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*written by Chris Baier and Kelly Anderson, producers of UNSTUCK

We can’t wait to debut our film, UNSTUCK, at the Keynote presentation during this year’s Annual OCD Conference (#OCDCon). The film has been a two-year journey for us and it all started with a conversation our kids had with each other about their OCD.

During the summer of 2015, our daughters attended a week-long OCD summer camp in New York City. As Kelly drove the girls home from camp, she overheard them having a very detailed conversation about their obsessions and compulsions. Her documentary filmmaker instincts kicked in and a lightbulb went off: show kids dealing with OCD for what they truly are: strong, knowledgeable OCD experts. After a few conversations with our families, the OCD kids movie was born.

About six months later, we had written a proposal, assembled a medical advisory board, wrapped the first day of filming, and released a trailer. We were fortunate to secure funding for production from the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Foundation and this propelled us to share an early rough cut of the film at the 2016 OCD Conference in Chicago.

The reaction to our first cut of UNSTUCK was an amazing experience. Our scheduled 90-minute session went on for over two hours. We had always believed that the film would be valuable to kids with OCD and their families, but at that screening we realized our audience was much broader. Parents talked about holding screenings for their children’s teachers and school administrators, and adults with OCD reacted emotionally.

Since the 2016 Annual OCD Conference, we’ve interviewed two more teens, released countless video clips on our Facebook page, and launched a second trailer at ocdkidsmovie.com.

 

As we worked this winter to finish UNSTUCK, we received an email from Jeff Szymanski and Stephanie Cogen from the IOCDF inquiring about the progress of the film. We were ecstatic when Jeff called a week later to say, “We would love for UNSTUCK to be the Keynote presentation this year at the 24th Annual OCD Conference.”

We said, “yes” before he finished his sentence.

To premiere a film about OCD, at the most important OCD conference of the year, is truly a dream come true. We keep telling people that the Annual OCD Conference is like “the Oscars of the OCD world!”

We are grateful and excited to launch the film’s distribution and we know that it will have a broad impact. What’s more, we can’t wait for the kids – Ariel, Charlotte, Holden, Jake, Sarah, Sharif, Tatum and Vanessa– to take a bow.

The documentary that we debut on July 8th will include a diverse cast of kids and teens with OCD, as well as some of their siblings. They will not only talk about their struggles with OCD, but also how they developed tools to fight back against their fears and rituals. Seven of the eight kids will also be on-hand, and on-stage, for a quick Q&A after we screen the film.

We know it will be a memorable day!

3 Comments

  • Amy A

    would this film be appropriate for an 8 year old with OCD?

    Reply
    • Yes, definitely! the kids in the film range from 10-18. There is nothing that would not be appropriate for an 8-year old. Hope to see you there!
      Kelly & Chris

      Reply
  • Michelle J

    This sounds amazing! How can we view this if we are not at the conference?? I have a 15 year old daughter who was diagnosed in 3rd grade and feels alone alot of the time, like we will never understand how she feels.

    Reply

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