“MY MOM SMOKES WEED” INTERVIEW
May 28 | Author: Mike Plante
Clay Liford is a graduate of the University of Texas film program. Also a DP, Clay shot over ten feature films, including the most recent film ST. NICK. MY MOM SMOKES WEED marks his first foray into filmmaking with his mother, who was a production “consultant” (and had script approval).
Simply put, MY MOM SMOKES WEED’s plot: Mother has a series of chores for her son to complete. One of which involves her love for a certain special herb.
Tell us briefly about the film’s story, and what it means to you.
I guess there’s little ambiguity in the title of the film. MY MOM SMOKES WEED is about a son in his late twenties returning home to spend the weekend with his geriatric mom. She’s a constant source of embarrassment for him, mostly stemming from her habitual smoking, which he’s way too uptight to deal with. He’s tasked with driving her to the shady part of town in order to refresh her supply when she runs out. The second half of the movie takes place in a Jamaican drug lair. Comedy ensues!
Why did you use the short film format to tell your story?
I’m not sure if audiences would put up with a mother and son bickering for 90 minutes. Honestly, I think every story has a built-in duration. I’ve done features before, so this isn’t necessarily like a stepping-stone for me. I truly believe that some things work better in a more succinct format. That being said, I find it a shame that there’s an inherent exhibition “no-fly-zone” for films clocking in between 30-70 minutes. Actually, in my experience, even shorts over ten minutes have a tough road ahead of them, festival-wise. I’ve seen some truly incredible pieces hovering around the 30-minute mark. Films that don’t need to be any longer, and frankly wouldn’t work if they were shorter. I tried to cut MMSW down to make it more attractive to programmers (and I totally sympathize with the programming issues connected to longer-duration shorts), but it just didn’t work, so I decided to just go with it at 17 minutes and hope the decision makers responded to it enough to see past scheduling limitations. Which prompts me, at this moment, to say “Cinevegas rocks!”
I personally flip flop between shorts and features. My next film, which we just wrapped shooting, is a feature (and hopefully deemed so out of necessity).
Have you seen your film with an audience yet, and how was the reaction?
I have seen the film several times with audiences. The reaction has been more amazing than I could ever have hoped for. We’re all, at some point, mortified of our parents (marijuana notwithstanding), and the older you get, you naturally begin to soften up and see where they’re coming from; what their perspective is. Kids can be pretty reactionary. And they typically have zero tolerance where their parental-units are concerned. This was my attempt to (comedically, of course) address that, and to let my own mom know that I finally “get it.” It’s all about identification, which I’ve apparently fought in the past. Fought the natural urge to make films people could connect to emotionally. I’m not even sure why. Now I guess maybe I’ve done that to some small degree, and it feels awesome.
What do you think the role of a film festival is?
I think festivals provide a lot of things to a broad spectrum of people. As an alternative platform for amazing films that might get seen otherwise, or a showcase for new talent working in formats (ahem, shorts) not necessarily suited to normal channels of distribution, I mean they’re fantastic. Not to mention how many lasting friendships and collaborations I’ve made over the years at various fests around the nation. I work with filmmakers from New York to Chicago to LA, all of whom I initially bonded with at various festivals. It’s crazy, because you really do see the same people over and over. And if you’re lucky, you’ve got stuff playing at enough fests that you can literally go to a different one in a different city practically every month (if not more often)!
I often work as a Director of Photography, and it’s been my good fortune that I’ve shot several “festival darlings” in the last few years. So, through diversification of content, I could pretty much just do festivals all year ‘round (in a world without money, of course).
Do you gamble?
Only with my intestines! I love spicy foods. I love trying spicy foods of questionable origin. I live in Texas, so there you go. Actually, this question reverse-dove-tails nicely into the previous. I probably need to start gambling so I can afford to keep going to film festivals and make films!
Shorts Program 2: Screenings
Friday, June 12 – 10:30 AM
Sunday, June 14 – 5:30 PM
See also:
