SCPA Pitch Deck

SCHOOL FOR CREATIVE
 AND
 PERFORMING
 ARTS
 PRESENTS
SURVIVORS
An Arced 6-part Docuseries


YEARBOOK CELEBRATION
1970s-Today
LIVE and IN COLOR!


Our School
At the School for Creative and Performing Arts, or SCPA, the arts come first!
Founded in 1973 by esteemed Principal William Dickinson,
our school was the first to de- segregate in Cincinnati, with multicultural casting for all the school plays. Housed in a historic building on the site of the former Underground Railroad in a dangerous downtown neighborhood, students come from all over for our arts training and professional performances that rival college-level arts programs! This year, our school was nominated for a Grammy, a first for the school!
Above: Chorale uses a stairwell for practice. Left: Our historic building.


Our School
With a student population of around 1200, students major in programs like: Drama
Dance
Vocal Music Instrumental Music Technical Theater Creative Writing Visual Art
We insist that our students audition and perform at a professional level, so graduates include Grammy, Oscar, and Tony-award winning performers!
Recently, an MTV program featured our school in a show called Taking the Stage!
Right: Artists from Nick Lachey’s Taking the Stage, a show focused on everything BUT the true story.


Our Founder
Mr. Dickinson, or “Mr. D” as he’s called, was the brainchild behind the concept of SCPA, founding it in 1973 after serving as the founder of the Cincinnati All- City Boys Choir. SCPA was funded by the school board in 1974. It was the first in the nation to include 4th-12th grade, and combine all arts into one program. It became the “crown jewel.” Mr. D excelled at securing millions in funding and making the school feel like family. He was feared and loved.
A LOCAL TV SPECIAL REPORTED, “EDUCATORS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY FLOCK[ED] TO CINCINNATI TO SEE HOW, AND WHY, IT WORKS."
SEE THE EXTENSIVE WIKIPEDIA ON
THE SCHOOL’S FOUNDING!
Bill Dickinson (left), who led the school from founding in 1973 until 1991, and CPS Superintendent Dr. Waldrip at a 1974 All-City Boy Choir performance.




In 1991, after 17 years of leading the school, Mr. Dickinson resigned...
for sexually abusing students. Specifically Boys.
The remaining teachers were told not to talk to students, parents, or press. The few articles that made the news were sympathetic to Dickinson. Mr. D handed in his resignation, and then disappeared.
His wife, a piano teacher at the school, died of cancer months later. His two daughters, also students at the school, relocated.
No trial. No convictions. Just...gone.
The school was devastated, and quickly fell apart.


Mr. Dickinson (above) continued to work with children in every job afterwards, from Florida to Texas.


But he was not the only one.
“My friend walked in on him kissing a student. He had two or three girls...”
“He took my virginity . He afterwards explained how no one could ever know about this and how it would ruin everything.”
“Touching students inappropriately.”
“He asked me if I would join him upstairs in the school shower so we can clean off...”
“He slammed me against the wall, lifted up my shirt and bra, and had his way with me.”
“Numerous love letters to a boy student...”
“He had sexual contact with many girls every year...”
At current count, we have testimony from numerous students about 17 teachers.


Three of these teachers were quietly taken to court. None were ever convicted.
EVERY ONE of them continued to work with kids.
WE HAVE EVIDENCE THAT THIS COLLABORATION WENT DEEPER.
Some teachers knew. (And perhaps were blackmailing.)
The School Board knew.
The Superintendent knew.
Visiting professional artists, conductors, and VIP donors knew...
that Dickinson was prostituting out many of these kids for donations in the MILLIONS.
And problems did not end with Mr. D’s departure, as shown Above in 2008.


What is a “Survivor”?
Our school is unusual to encompass elementary, middle AND high school age groups. The term survivor is used often for someone who has attended SCPA for the entire time: from 4th-12th grade.


