On The Wall, Off the Chain

Adam Turman is a gentleman in everything he does: bicycles, art, and family. 'On the Wall, Off the Chain' was selected as a top-twelve finalist in the Fusion/International Documentary Challenge, and premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in January of 2017

A colleague of mine had an Adam Turman cup this week, and it reminded me of the documentary we made about him nearly nine years ago. He’s incredible, his family is wonderful, and - fun fact - his dogs at the time could literally bark along with you to Happy Birthday.

Justin and I were lucky enough to be part of a documentary crew for a five‑day filmmaking competition. The premise is simple: you’re given a theme, and you have five days to shoot, edit, composite, and deliver a finished short documentary. Justin used to love doing these with his friends, mentors, and colleagues. It was exciting, exhausting, and one of the best kinds of creative pressure cookers. Just remember the golden rule: no drama, please.

Students and filmmakers: if you ever get the chance to do a short‑film competition, do it. You learn so much, so fast. It’s where I started - just a key grip trying to absorb everything I could - and even though I’ve given myself a title change since then, in my heart I’m still the key grip I was born to be. That weekend is still one of my favorites.

Justin also talks about these competitions as the spark that led to his old filmmaking company. After doing so many of them, he and his business partner finally needed a better way to finance the fun projects. That’s how Grassfire Studios came to be.

Adam Turman does a lot of painting now - beautiful Minnesota‑inspired art rooted in good people, a good place, and good hearts.

-Madeline