Fifth Form Director's Blog

Last Week and The Future

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:17:01 PDT

Our screening last week went very well. Good crowd. Lots of laughter and a substantive Q&A. I love hearing people who have seen it before say that they liked it even more the second time. That is one of the most gratifying compliments I can get.

I'm expecting another good house at our screening next month in Philadelphia.

I've also been lining up teaching jobs and will be leading several summer film camp sessions through the Austin Film Festival and an Adult Film History class through the JCAA. So, if you or your kids are interested, let me know and I can point you in the right directions.

New Initiative

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:17:13 PDT

Trillian called yesterday and has chosen Fifth Form to be part of their new sales initiative. They're streamlining their distribution process so that everything can take place online and should be sending out a focused package of films to about a thousand different outlets within the next two months.

The head of distribution described the process like this, "Once everything's online, it will be like getting a DVD on Amazon. DVD and TV distributors will just have to click on our site and we'll have everything available for them." Their parent company, Media 8, has put a lot of manpower and financial muscle behind this and I'm hoping that Fifth Form will be more widely available soon.

Hometown Screening

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:42:21 PDT

Couldn't be happier with how last night's event at the Harrisburg JCC turned out. Wonderful job promoting it by the Jewish Festival Director and the Patriot-News. If you haven't seen the article, the link is on the film's facebook page. Many positive responses from 15 and 80 year olds. Apparently the film has broad appeal.

It Continues

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:08:11 PDT

We're getting together all of the pieces that Trillian needs to properly sell the film. That part should be completed soon.

I was interviewed yesterday by a new website that focuses on dad-artists. It was a lot of fun and really interesting to discuss how my process of writing and my vision of it has changed since Sander has come along. It's not something that I get to just talk about all the time especially since I don't run in to too many other dads during the day.

I'll post it everywhere once the interview goes up. Hope I look good.

Distro Time

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:34:11 PDT

It's official. After a bizarre back and forth, the contracts are signed and we've been in touch with Trillian Entertainment who we are excited to have as our sales agent and distributor. I hope this means that there will be more good news as Fifth Form gets handled by the pros.

We're signed!

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 08:45:10 PDT

We sent in a signed contract on Friday and will start gathering together what we've got to send over to the folks at our distributor. I still don't want to say who until we talk to them next week and I know for sure that it's okay for me to do so. Funny but they're actually serious about this stuff. Very good news and this means Fifth Form will be on sale soon, I presume.

Big Week

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:18:05 PDT

We returned to Columbia and Haverford this weekend for screenings. It was the first time I've gotten to do a Q&A with Bill which was a blast. I got to screen it for my mentor who approved enthusiastically which was validating. We have signed contracts and returned them to the distributor. One step forward...

Screenings!

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 18:20:56 PST

We've got screenings scheduled at Haverford and Columbia towards the end of March. I'm very excited to get to show Fifth Form again. It's been a while since I've seen it and we also just showed it in Connecticut at the Newtown Town Hall. Finally, a CT screening. I can't wait to hear what they thought.

As to other festivals, it looks bleak unfortunately. I've been poorly received at Jewish film festivals, even ones in my hometowns.

We will just continue to keep plugging away and getting screenings wherever and however we can. Look forward to seeing folks in Philly and NY. For updated info on when and where the screenings are, check out fifthform.com or the fifth form group on facebook.

Distro Continued

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 11:57:55 PST

Negotiations continue and applications are in to a handful of Jewish festivals around the country. The distributor seems to be accepting most of our revisions to their initial contract but we are waiting on final word from our producer's rep.

I remember where we were last year at this time and it's hard to believe that so little time has passed and so much time has passed. We were sprinting to get picture locked in mid-December of '08 and had no idea what '09 would hold. I knew so little about what the festival world would hold having last been exposed to it almost ten years ago. And while we didn't play at as many as I would have liked, it looked good when we did and responses were strong and now we're still on the brink of being distributed.

And I'm arranging for very special screenings at my alma maters in Philadelphia, New York and Connecticut. It will be nice to use the film in an academic setting. Perhaps that's what it was meant for though I shudder at the thought of being didactic. I can hear Bill laughing.

Happy Hanukkah!

In Distribution?

