Despite likely not being familiar with the name, chances are you’ve seen director Craig Zisk‘s work before. After a healthy career in the television realm working on such shows as Parks and Recreation, The Office, Scrubs, Alias and many, many more, Zisk has now jumped into the feature film world with The English Teacher.
We’ve now got the first stills today from the film set to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in April, before heading into theaters the next month. In the drama, Julianne Moore plays the title character, whose favorite student (Michael Angarano) comes back and helps launch a play in her small hometown. Hopefully this one signals a successful cinematic transition for Zisk and one can see the stills above and below (via Collider) for the film also starring Lily Collins, Greg Kinnear and Nathan Lane.
Linda Sinclair (Julianne Moore) is a forty-year-old unmarried high school English teacher in the small town of Kingston, Pennsylvania. She shares a small apartmentwith two Siamese cats and her rich collection of great literature. She maintains no close personal relationships aside from those she has with her favorite authors and stories. Her life is far less complicated than the dramas she devours on the page, and she likes it that way.
But Linda’s simple life turns an unexpected page when former star pupil Jason Sherwood (Michael Angarano) returns to Kingston after trying to make it as a playwright in New York. Now in his 20s, Jason is on the verge of abandoning art, pressured by his overbearing father, Dr. Tom Sherwood (Greg Kinnear), to face reality and go to law school. Linda can’t stand the thought of Jason giving up on his dreams so she decides to mount his play – a dark, angst-ridden, ambitious work – as a Kingston High School production, with flamboyant drama teacher Carl Kapinas (Nathan Lane) directing.
As Linda, now well out of her normal comfort zone, takes further risks in life and love, the stage is set for highly comic downfall. With the play, her reputation, and her teaching career on the line, Linda finds an unlikely ally in herself. Amidst the ruins of her formerly perfect life, can she find a way to her own unique storybook ending?
The English Teacher premieres at Tribeca Film Festival in April before a May 17th theatrical bow.