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Fairmount

In the wake of her grandmother's death, a precocious teenager embarks on a road trip to James Dean’s hometown with her older brother and filmmaker neighbor.

  • Jillian Bokatzian
    Director
    Call Me When You Get Home
  • Charlotte Moretti
    Writer
    Call Me When You Get Home
  • Jillian Bokatzian
    Writer
    Call Me When You Get Home
  • Jillian Bokatzian
    Producer
    Call Me When You Get Home
  • Charlotte Moretti
    Producer
    Call Me When You Get Home
  • Jesse Stringer
    Sound Engineer
  • Matheson Allen
    Assistant Camera
  • Frank Ritz
    Production Manager
  • David Stringer
    Sound Design
  • Matheson Allen
    Set Photographer
  • Sarah Alison Cooper
    Key Cast
    "Haley"
  • Charlotte Moretti
    Key Cast
    "Margot"
    Call Me When You Get Home
  • Evan Houdek
    Key Cast
    "Wyatt"
  • Ride Home Films
    Production Company
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Coming of Age, Drama, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 59 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    16,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Jillian Bokatzian

Jillian Bokatzian is an American writer, director, cinematographer, and producer. She studied at the New York Film Academy and worked under producer Alexia Oldini, outside of her studies on a variety of film and theatre projects, that include 'Middleground' (2017), 'Idee Fixe' (2016), and the immersive theatre experience, Pip's Island.

But she ultimately solidified her career making ultra low-budget independent films, such as ‘Call Me When You Get Home’ and ‘Fairmount,’ with her best friend, Charlotte Moretti, frequently utilizing guerilla filmmaking methods and focusing on coming of age stories. Together, they operate under the production company Ride Home Films, now based out of their hometowns in Michigan.

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Director Statement

Fairmount was inspired by the story of screenwriter and actress Charlotte's grandmother, who, as a teenage girl, loved James Dean and was devastated by his death. She wrote to the fan club address she’d found in a magazine and surprisingly got a response back. She began exchanging letters with his aunt and uncle who raised him, and they eventually even invited her to stay with them in Fairmount, Indiana, but she was never allowed to go. She was the daughter of immigrants raised on Hollywood in the 1950s, and we were enamored by her story and ran with it from there.

We wanted to make the kind of movie that we want to see - a film whose journey starts in a bedroom 70 years ago and moves like a broken down van towards an unknowable future; a film whose characters are loving and boring and funny and struggling all at once; a film whose landscapes are the strip malls, farms, and motels that you pass everyday without noticing, until you do.

We made Fairmount because we believe that filmmaking is a love letter to the stories we're told, and that it is privilege to turn them into a whole world that can be inhabited for a couple of hours. We believe that with hard work, creative maneuvering, and like minds on your side, anyone can make a movie - and that anyone who wants to should.