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:37:51 PST

Our Producer's Rep has struck a deal with a distributor at the American Film Market in LA this past week. We're hammering out the terms of the contract but it looks like Fifth Form is going to be handled by a relatively new distributor that specializes in the worldwide distribution of independent films.

Also sent out a number of applications to Jewish Film Festivals in the past month and had some encouraging and some discouraging conversations. We'll wait and see and hope that we'll be playing in some more cities soon.

Redacted

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 11:20:14 PDT

Sorry for a little bit of an absence. There were some other posts here that had to be altered for various reasons and I opted to just leave them off and some everything up from August in one Omnibus post here.

As you know, we have a producer's rep now and over 60 screeners have been sent to various TV, DVD and theatrical distributors. We're expecting to start hearing from several of them soon and more after the Toronto Film Market where the film is being actively marketed. I have been accepted into the IndieCan festival, an Independent Festival in Toronto that takes place just after the Toronto Int'l. I don't think I'll be able to attend but hope that if you know anyone in Toronto, you'll let them know.

Indiefest Anaheim was a good time. Met a handful of filmmakers and sat through an interminable awards ceremony. Don't know how much I can go into here without offending anybody but Joey Buttafuoco was one of the presenters and I am actually grateful that I didn't have to accept an award from him.

I have also received a request from the Las Vegas Film Festival which is coming up at the beginning of next year and am now mulling the idea of hitting the Jewish Film Festival circuit. We have received almost all of our responses from non-niche festivals for 2o09 and have played at 7, winning awards at 2. Not bad for a first time out.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the rep does distributing the film. It's nice to finally have some support as I begin trying to get my next screenplay out there. Stillness is the story of a woman with an undiagnosable infectious disease who starts to think her husband is trying to kill her. And this one I won't be financing with donations. So, if anyone knows any actresses who are looking for parts where they get to lose alot of weight and do a lot of Oscar vamping, let me know.

Happy Sept. 12th One and All!

Bury Me in San Antone

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:43:17 PDT

A week ago today we won best film at the Urban Suburban in Philadelphia. This was a great way to start the week and I was looking forward to another fest in San Antonio this weekend. It was their 15th festival. It's at the Mexican Cultural Institute in a park in the center of town. The screening space looked good, website looked good. Unfortunately, I was unaware of the job requirement in San Antonio that you had to not know how to actually perform your job and you had to be smug about it. This goes for valets, barristas and festival directors.

I was told an hour before screening that the film wouldn't play. We send standard def copies as submissions but for screeners we send blu-rays. The director said we didn't communicate that to him and that they didn't have a blu-ray player. He said his house was a half hour away and that's where the submission copy was so I said I would buy a blu-ray player if that's what we needed to. He said sure but made sure to scold me several times for my poor communication and to let me know that this was my film and if I wanted to...I've got 45 mins. now to find a DVD player in a town I've never been to, I don't really need to listen to your crap.

So, I left my family and friends who had come to see the film and raced out on foot in the 106 degree weather to the mall and found the last existing Sam Goody store and they had one blu-ray but I didn't have my wallet. My glorious friend Brent bought the player which they assured us we could return if it didn't suit our needs and we raced back. I checked the DVD that we had sent which was clearly marked Blu-Ray on the case and on the disc (bad communication, indeed) and we screened the film until it froze with about 30 seconds to go. The projectionist, who was a great guy by the way, started it up after a couple of minutes and everyone got to watch the last line and the credits.

The Q&A went well. Good questions, attentive audience and then I had to rush back out to the mall, again ignoring family and friends to find that we could return it but only for the same model. Which we did. Brent then promptly took the new, unopened box to (get this, there are 2 Sam Goody's still in San Antonio) and actually made money on the deal because they had given him some bizarre discount at the first store. So, when you see that Sam Goody, Suncoast, fye.com are finally out of business, you will know that those 30 dollars had something to do with it.

So, I'm looking forward to Anaheim where we'll be screening in a multiplex, the AMC Disney. We get a percentage of the box ofc. if we sell out. They have a website where I can post my trailer and edit my own info. Very professional seeming. We'll see.

In Between Fests

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:48:25 PDT

Been a busy couple of days. Urban Suburban wrapped up nicely. We got to screen the film in HD after a few technical snafus. I even go applauded for keeping my cool while the film froze repeatedly in front of me. And found out yesterday that we won Best Film! There were only four awards, best doc, best short, best animation and ours. Not bad. 3 fests so far and two awards.

