Exclusive: Watch a Clip From MY SO-CALLED HIGH SCHOOL RANK

MY SO-CALLED HIGH SCHOOL RANK, the new documentary chronicling the creation of a musical inspired by high school students' stories of the pressure to achieve a top-rank to get ahead in college admissions, is available now on HBO and HBO Max.

The documentary also charts the success of the musical and the first steps towards the realization of the creators' dream to mount the show on Broadway, only to be sidelined by the global shutdown.

Watch an exclusive clip from the new documentary below, which showcases the musical's success as high schoolers around the country connected with the show's themes as they themselves struggle to find their place in the world amid intense college admissions competition.

"It has been so humbling that our story has resonated with so many communities over the last three years and we're thrilled that our journey to make this musical and the work of these students will be shared with an even wider audience thanks to BreakThru Films and HBO," said the musical's creators Kyle Holmes and David Taylor Gomes. "We can't wait to see what's next for Ranked!"

Produced and directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg (HBO's "Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing"), the documentary is a timely look at the academic, social, and economic pressures heaped upon today's youth, and a clarion call to listen to their voices and provide the lifeline of creative expression that performing arts allow.

"The moment we heard David and Kyle's musical Ranked we were hooked," said film directors Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg. "We believed it could be an unforgettable path into the pressures of high school, and the shared concerns that teens carry all across America. Fears of falling behind, of not making the grade, of being forgotten, of struggling to be seen, of wanting to feel that they are enough, just as they are. And in the midst of the isolation of Covid, the commitment these kids made to this musical, and to each other, showed us once again the transcendent power of communal art."

Shot over two years in public schools representing vastly different communities, MY SO-CALLED HIGH SCHOOL RANK reveals the remarkable resilience and similarities that bind this generation across economic and racial divides.

Watch the exclusive clip from the new film here: