Anybody wanna listen to an audio interview about WUSS?

Uh, um, anyone? Anyone???

Come on! The interviewer has a British accent for fraggle's sake!

Fancy Pants Britishy Interview Clicky The Link!

Holy Crap! How long has it been!?!

Well, we've been together for so long, maybe I take you for granted sometimes. I'm gonna make it up to ya, baby. Swears it!

Anyway, I've been on the road with EARTHLING, as it does it's small theatrical run all over America (and some cool foreign spots like Brazil). And we're doing the festival run with my new feature, WUSS. Assuming if you're reading this, you already know about it, but here's the trailer anyhow...

WUSS Trailer Short from Clay Liford on Vimeo.

So, EARTHLING comes out on iTunes in September. Check our website for future theatrical playdates and release info...

http://thetexastheatre.com/home/aviation-cinemas-releasing/

I'll be back again soon, baby. I miss us. I really do.

Why does it seem like I'm the last person to link this...?

Because I probably am. Anyhow, better late than never. Here's the first "full" trailer for EARTHLING. Hot off its SxSW premiere and Dallas International playdates. Maryland Film Festival, Santa Cruz and London Sci Fi are right around the corner.

EARTHLING trailer from Barak Epstein on Vimeo.

Sorry So Sloppy!

Hey! I've totally neglected this thing for like, I can't even remember how long! I'm going to make sure to update it more frequently in the coming months. Films have been blowin' up all over.

We got back from Sundance with My Mom Smokes Weed, only to have to prep Earthling for it's SxSW premiere. Then immediately after that, MMSW went to Method Fest in LA, with Sarasota and Florida Film Fests following right after.

Earthling will make its hometown debut at the Dallas International Film Festival this weekend, with many more fests to come right after that.

I'll put announcements and links and whatever up here soon!

Also, my next feature is fully financed and set to go this Summer! It's a comedy starring Nate Rubin (from My Mom Smokes Weed) and follows the misadventures of a high school English teacher who's beaten up by one of his own 15 year old students and can't live it down!

Anyway, TTFN and I'll post more soon, I swear!

EARTHLING Trailer #2: "JUDITH"

EARTHLING to WORLD PREMIERE at SxSW 2010

The Interviews Start Pouring In! PART 2

Here's one with Indiegogo!

6Q with My Mom Smokes Weed (Sundance 2010) from GoGoDanae on Vimeo.

The Interviews Start Pouring In! PART 1

Gordon and the Whale Video Interview!

Sundance Tomorrow!

Nate and I head out for Park Cities tomorrow, to be joined shortly after by Yen, Adam, Ellen and tons of other Texans (Lovers of Hate peeps, etc).

I'll be updating my facebook and twitter accounts (links on the right tab of the blog homepage) as interesting things happen. There are definitely some cool things in the works!

My Mom Smokes Weed begins it's Sundance screenings on Friday. Here are the screening times!

Friday, January 22, 9:00 a.m.
Yarrow Hotel Theatre 1, Park City

Saturday, January 23, 11:30 a.m.
Prospector Square Theatre, Park City

Sunday, January 24, 12:45 p.m.
Broadway Centre Cinemas V, SLC

Thursday, January 28, 11:30 p.m.
Holiday Village Cinema III, Park City

Saturday, January 30, 9:00 p.m.
Tower Theatre, SLC

Sunday, January 31, 11:30 a.m.
Holiday Village Cinema IV, Park City

MY MOM SMOKES WEED TRAILER #2

MY MOM SMOKES WEED TRAILER 2 from Clay Liford on Vimeo.

We're Enticing! (apparently)

According to Cinematical, MY MOM SMOKES WEED is one of the 10 most enticing short films of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival! I guess a rose by any other name...

Trying hard not to dookie a shooter!