...But survivor also means something else:
The survivors of unrestrained sexual abuse.
Below are only a few alumni who are telling us their stories, in confidence.
... some who were as young as 12 years old.


About the Producers
MAYA LILLY would have been a Survivor, starting at SCPA in the 4th grade in 1989. She was the lead in many of the plays, and still knows many of the teachers because she was a teacher’s daughter. However, her mother at the school removed her in 1995, after the downfall.
She knew about the abuse secrets before anyone else.
Maya is a Producer of film, tv and digital media. She produced Sundance’s opening night doc, Generation Wealth, an Amazon release in July ’18. She produced Resist, a docuseries following the founders of Black Lives Matter with Pulse Films. She was also a Producer with Brave New Films (Outfoxed), and is currently working with show runner Tim Kring (Heroes) on an environmental scripted series with Escape Artists,
The Fifth Sacred Thing. She specializes in social justice.
Above right: Maya with one of the teacher Abusers.


About the Producers
Victor Dean graduated SCPA in 1991, the same year that Mr. D was “disappeared." He was originally a Dance major at SCPA, but switched to Drama after being touched inappropriately by a dance instructor, the same man later taken to court over sexual abuse. Victor switched to Drama, and though blacklisted at the school, he is both a professional Screenwriter and Producer.
In Dec. 2017, Victor posted a simple statement: “Little did I know that several of my peers in school were being sexually assaulted.” He received over 800 Likes and Comments. The outpouring made him create a secret
Facebook group where people could talk about the abuse. He is the main connector to many of the abused...who trust him with their stories.


STYLE and TONE
As this story has not broken in the news, this will be explosive.
Ours is a hard-hitting, arced investigative docuseries, like The Keepers, where each episode leads to the next discovery.
It will also feature devastatingly poignant interviews, like those in the Oscar-nominated Deliver us from Evil, where people are admitting things they’ve kept secret for countless years. Many of the students involved haven’t even told their families these events occurred.
OVERALL STORY ARC
The audience follows two former SCPA students, Maya and Victor, as they use their insider knowledge to investigate the group rape of minors, via their relevant connections to teachers, students, and even perpetrators (many of whom are still their “friends” on Facebook.) It’s not about the story of the abuse. It’s about the coverup of the abuse.


INVESTIGATIVE GOAL
Our highest goal is to expose the perpetrators, and receive justice for the victims.
There is absolutely no reason these teachers and collaborators were not tried in a court of law, and were allowed to continue teaching students.
The statute of limitations in Ohio was recently bumped to 25 years after a victim turns 18, which lands us squarely in 1993-95; many of our victims still have claims. (Not to mention that Musical Theatre frequently traveled overseas with Teachers)
This may lead to both criminal, civil and class action lawsuits, police and perhaps FBI investigations, and fundraisers and scholarships for survivors. A non- profit has already been created to house funds for legal defenses.
RELEVANCE
The New Jersey BoyChoir School recently closed due to a very similar sexual abuse situation that went unreported for years. You can read more here. It was also featured on the popular podcast, Criminal.


EPISODES
EPISODE 1:
School for Creative and Performing Arts, the school Mr. Dickinson created, was excellent, the top in the nation for arts programs. SCPA was so different and exemplary, shown through testimonials from its star pupils and former educators, and emphasized by stirring
performance BRoll. The school was a family of special artists, literally saving the lives of underserved minorities, and bringing in millions for Cincinnati Public School system. It was a crown jewel of a public school.
And then the Principal just disappears.
This catalyst parallels Victor posting a
comment to his Facebook about his
fellow classmates being abused. This
small act of courage creates an outpouring unlike anything our investigators have seen. We are introduced to them here, understanding their life stasis prior to this moment, and how they felt when they saw testimonials on the secret Facebook page. Victor: Disbelief and anger. Maya: Finally, the secret is out. What do Maya and Victor know? What first looked like a few teachers becomes an onslaught, as more and more alumni feel compelled to tell their full story in graphic detail, empowered by #MeToo. People begin to fight too, including threats, building to Victor shutting down the page. It dawns on our alumni investigators: Could the school have been a pedophile ring?
Above Center: One of the Perpetrator’s sons, who is an upperclassman at the school while crimes committed.


