Moosestash FILMSpresents

[ What happens when you ask a group of teens waiting to be adopted into families, what it is they’re waiting for? ]

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What Is FMLY follows the lived realities of a group of teens on the brink of aging out of government care and facing the very real possibility of entering adulthood without a family. This POV documentary and web-based story-sharing platform explore what it takes to find and nurture relationships you can count on, transcending the bounds of bloodline.

This project offers audiences rare access into what it’s like for these teens to navigate the adoption process and experience the complexities of what family means. When a child in government care turns 12, they begin actively participating in the process of choosing who they’d like their family to be. When they turn 19, they “age out” of government care, meaning they are no longer eligible for support, financial or otherwise. They’re often kicked out of their foster homes, and are basically left to fend for themselves cold turkey. We find our subjects, teens in government care at the critical age of 18 turning 19, going through an intense, personal journey of determining exactly what family means to them. Is it financial support, is it shelter, is it love? What the teens are looking for ranges quite dramatically. But the powerful common thread is that families are the people who have your back for the long run, no matter what. What Is FMLY sheds light on what it is really like for a teen seeking to be adopted, told through the eyes and art of the teen subjects themselves.

what is fmlyTHE DOCUMENTARY FILM

RT: 45-minutes

Purpose: What Is FMLY is a POV documentary for television broadcast that gives audiences rare access into the lived realities of four teens who are navigating the process of choosing or being chosen by a family.

Audience: Adults 35-50 (parents); policy makers, social workers, and post-majority youth

Key Characters: Four teens navigating their last year in government care

Secondary Characters: Foster families, bio-families, adoptive families, social workers, friends, other teens in care, artist mentors, teachers/coaches, policy makers, police

Extras: Potential for a follow-up documentary five years down the road, tracking what has happened to these teens, now adults, while also tracking changes in policy, cultural norms and alternative family arrangements

Main Subjects:

What Is FMLY features four teens navigating their final year in government care, each at the critical age of 18 turning 19. 53% of youth in government care are of first nation origin, and the film will reflect this diversity. Our subjects include one teen who is in the process of being adopted; one teen who is pregnant and looking to be adopted; one teen in government care who is not seeking permanent adoption; and one teen who has already “aged out” of the system without having been placed in an adoptive family. These teens have been put through the ringer and face a lot of serious challenges, but they’re also incredibly resilient and hopeful. The unique perspectives of these characters allow us to get to the heart of what family is and what it means to choose or be chosen by one.

Examples of Scene Content:

* Intimate moments of reflection in a teen’s bedroom* Foster and group home dynamics* Unpredictable bio family members causing tumult in their lives* First overnight stays with potential adoptive families* Moving in / moving out* Fights and reconciliations with social workers* Trusting moments with mentors* Unexpected crisis moments* Identity and self-confidence issues* Personal revelations* Humourous moments with friends* Hopes and fears about the future

Documentary Film (TV delivery):

* A 45-minute POV documentary featuring about 4 teens who are all about to age out of government care* Captures moments of their lived realities over the span of one year, as they navigate the raw and vulnerable process of seeking adoptive families or preparing to face adulthood without an obvious support system* Details their personal artistic journeys as they craft 1-minute films of their own about what family means to each of them* The completed documentary is aired on TV in Canada/USA

Workshop Series:

* A group of 10 teens will work with closely with artist mentors to develop and express their ideas on what family means to each of them (topics including connection, belonging, trust, attachment, permanence, and love)

Online Platform:

* A robust story-sharing space featuring an interactive poll, live data visualizations, a gallery of the teen films (created during the workshop component), and a facebook-integrated discussion forum

project summary

what is fmlyThemes:

* Yearning for belonging (attachment, permanence, trust, unconditional acceptance)* Ticking time bomb (the pressure of turning 19 and losing all governmental support; the pitfalls of our social net)* Coming of age (adolescence to adulthood, generational cycles)* Modern societal values (nontraditional families; bio/adoptive families, policy changes)* Artistic/creative expression (participatory storytelling; empowering marginalized voices) * Teen/child rights* Aboriginal values and rights* Gay rights