So, i've spent the last two days arranging for screenings at Columbia, Choate, NYU and Haverford for the fall. And updating the website with our new trailer and laurels. And i'll be sending out a big update after San Antonio which is this weekend trying to capitalize on our award and momentum.

Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:02:27 PDT

Got in too late last night to go to the first event but am heading down to cocktail reception now with the world's best social lubricant - my son!

Dos Mas

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:16:51 PDT

If you hadn't heard, we got into two more festivals this week. San Antonio which is coming up fast. The screening will be on Sunday, June 29 between 12 and 4. Info at www.safilm.com.

And Indiefest USA in Anaheim which definitely seems to be the biggest festival we've gotten into. Won't be until the end of August but I'm going to get to party Disney style while I'm there.

Leave for Philly on Wed. for the Urban Suburban and have had good luck hounding press to watch the DVD. We'll see if someone writes something or attends but it's been good practice again getting ready to take advantage of the exposure. Didn't have much time with San Antonio but did manage to get in touch with the film writer for the SA Current the free weekly and have tried contacting the daily as well.

So much busy work but everyone tells you you can't just show up and expect people to come.

Sat. June 20th

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 12:00:01 PDT

The screening date for the Urban Suburban is out. Fifth Form will be on Sat, the 20th of June at 10AM at the Crowne Plaza Main Line. And then the panel that I'll be on will be later in the day.

One of the things that I'd like to talk about is how segregated the festival world. One more way in which things have changed. And one more way in which you can ensure that you'll only see films that show you what you want to see, what you expect to see. You can watch channels that agree, read blogs and newsmedia that agree with you and now go to festivals with ever more specific agendas and niches so as to virtually eliminate the element of surprise.

A distributor told me that he thought Fifth Form would have a hard time with festivals because it's not dark enough and it's not light enough. That's a hard pill for a director to swallow. I don't know how these things work, clearly, but I do feel like Fifth Form will be accepted by Jewish Festivals even though I don't think of it as a Jewish film. Fact of the matter is I think the reception would be very different if this were a film about ethnic tension at an inner city public school. That's something that a film festival audience can stomach because it's happening over there. But seeing a neorealist film about hatred in their own backyard just may not play that well. Maybe I'm being simple and bitter but, heck, it's monday morning. Let me know when the last time you saw a film that was totally surprising. And let me know when the last time you saw a film that showed the day to day lives of upper class people, kids or otherwise. That's what I'm curious about today.

Schedule is Near

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:30:20 PDT

Atleast now I know that we are on the third screen at the Urban Suburban but I still don't know exactly what date or time, we'll be screening. It'll be between the 18th and 20th and between 10am-6pm but that's still all I know.

We got an award from Houston's Worldfest which is great. A Gold award for creative excellence even.

But what's more exciting is that there is an indie distributor that is interested in handling Fifth Form. I'll be having that conversation today. Given that I've found that you can't really get into good festivals without a sales agent and you can't really get a sales agent without a name actor, some sort of self/indie distribution is becoming the norm (and the most profitable norm at that) for getting a film of Fifth Form's size out to audiences. I will definitely have more to say about this after today's conversation.

So Backwards

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:24:29 PDT

I'm so pleased that I figured out how to write that V.2 of the Trailer is in Production and put it on the website. I don't actually have any coding software and can't download any because I have such an old operating system. So, html writing it is or whatever you call it. This was like web construction before there was a web. But atleast it's done. And hopefully the trailer will be done soon as well.

Have about a dozen festivals that we're to hear from in May. So far navigating the festival circuit has been a bit rocky. Just too many good films and not enough places to show them so our little movie is getting a bit of the fuzzy end. But the fuzzy end still tastes good if you chew on it long enough. I wonder if that saying will catch on.

Color Blind Education

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:32:52 PDT

Diversity Day at prep school involved signing up for a series of classes that amounted to a sort of camp arts and crafts day of mayan pottery or african mask making. The only thing I remember specifically is that it all ended with everyone in the gym listening to a steel drum band. I think the drummers were also high school kids shipped in from some other school somewhere where, perhaps, they had signed up for a steel drumming class because it actually was still a relevant part of their culture. Or maybe not. Point is, there was certainly very little attempt made to make any of this relevant to us. Listen to world music and check out folk art and see and hear how different people from around the world are. This is no way to work multiculturalism into a curriculum.