So, it's now part of the public record. MY MOM SMOKES WEED is an official selection of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

This news comes on the tail of several other amazing acceptance notices. Bryan Poyser's fantastic feature film, LOVERS OF HATE, is one of the 16 films in the narrative competition. As well as being a friend and fellow Texan, LOH also stars Chris Doubeck (also in EARTHLING) and was shot by David Lowery (who co-shot MY MOM SMOKES WEED).

The Zellners also have a new short in the festival. FIDDLESTIXX, which played with MMSW at Cinevegas. And my good pal Don Lewis co-produced a feature playing Park Cities at Midnite. THE VIOLENT KIND. Can't wait to check it out!

Also, the Duplass Brothers have their latest film (starring John C. Reiley) premiering. Pretty amazing. A big gaggle of UT alums tossing snow balls around in January!

Texas and friends of Texas will be well represented.

More to come!

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL THIS WEEK!

In Austin this week for several reasons. First off, I decided I needed just one more teeny tiny scene for EARTHLING. This one involving just one actor...Amelia Turner (who happens to reside in Austin). Shot it within hours of arrving in town. Went fantastically well, thanks to additional support from friends Kim Hall and Jason Wehling.

EARTHLING screens tonight for it's first audience (larger than one) at the Austin Film Society screening room. The event is largely utilized for gathering feedback as I close-in on my final edit. Bryan Poyser is our gracious host. Event details are here...

https://www.austinfilm.org/SSLPage.aspx?pid=964

The remaining HUGE reason I'm in Austin is because I have a film playing at the Austin Film Festival. Yes, MY MOM SMOKES WEED makes its regional premiere this week at AFF. Can't wait to see it with an Austin crowd!

Event details are here...

http://aff.bside.com/2009/films/mymomsmokesweed_clayliford_aff2009


I'm in Austin through Sunday, so if you're in the ATX and wanna hang, shoot me a line.

I return to Dallas Sunday, and the following day I begin shooting my next feature film as Director of Photography. The film is called MINUTEMAN, and it's a sci-fi action'er.

Should be a fun deal!

TTFN!

Hell has officially frozen over...

So, I really never thought I'd be typing this sentence, but A FOUR COURSE MEAL (my first feature film as writer/director) is finally coming out on dvd.

The North American release date is 12-22-09. Just in time for Christmas! Nothing says "Happy Jesus Day" like the gift of an unrated horror-comedy anthology film!

The fine folks at R Squared films are doing it up right too. There's the 16x9 film, trailers, 30 minutes of deleted scenes (I know. That's a lot for a 90 minute film!) and a brand new audio commentary.

You can check out the site HERE!

The dvd will be available through most online and several retail outlets. More details as D-Day approaches.

Yay! Internet!

So, after being without internet while shooting a film in Austin ("Chainsaw Found Jesus", the new short by Spencer Parsons) I came home to discover that due to a technical error, my home internet had be turned off. While I cleared the issue immediately with the fine people at AT&T, it still took over a damn week to get the f'er back up and running.

A bunch has happened. My Mom Smokes Weed has played another festival (Cinesol) and has another in the wings (TBA).

Earthling is cut (but still too long) and is being tweaked.

I'm just now beginning to sorta prep my next film.

I'll do more updating in a bit.

There's so much more. ST. NICK playing in foreign countries. Blood on the Highway on Video On Demand.

Craziness!

TTFN

Watch ST. NICK on a friggin ROOF!

+

=

Headed to NY at the end of this month for the Rooftop Films screening of ST. NICK.

Here's David Lowery's post on the event.

EARTHLING BEHIND THE SCENES!

EARTHLING BEHIND THE SCENES: Fun With Plastic Tubing from Clay Liford on Vimeo.

After our effects crew was killed in a freak latex accident, the remaining actors were coerced into applying and performing their own makeup effects. Here's an example!

FIRST TEN MINUTES OF ST. NICK ONLINE!!!

I know I'm like the 50-bajillionth person to post this, but David Lowery was gracious enough to put the opening sequence from his amazing feature, ST. NICK, online. My ulterior motive for posting this is that I was the Director of Photography for the film, and maybe you'll want to hire me after you see this!!!