TEEN FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

A key component of the What Is FMLY project, presented in both the documentary and the online platform, is an intensive mentorship-based workshop series. We are collaborating with the Adoptive Families Association of BC and other organizations, who are helping to connect us with 10 teens who want to share their unique perspectives. The teens will work closely with carefully selected artist mentors to create one-minute films about what family means to each of them. The workshop series is an opportunity for these teens to tell their own stories in their own voices. The process of working through challenging themes, such as abandonment, bloodline, trust, and belonging, will be incorporated in the What Is FMLY documentary film. Upon completion of the workshops, the teens’ films will be shown at live screenings that will tour across the country, and integrated into our online platform.

ONLINE PLATFORM

In addition to the documentary and workshop series, we are creating a robust online platform that will function as a space where our audience, comprised of parents, social workers and policy makers, and youth who have aged out of government care can come together and engage with the project.

This platform includes an interactive poll, where users are invited to answer a set of questions identifying their unique perceptions of what family means to them. These answers are then translated into live data visualizations. A user is able to see their results and compare them against those of other users. As more and more people participate, this expanding collection of data creates a robust picture of the complex ways in which we experience and define family.

Also embedded on the site is a gallery of the 10 one-minute films created by the teens during the workshop process. Each video is packaged with a profile of its creator and a direct call to action for our online viewers to spread these videos across their social media streams and keep this conversation growing.Finally the site includes a facebook-integrated forum, facilitating continued discussion around what kind of support teens want and need, adoption advice and resources, and progressive family trends.

DIRECTORS’ VISION

Picture in your head your own family. Unlike back in the 50’s when our culture subscribed to a much more rigid definition, today, not a single one of us understands family in the same way; each of our families are made up of diverse, complex, and often fluid arrangements of people. Within Canada, our most recent census measured alternative family arrangements for the first time, finally allowing for step-parents, same sex couples and foster children to be included and counted as “family members”. As a society, we’re in the middle of a massive shift towards a much more progressive way of understanding family. The subjects of the What Is FMLY project are experiencing this shift in a very real way.

When we think of adoption, we often picture little babies and wide eyed children. But we often forget about a whole group of kids who are also seeking families: teenagers. This group is particularly at risk, because in BC as in many other parts of the country, as soon as they turn 19, they lose all government support and are left to fend for themselves. They’re struggling with things most teenagers take for granted: a place to call home; a family to feed and protect them; mentors to guide them. They’re searching for a sense of belonging, permanence, and trust at this already difficult stage between childhood and adulthood. Up until now these teens have been largely left out of our cultural dialogue. It’s time to hear their voices.

Our goal with this documentary is to empower some of the most marginalized voices in our culture through participatory storytelling. What Is FMLY has the potential to create lasting social impact locally, nationally and potentially even globally.

Documentary:

* Work with AFABC (and other adoption orgs) to continue the process of connecting with teens in care who are interested in participating in the workshop + documentary * Begin test filming with subjects; development of each teen’s potential story trajectory

Workshops:

* Creation of workshop format and schedule* Connect with teens interested in participating (AFABC supported), begin selection of artist mentors, social workers

Online Platform:

* Consultation with the BC Ministry of Children and Family Development; family psychologists; adoption orgs (regarding content of questions for poll)* Research and development of the parallax scrolling poll component and dynamic data visualization database* Beta testing with diverse focus groups

Online Component

The films created by the teens during the workshop are featured in the online platform and can be shared virally, allowing us to leverage facebook, twitter, pinterest and other popular social media outlets where our target audience connects naturally. Passed around online, these short films trigger a feedback loop driving viewers to explore the main project website and engage more deeply in the interactive storyspace.

Additionally, we plan to conduct a series of outreach missions where we place compelling invitations in unexpected places for people to engage with the project. For example, we’ll set up a cozy outdoor living room in a public space inviting passersby to talk with us. We’ll place provocative messages on busses and postings in the classified section of newspapers. These grassroots missions entice people to access the online platform and seek out the broadcasted film.

