Clicker Clatter
Director’s statement
In 2003 I wrote a book of media criticism called Media Mythmakers, and though it was a modest success, I realized that no matter how good it was,
relatively few people would read it.
Taking a page from The Simpsons and Jon Stewart, I decided that a few seconds of visual humor could as effective
as a whole chapter railing against inane television, social hypocrisy, and shoddy journalism. I decided to adapt some of the ideas in my book into a script.
I didn’t have the money to make the film until I inherited a few thousand dollars from my grandfather, a lifelong Voice of America journalist in San Francisco.
The result is Clicker Clatter, a film which most thinking people can relate to--and which would do my grandfather proud.
Though I had a longtime interest in
film and animation, I didn’t really know the first thing about writing a script or making a film. Yet the more I thought about it, I had all the pieces I’d need:
Edward Summer, who wrote Mickey Mouse cartoons for Walt Disney Studios as well as the original screenplays for "Little Nemo," was enthusiastic about producing the film.
I had taken an animation workshop several years earlier with Animatus, a small,
independent animation studio in Rochester, New York. I had been taking voice acting lessons from a professional named Toni Silveri, and she knew several voice actors
who could do the characters. For the design, I wanted a visually interesting style and hired a professional caricaturist friend of mine, Adam English, to do the
characters. Last but not least, I tapped a musician friend of mine, George Hrab, for the music.
I wish I could say that it all magically came together, but the truth
is it was a hell of a lot of hard work. Almost no one involved in the project had done anything quite like Clicker Clatter, but it all got hammered out with a
minimum of sobbing and debt-collector harassment.
A Director’s Attempt to Sell Out
Because Clicker Clatter was entirely self-financed, I had very limited funds and thought I would make some attempt to "sell out" to "corporate America." In May 2006, as I was making a salad for friends, I noticed an odd logo on the back of some produce packaging touting something called the "Michigan Celery Promotion Cooperative." I had no idea that there was actually an organization dedicated to promoting celery grown in Michigan, and was intrigued. I decided to contact the group and offer a product placement in my film. I'd include a character saying something like, "Isn't this great celery? It's grown in Michigan, you know!" or maybe a thank you credit at the end.
The price for my artistic integrity, I am ashamed to admit, was a paltry Benjamin. Yet even $100 was apparently too high, for my letter and offer were ignored. No check arrived, not even a case of wilted celery for the animators and myself to snack on. Nothing.
I followed up again several months later, as the film was wrapping up, one last chance to sell out, plug celery, and defray costs. Still nothing. I decided to note the Cooperative's lack of cooperation with a (non)credit at the end of my film that states, "This film was made without the help of the Michigan Celery Promotion Cooperative." Wonder if I'll hear from their lawyers...