Here's my thought and I know I'm in way over my head but I started thinking about when my parents and I were discussing my 8 year old nephew who is at a blessedly color blind stage of existence. First disclaimer - Even as I think about writing this, I feel like what I will say is going to smack of "everything is relative" identity based politics. But I'm just trying here.

I'm really into the Roots project. I think this is actually a thing but if it isn't it should be. Even the most homogenous classroom gets less so if you trace back the students' ancestry a couple of generations. If every classroom knew more details about their friends' backgrounds and their friends grandparents' and great grandparents cultures and beliefs, there would be a human face for the steel drumming. The friend before them wouldn't have changed but he would certainly have grown in complexity, for himself as well.

I'm interested in that too. Then it wouldn't just be "minority" students, and of course minority would be different in every classroom, who have something distinctive about them. It would be everyone. Am I wrong? I know I'm being too simplistic but in a country of immigrants, shouldn't we spend more time diving into our backgrounds and not in a political campaign, my grandfather was a pig farmer in Ireland kind of way. But hands on.

My favorite research project and there would be so many components to this that it could be a part of almost every class (math, social studies, english, etc.) would be to recreate a day in the life of your great grandparents. What other classes or projects do you wish you had in school that would have aided your multicultural education?

A New Vocabulary

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:17:10 PDT

Hallelujah! The festival march begins (fingers are still crossed). I heard yesterday from the Urban Suburban Film Festival (www.urbansuburbanfilmfestival.com) and we're in. It's located in Philly and so, alot of people who are very important to me and to Liz and to Bill are going to be able to see it. The festival is from June 17-20 and I will be there, doing a Q&A and appearing on a panel. I couldn't be happier. Of course, I will be if I get into the other two festivals that I'm still waiting to hear from in Philly. But we'll take it as it comes. Please join the Fifth Form group on Facebook. It's a much more reliable place to get updates on things like screening times without having to suffer through the rest of my rambling.

Second, I haven't written in a bit and I've been thinking about words. My question is what's going to take the place of the word "minority"? It doesn't work anymore. I understand the purpose of agreeing on a selected few terms for the purposes of census taking and to try and help enact the first wave of civil rights legislation but we're way past black, asian and hispanic. Percentages change from city to city. The word minority itself is demeaning unless you microcategorize groups to a place where you're no longer getting any value out of the category. We know that what we would simply call Arabic here would include Sunnis and Shiites who hate each over there. We know that we're lumping together Dominicans, Puerto Ricans and Argentines and Mexicans, etc. who don't have the same political agendas or needs when they are living here. And, this all came up, because the smallest minority of them all, worldwide, are the Jews. Just not an ethnic minority (depending on who you talk to, of course).

It's a complicated question and I think there's more to it than just a word. It has to do with how you want to be treated as an individual and/or as a group. And this will spark the topic of my next mini-thought, tomorrow (I hope) - my nephew's multicultural elementary education, which I know next to nothing about but I'm going to write about anyway.

So, please your suggestions. If not minority, what?

Easter Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 06:55:19 PDT

But I found that most people crave to know what they don't know. Eating matzoh at work on Easter Sunday was a big attraction. A large handful of people had never seen it before, had certainly not heard of kugel but didn't want to be out of the loop and most wanted to try it (again for the very first time). So after we got through all the "is that your jew bread?" jokes, there wa some conversation. Not much cause nobody always feels like playing rabbi, but some. Point is , it's so often that all the jew references here, and they are constant, clearly come from a lack of exposure which is a hard thing to overcome.

Don't Blame Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:58:43 PDT

The most satisfying thing is that people who I didn't know and still don't know have now seen the film. The festival was definitely a success. It was a small room in a cool venue in Sarasota and I got good feedback from those who I talked to. And they were definitely not my target audience but they seemed to get the film and think that it stood out as a professional product.

The festival organizers were also impressed and I'm happy that this is where I started. It was a good chance to get some of our PR "machine" organized and for me to start talking about the film again in a pretty low stress environment.