EPISODE 2:
A quest for truth begins. We are introduced to the previous Jane/John Does, and the daily stasis of our Survivors, focusing on three main people:
• A charismatic black dancer whose virginity was taken by two male teachers
• An emotional woman who gave up the arts when raped by a music teacher
• The former Valedictorian, leading man of the school, one of many boys molested by the Principal.
Their stories are buoyed by testimonials of their student supporters. And this juxtaposes with the fall-out of Mr. D’s resignation, the rumors, and how it didn’t stop the abuse. We’ll find out what the police investigation knew, what students were questioned, and what happened to Mr. D, and the other teachers. We also discover the Friends of SCPA, the financial wing of the school that was raking in cash from this little gem.
As our abuser numbers grow, we realize that perhaps the school wasn’t just supporting pedophiles, but perhaps created for the sole aim of abuse. What resources do our investigators have to fight this situation?
EPISODE 3:
We attempt to find out the collusion between the Fund, School Board, and the Teacher networks, going back to Mr. D’s work at
the Boys Choir before SCPA. Were they abusing boys there, and will we find more victims? We’ll ask hard hitting questions of these administrators, and dig up collaborator teachers, including Mr. D’s right-hand man blackmailing him. The Survivors will meet up in the first face-to-face roundtable with each other. And we’ll learn that Mr. D was actually giving kids as favors to donors and artist... pimping the kids out.


EPISODES
EPISODE 4:
The investigators and main Survivors must make a critical choice: Will they start the pieces of a class action lawsuit? Or criminal cases? Our investigators support the three main subjects decision to go to the police, who begin an investigation into collusion. It may even involve the FBI given the number of crimes. Surprise: The Statute of Limitations is not up! The investigators also attempt to figure out if crimes happened while students were traveling abroad with Perpetrators. That means investigators need to reach out to everyone affected before the early 90s.
Was the school’s star pupil Nick Lachey one of the boys abused? And how do we get him to talk and risk his career? What about soap opera star Becky Budig, or even Sarah Jessica Parker? Investigators will continue following the money, learning about fraud committed by the Friends. And they get their most concrete proof that The School Board knew, and run by a major corporation. Payoff?
EPISODE 5:
The climax of the series: Our investigators
are granted interviews with some of the Perpetrators;
the class action lawsuit case begins; and our
cameras follow to the moment when the Teachers are served. However, our investigators are also under threat of being sued by the current SCPA for defamation.
Investigators sideswipe one of the rapist teachers in an interview, asking the hard questions: Do you know you almost ruined the life of a young person?
Above: Nick Lachey stars in The Wiz.


EPISODE 6:
The resolution of the series involves several possible hypothetical outcomes, as this is life in real time. (In order of strongest outcome first.)
OUTCOME #1:
Because of this investigation and testimonials, the Cincinnati public school system is forever changed. Laws begin to pass that further protection of students. A class action criminal case and/or lawsuit is brought against the School Board. Several teachers are charged with criminal and civil cases.
OUTCOME #2:
The survivors have a vindication moment like within The Hague, where one or several decide to visit Mr. Dickinson and others in person, -or- deliver them a letter of the decades long ramifications -or- the collective Survivor family plans a public action, such as a breaking news article, petition, or an alumni fundraiser/event to openly acknowledge their past pain. Reparations are considered, like the SCPA fund settling with the graduates.
OUTCOME #3:
The Survivors have an emotional public roundtable with past and current students and teachers.
The aftermath of the emotions of Survivors is strong, but they know this was an important step forward for them. In the end, all of this effort is to ensure that this situation can never occur in another school, even artistic ones, where kids are often more at risk and more susceptible to power dynamics.




Confidential. All Rights Reserved, 2018.