My Mom Smokes Weed!

(Nate n' Sylvia! Together again, for the first time!)

So, apparently I'm now shooting short films faster than I can edit them. I still have barely begun work on THE TIMENATRIX, and I've already finished photography on the follow up film.



This is my mother and me (and the top of a target my mom blew away at the shooting range).



This is my mother (kinda) portrayed by actress Sylvia Luedtke. Yes she is rolling a smoke. No it isn't tobacco (it's not weed either, thanks to the great fakery of Ellen Weaver).

The title pretty much sums up the movie. Oh, to clarify, the title of this post IS in fact the title of the new short. MMSW, as many of us have come to call it.

I realized that the majority of pics in my little Cannon Elph camera are not so hot. Fortunately, the pics from both my producer Yen Tan's and Adam Donaghey's cameras are VERY hot (mucho caliente!). See Adam's blog here for the proof.

Anyway, I'm very curious to see how this film shapes up. It's my first stab at anything even remotely autobiographical (albeit significantly embellished). It was nerve wracking during the audition process. Hearing actors attempt a stab at my mannerisms (via the scripted dialogue, primarily) and my mother's. It wasn't until the rehearsal phase that I was able to let go of the concept that this is a verbatim retelling of an episode from my life, and just let it live as a slightly humorous, hopefully identifiable situation in which a child is mortified by a parent, and then has to accept the fact that perhaps he can look at said parent as a person, and not just an ex-authority figure. Likewise, the parent is forced to see her child as a free-standing adult. Now I'm just waxing my psycho-babble T-bird, so I'll let it go.

Anyway, I'm already proud of it, even without a lick of editing accomplished. It's also the first time I completely divorced myself from camera operating duties (except for during The Timenatrix, when it was a necessity, since I was starring in it). Thankfully, I had two amazing and trustworthy lighting cameramen on the job. David Lowery and my long-term D.P. Jason Croft did an amazing job, with very little to work with. I think we had four lights. It was tough for me to stand back, but I think I did okay. Thanks guys, for understanding my silly anxieties.

I will post later of the editorial progress. For now, I've got this on my plate, as well as The Timenatrix (on which I may be officially handing over editorial duties to Blair Rowan, post haste), AND the rewrite on our (hopefully) next feature, THE ABDUCTORS. Not to mention, we're about to regroup for the next leg of KIDDO photography. Oh yeah, and there's a potential web series too, starring Chris Gardner as a Dungeonmaster. Fun!

Finally, a few farewells. Firstly, to Adam Donaghey, who is off to Atlanta for something like 6 months to earn money to pay for my films (wink, wink). Next, to James Johnston, who is off to a deserving festival run for the brilliant short MERRILY, MERRILY, which he just completed. Also, to Yen Tan, whose outstanding feature CIAO is also making significant strides on the festival circuit. I will actually have the good fortune of attending the Miami screening of the film WITH MY MOTHER at the beginning of May! And last, but certainly not least, to David Lowery, who is spending over a month in New York, working on a secret film project that I'm certain will be amazing.

TTFN!

Clay