It also gave me the opportunity to view the film again through different eyes. I was thinking about the audience, mostly older women, and was self-conscious about the swearing and the in-jokes but it turns out that it all comes together and makes sense once the Gulf War breaks out.

Question for today: Several people talked about liking the message. If you've seen the film, can you let me know, what is the message? If you haven't seen the film, can you let me know, what is a message about racism that you've seen in a film that isn't trite or didactic?

Nation of Cowards I

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:01:21 PDT

This is not Adam's rant about racism in America or anti-semitism. I was never interested in making a didactic film and Fifth Form isn't that. If anything Fifth Form is about how we avoid conversation and culpability by any means necessary. And that is what Attorney General Holder was referring to. He wasn't talking about whites only. He was referring to us all.

I've been lucky. I've had a world of privileges. I've lived in cities where Jewish culture was mainstream. New York is where Jews don't even need to think about who's Jewish and who isn't because everyone is Jewish. Then I moved to San Francsico where liberal ideology was so mainstream that culture was secondary. San Francisco might be where you go if you don't want to be anything, if you're tired of being defined.

Making Fifth Form and moving to Texas, out of my liberal Jewish comfort zone, changes what I take for granted. The film is about the casual racism and homophobia that slowly tears apart a community. I don't want to give away the end but the institutional authority makes the compromise that neither diffuses nor boils the tension. They pass up a major teaching opportunity to maintain the status quo. And that makes me angrier than any of the teenager's hateful acts.

So, how can we prove the Attorney General wrong? In the twenty years since 1990 when Fifth Form is set, a lot has changed but more has stayed the same from the LA riots to Katrina. How do we get ahead of the curve instead of waiting for another Hurricane?

I want to start small and I want to start with the film. What do you remember about racism in your high school? From these stories, I want to move up the ladder to where we can talk about how race and class permeate every major political decision. I believe that's how we start.

The Suncoast

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:06:27 PDT

I'll be heading to Sarasota on Saturday for the World Premiere of Fifth Form at the Sarasota Fringe Festival. They have done an amazing job putting this festival together in a short time with coverage from both of the local newspapers which is a difficult task considering it will be going on at the same time as the Sarasota Film Festival, which is more of a Woody Harrelson kind of event.

I'll be able to go to an event on Saturday night to promote the film which will be screening in a prime Sunday afternoon slot at 12. It is the second to last film with the closing party taking place at 4. I'm pretty pleased that we got such good placement. They watched all 100 shorts and features before making these choices.
Here's the most recent article:

http://www.bradenton.com/entertainment/story/1309254.html

I'll let you know how it goes.

My Festival Premiere

noreply@blogger.com (Adam Orman) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:21:17 PDT

Well the film hasn't played yet but I'm at a festival. And it's kind of lame.

As for the film's premiere, as an update to the Sarasota story, the Sarasota 350 has formed its own festival. The Sarasota Fringe Film Festival and Fifth Form will be screening there. I'm very pleased that this came about and am awaiting word on when the film will be screened before I decide if I'll attend. They might have to show films around the clock and I won't be able to go if Fifth Form ends up playing at 3 AM. So, we'll see. I am desperate to sit in a theater with people watching the movie again though. So, I hope it will work out.

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090310/article/903101068

As to South By Southwest, it combines the films with the interactive festival at the convention center and it's pretty bleak. Lots of people putting their poster over other people's poster. They won't let me in to panels without a badge for the whole festival. This particularly hurts because I had set up meetings with several panel speakers and now I've only been able to get in touch with one of them to tell them that I have to change plans.

But I did manage to set up a new meeting with a Marketing and Distribution that specializes in Independent as well as the sales agent that I'm meeting with in an hour. So, wish me luck bloggees.

Being here basically reminds me of the old internet days. Alot of people selling alot of nothing. Oh plus a Starbucks and an American Apparel kiosk. Weird choices.

A lot of very pale skinny guys and not very many women. And all those silly badges.

Because they don't show films here but spread the films out all over the town, there also doesn't seem to be a centralized focus for the film part of the festival. This is true for the music festival too but the music festival really does take over every venue in town so it's centralized by nature of the fact that it's everywhere.

Perhaps, I'm also disappointed to be here even though the film isn't screening but I won't admit to such pettiness.