It's honestly pretty darn awesome. Visually, David is a very strong director, and I really can't claim any possessive credit for the overall look of the film. David's hand is firmly present in every shot. Um...but hire me anyway!

Enjoy!

St. Nick - Clip 1 from ST NICK on Vimeo.

English Version of Polish EARTHLING INTERVIEW

Here's the link to the interview I recently conducted with a Polish website. 

My Sleep Schedule is Jacked!

When in Vegas, make the drunk DB face! This photo covers all the DB bases. Stupid faces. Shot by someone actually in the photo. Alcohol. The works. I feel like I joined a fraternity!

Cinevegas was pretty amazing. I met so many cool people, and our shorts block was totally solid. I had a great running crew! So glad I was able to be there with Nate and even MY MOM!

Next up for MY MOM SMOKES WEED is a special screening at the LA Film Festival on June 26th.

Here's a LINK to the info.

Hope to see you there!

Does Anybody Read Polish?

I recently did an interview with a Polish website for EARTHLING. It looks really cool, and I guess I can post the English transcript from my email. But somehow, I think I probably come off better translated to another language. 

In case you're curious to see the words of "Clayem Lifordem" (which I now prefer to be referred to as), the link is here.

Do Widzenia!

Cinevegas Interview: My Mom Smokes Weed

In anticipation of our upcoming screenings at Cinevegas, here's a brief email INTERVIEW I did for the fest. Here's hoping I don't sound like a goofball.

CINEVEGAS INTERVIEW

Somehow we found the time to make this...

Just a little goofy fun from the set of EARTHLING. I'm in the throes of editing, and it's coming along quite nicely. It's pretty silly that this is the first "released" piece of "motion video" from the film, but what can you do?

NC2U 2009 Mix! from Clay Liford on Vimeo.

Very Very Quick Notes

So, several things happening at once. 

First, MY MOM SMOKES WEED is an official selection of the 2009 Cinevegas Film Festival. This is so awesome, and I will for sure be in attendance (along with at least one cast member).

Second, we're pretty much wrapped on EARTHLING. As I write this at 1:30 in the morning, we'll be shooting our last scenes with flesh and blood actors in less than 8 hours. After that, it's all rubber and latex as far as the eye can see. I've still got a bevy of effects shots with fake creepy crawlies before me. Effects films are fun!!!

Finally, once more, a great and hearty thanks to my entire cast and crew. Wonderful people who understand the enduro trials of no-budget filmmaking. This is the best, most fantabulous posse I've ever had the pleasure of running with, and my eternal gratitude is with you on your winged ride to Valhalla.

I'm really tired (shocker!) so here I am talking nonsense for the fifty bazillionth time!

Bed time for Bonzo!

Don't Even Know What Day It Is...

This is just a quick one. We're in the middle of week two of principal photography on EARTHLING. Things are going great. I have such an amazing cast and crew. I know I've mentioned this before, but really, they're the bee's knees. 

I've learned so much in the last few weeks. I feel like I've learned how to stay calm under debilitating pressure, and furthered my ability to make changes and compromises on the fly. This particular film is particularly hard to track. We're, of course, shooting out of order, and for something this "technical" with effects continuity and plot points that consistently need to be spelled out (i.e. sci-fi exposition), it's really become a challenge just keeping up with the basics on a day-to-day basis.

Tomorrow we film the most important emotional scenes in the film. I'm nervous, but excited. My actors are giving their all. I just gotta know what to take and when I've got it. I'm not even sure if that makes any sense. It's more of just trusting your artistic partners and knowing that not everything has to be telegraphed for an audience to get what you're going for.

I'm totally rambling and I have no idea what I'm talking about anymore. I'll post again when I'm more lucid. Just wish us all luck and godspeed as we sail towards the finish line of this nutty journey.

P.S.--This post is for Kat!

***Update***

Somehow watching this next video reaffirms my faith in the ability of the moving picture to stir the emotions. It gives me hope to soldier on...

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.