Documentary FilmDirectly following the launch of the project’s online platform, the companion 45-minute What Is FMLY documentary film will air on TV to Canadian and US audiences. After its broadcast run, the film will be distributed online for extended viewership.

Moosestash Films is an innovative production company located in Vancouver. Our most recent project was The Sticking Place, an interactive online documentary about a wrestler and her journey to the Olympics. We funded the film through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign. Since completion the film has won several awards, including being recognized as a 2013 Webby Honoree. Through all this, we’ve been building a very supportive community who is eagerly waiting to see what we do next.

Our Collaborators

We are working closely with the Adoptive Families Association of BC, a provincial organization that provides support and advocacy for adoptive families and children in government care. While AFABC has no editorial input into What Is FMLY, they are strongly supportive of the project and are helping to connect us with youth and their families, support workers, policy makers, and other adoption organizations. We are also consulting with Agentic Digital Media, the web development team behind Speak-Out Youth Zone, an online resource for youth who are adopted, currently in, or formerly in care.

Development goals

marketing & distribution

ABOUT MOOSESTASH FILMS

With its ability to transcend language barriers, we see the web as the greatest translator known to humankind. Irrespectful of the rules of language, the internet is a breeding ground for abbreviated and adaptive communication styles (“FML” is a popular one). We wanted our title to playfully express this while at the same time conveying the project’s central question.

where the name comes from

what is fmly

A group of ex-foster kids were asked if they would have liked to have been adopted. One man, 23 years old, 280 lbs, and covered in tattoos, held up his hand and said, “You bet your ass I would have liked a family. I still would!”-Adoptive Familes Association of BC

I want to feel like I belong. I dream of a forever family that would support me in whatever I choose to do when I’m older. Like, right now I want to be a famous musician but maybe that will change. Maybe I’ll decide to be a cook or an artist, and I would really like the support and guidance of my family. - April

Getting adopted becomes more important as you get older. You have things like college, and doing it by yourself is a really big struggle. Not with just financial support but with emotional and spiritual support — I think it’s really a big deal. That’s why I tell people I still need to be adopted. It doesn’t go away. - Chris

I’ve been in care since I was four. I’ve lived in five different homes, waiting for my bio family to be able to take care of me again. But that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. So I wait. I play my guitar a lot—I want to be a rock star one day. Getting adopted would mean I could share my dreams with someone. I would belong to someone, and finally have a family. And then I would be happy. - Melinda

“Every year, about 1,100 kids in various kinds of government care turn 19. Within six months, nearly half (49 per cent) apply for income assistance -- two-thirds of those for disability assistance the rest for welfare, according to an email from MCFD communications. A handful, slightly more than one in 10 (about 12 per cent), receive continuing support in the form of either a living stipend of up to about $1,100 per month or annual postsecondary education grants of up to $5,500; to qualify they must be working full-time, in a formal recovery program from drug or alcohol abuse, or going to school full time.” (Source: The Tyee; Pieta Woolley, 8 Apr 2013)

* The majority of British Columbians (68%) back extending the age of government support until at least age 21, with 19% supporting extending the age to 23 or older

* 70% of BCers believe that 19 year olds do not have the necessary skills and resources to live away from home and support themselves

* 90% of parents of 19-25 year olds said they would worry about their children in the event they couldn’t provide them with any support

* 7 out of 10 parents with 19-28 year olds at home provide groceries and free rent

* 80% of parents who have 19 to 28 year olds living away from home provide them with financial or others kinds of assistance

* 71% of British Columbians underestimate the percentage of youth who are currently in foster care or in a group home

* Only 28% of British Columbians are aware that government support ends when young people in care reach their 19th birthday

Source: Fostering Change – Perceptions on the challenges facing British Columbia youth transitioning out of government care; Vancouver Foundation study – October 2013

* Registered children and youth for adoption: 1032

* Youth over 12 registered for adoption: 331

* Children and youth adopted: 210

* Youth over 12 adopted: 25

* Youth aged out of care: Over 600

Source: BC Ministry of Children and Family Development, 2012-2013

teens speak out youth in crisis statistics

what is fmly