Take 5 with "Blue Boy"

The 7th annual Oxford Film Festival is getting closer every day. Before we kick off another fun-packed festival, we thought we would take five with filmmakers and get to know them just a little better.

Alex Jablonski's film, "Blue Boy," screens Friday, Feb. 5 at 8 p.m. with "Vicious Kind" and Sunday, Feb. 7 at 1 p.m. with "Mountain, River and The Road."

OFF: In 10 words, describe your movie and why someone should see it.

AJ: Classic coming of age story but not what you're thinking.

OFF: Biggest lesson learned in getting the film made? Best part in getting the film made?

AJ: The biggest lesson had to be to never give up on a story or a film. There was a time during the editing process that I felt like I had really made a clunker, just a flat-out bad short film. The editor, Joi McMillon and I kept working the material and tried a number of things and sure enough it started working and the film really came to life.

OFF: Tell us about you. What is your movie making background?

AJ: This was my thesis film for the grad film program at UCLA. Prior to that I worked as an Assistant Editor for Spike Lee and his editor Barry Brown.

OFF: What’s your dream distribution plan for the film?

AJ: We've actually secured a phenomenal distribution plan for the film through a great company in the UK, but unfortunately there are some legal pieces that still need to be worked out.

OFF: What’s the future hold in store for your film and for you?

AJ: My hope is that the film continues to play a number of festivals. For me, I'm currently doing a project called Sparrow Songs in which myself and cinematographer Michael Totten make and release one short documentary a month, every month for one year. The films are available for free on our site, www.thesparrowsongs.com. In addition to that I'm developing two narrative feature films and working a day job as an editor on a studio film.