Genevieve Adams ’11 recently co-produced and starred in a film, “I’m Obsessed with You (But You’ve Got to Leave Me Alone),” that she originally wrote as a play for her senior honors thesis. She also performed the show in New York.
The story follows members of a quirky collegiate improv group as they experience life’s ups and downs. The film premiered at the Sonoma International Film Festival in California two weeks ago and will appear at the Boston International Film Festival on Friday.
Did you know you wanted to pursue theater as a career when you came to Dartmouth?
GA: I knew I wanted to pursue it as a career, but I chose to go to Dartmouth and not a conservatory because I wanted a broad academic education. I wanted to major in English, not because the theater department wasn’t amazing, because it was, but because I came to Dartmouth to study other things. I don’t think it really matters in the industry what you major in. If you choose a place like Dartmouth that’s known for its top liberal arts education, people respect you, and it certainly makes you stand out as being smart.
Was there one experience that set you on the path for your show?
GA: I was part of an improv group on campus called Casual Thursday, and I was part of this whole underground performing sub-culture at Dartmouth. I thought it was really cool and interesting, but I didn’t think people really knew about it outside of Dartmouth. I was inspired by the funny people I met, and I wanted to record them and share them with people.
How did your thesis transform into a show in New York?
GA: I was with an actress friend from New York, and she was frustrated because she was not getting any roles. I said, “Well, me neither, why don’t we just do it ourselves?” So we walked into this little theater called Gene Frankel Theatre on Bond Street and rented it out for four shows. That’s the cool thing about New York — you can do things like that. It’s a risk, and we had to pull together our money, but it was worth it.
How did you advertise the shows?
GA: Bond Street is a really cool street, so people just walked by and saw it. We had wine at intermission, music playing in the lobby and just made it really fun. We wanted to make it feel like one of the shows at Dartmouth. I think that there’s a lack of theater that’s fun and young and vibrant in New York, so people were excited to see fresh faces.
How was the process of converting it from a play to a screenplay?
GA: [English professor] Donald Pease was my thesis advisor, and he was extremely helpful in putting the play in terms of a broader landscape for me, so working with him was vital in terms of how I saw the movie. Jasiek Goracy, who directed the play, was working for a casting director in film, and his whole office saw the play and thought it would be a cool movie. Jasiek helped me adapt it for the screen. We wrote 17 drafts, and that process took about a year. It takes a long time, and these things are kind of always in progress.
Did you recast it from the play?
GA: We recast it because we were trying to raise money and the only way to get investors on board is to have recognizable names. We have Rachel Brosnahan from “House of Cards,” Manish Dayal from “90210,” Thomas McDonell from “The 100” [and] Jason Ralph from Peter and the Starcatcher. We have an amazing cast of up-and-coming young actors who all did it because they really responded to the writing. I think there’s a lack of complicated roles written for young people out there in artistic, original films.
What do you have coming up?
GA: I actually have four films coming out soon where I have small roles. I am in “Bird People” (2014) with Josh Charles, “The Skeleton Twins” (2014) with Kristen Wiig, “A Walk Among the Tombstones” (2014) with Liam Neeson and “Mania Days” (2014) with Katie Holmes. [Wiig] is my all-time hero, so working with her was really exciting.
Are you hoping to get into more films or continue acting on the stage?
GA: I’d love to do it all. I have another screenplay that I am kind of finished with, and I’m hoping to get on stage and continue auditioning for film roles. I think it’s good to have goals, but also good to be open to what my opportunities are in the moment.
What was filming like on the day to day?
GA: It was crazy. It depended on what location we were in. In Long Island, we would wake up at 2 a.m. and shoot until 5 p.m. because we had to be off the beach by then, so those were grueling days. When we were shooting at Dartmouth, we got a little bit more of a normal work schedule, up around 7 a.m. and in bed by 10 p.m., because we were shooting at [Alpha Delta fraternity] and in classrooms. It was 25 days of pure work and a ridiculous logistical struggle, but so fun.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
