The film originated as a play centering around four idiosyncratic friends that Adams wrote for her senior thesis.
"It's about the friendships you form in college when you're your most vulnerable, most creative self," Adams said. "It's largely based off my own experiences. I had an amazing, funny group of friends who were extremely diverse in terms of politics, religion, socioeconomic background and I wanted to record these people."
After she graduated, Adams adapted her thesis into a play that ran at New York City's Gene Frankel Theater last February.
"It was a great play, she's really quite talented," Jordan Verrilli '14 said. "It was absolutely packed. I remember there were no more chairs so I had to sit on the edge of this [piece of theater equipment]."
Griffin Adams '14 said that watching the play was a particularly poignant experience for him because it was a union of two worlds he was able to enjoy the project as both Genevieve's brother and her Dartmouth peer.
"It connected to a lot of the humor I see in her, and also the humor and wit of the Dartmouth community," he said. "She uses humor to convey deeper underlying themes and motifs about insecurities we all face in college."
With the help of her boyfriend, Jon Goracy, who attended Columbia University, Adams then adapted the play for the screenGoracy has worked on projects ranging from independent films to Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln."
Adams and Goracy decided to raise money for the project using Kickstarter, a website that uses "crowd funding" to raise money for creative endeavors, Goracy said.
"You want to make a movie, write a book, make a watch company you put out your idea for the world," Goracy said. "It's a platform to raise money for whatever creative project you want."
Goracy and Adams made a video introducing their project and the film plot to the viewer.
The duo is attempting to raise $200,000 in 30 days through the platform.
If they are even one dollar short, all of the money will be returned to the backers, Goracy said.
As of Sunday afternoon, the cause had raised approximately $44,000, according to its Kickstarter page.
Adams chose to use Kickstarter in part to retain creative control over her project.
"As a young unknown writer, someone could buy your script and it could end up in development hell for 10 years. And even if they like it, production houses are so backed up it could end up never getting made," she said.
Even if they are unable to raise the desired funds through Kickstarter, the endeavor will still be considered successful, Adams and Goracy said.
"I think a lot of the reason people are afraid to engage in certain projects is a matter of funding," Griffin Adams said.
"Even if this fails, it's a success, because it's a way to get a lot of the Dartmouth community behind her and it's a way to figure out how best to sell the movie."
If it becomes necessary to find private investors, they are more likely to invest if it is evident the movie has a show of support, Adams said.
Sunder Gidumal '14, who donated to the Kickstarter campaign, said that he was attracted in part because he saw the video on Facebook.
Gidumal also knows Genevieve Adams and is confident in her ability to accurately portray Dartmouth in the film.
"I'd want the community aspect to come across," Gidumal said. "There's always lots of activity and diversity not just ethnic diversity but diversity as a whole; a lot of people are involved in so many different things."
Genevieve Adams echoed Gidumal's sentiments.
"It's a school of individuals," she said. "I remember I felt really comfortable when I arrived freshman year; I didn't feel any pressure to act like someone else."
The film will be unique to other college-centered movies in this genre, Genevieve Adams said.
"It's not going to be a raunchy, buddy-buddy boy thing, which is what a lot of college comedies are," Genevieve Adams said. "I tried to make it about co-ed friendship."
She cited Wes Anderson, Kristin Wiig and Woody Allen as her creative role models.
"Kristin Wiig is my idol she writers her own stuff, creates her own characters; she totally changed the landscape for women writers and performers," Adams said.
Verrilli compared the tone of "I'm Obsessed" to the popular HBO series "Girls."
"It's a realistic depiction of college social dynamics," Verrilli said. "This isn't Sex in the City.' The video [on the Kickstarter page] is very indicative of the kind of humor that's there; witty and not trying too hard."
Although the central characters in the film are artists, the film is accessible to a wide audience, Goracy said.
"These characters all represent something that people connect with," Goracy said. "Our friends who work in banking and our 65-year-old relatives went to see the play and they all connected with it."
Genevieve Adams said her team secured permission from the College to film on campus this upcoming summer something that has never been done before. Students will have the opportunity to have minor roles or act as extras in the film.
Genevieve Adams is collaborating with Johnny Mathias '11, a member of the band Filligar, to create the score of the film. Her literary agent is Brant Rose '92 of the Brant Rose Agency.
"It's very Dartmouth-centric," she said. "I want to capture the school and share it."
