middle of a scene, unsure whether the moment calls for a kiss, a hug, or a full emotional collapse. What should be simple stage chemistry turns into a silent panic spiral neither of them knows how to end.
CAST
Rosa: Molly Ehrenberg-Peters
James: Gray Thurstone
Teacher: Dorothea Gloria
CREATIVE TEAM
Creator: Sam Ipema
Director: Malika Franklin
Writers: Molly Ehrenberg-Peters, Robin Drummond, Shivani Mathur, Gray Thurstone, Sam Ipema.
DP: Sergei Franklin
Sound Mixer & Operator: Dimitri Kouri
Script Supervisor: Andy Benavides
1st AC: Emmet Ferrer
2nd AC: Moxie Harfeld
DIT: Ariel Watson
Stills & Backstage Photography: Matt Infante
Shot on RED Epic-x Dragon 6k
Executive Producer Molly Ehrenberg-Peters