INTERVIEW WITH ETHAN CLARKE
DIRECTOR OF "PRINCESS"

By Rooftop Films on 11/03/2008

PRINCESS (Ethan Clarke | 7:05 | Animation)


A likely story of an unbreakable friendship between a woman and her cat. We need them. Do they really need us?

Q&A

Rooftop Films: Tell us about your film: What was your inspiration?

Ethan Clarke: I attempted to write 'Princess' after reading a blurb in the newspaper about an old woman who was found dead in her apartment. The police discovered several bite marks on her that they concluded were from her cat. Her cat was found emaciated but still alive. The whole story fleshed itself out immediately in my mind.

RF: Is there anything you'd like to share about the film that might not be immediately apparent (your conception of the film, backstory, production methods, etc.)?

EC: I ended up using a little bit of every production program i have. I liked being able to utilize my limited knowledge of 3D animation for creation of the backgrounds.

RF: Any interesting stories about the production? Any particular difficulties or serendipitous events or pleasant/unpleasant surprises?

EC: One morning I woke up to find my laptop in a pool of liquid. There were no tipped over cups or anything nearby. I was devastated. I had been sleep walking all week, one night my roomate said I had walked into his room naked while he was with his girlfriend. To this day I don't know what happened but there's a possibility that I urinated on it while sleep walking. That was quite a set back. I lost a lot. Most of the files for 'Princess' had been backed up however and after collecting myself and purchasing a new machine, I was able to continue. I back up my work all the time now. And I work on a tower computer which bares less resemblance to a toilet.

RF: Do you have a pet? Do you have any stories about your favorite pet?

EC: I currently live petless in San Francisco. I feel like i should have a good answer for this one. Pets make good cartoon characters. There's this cartoon called 'Princess' that's a good pet story.

RF: Do you prefer cats above dogs?

EC: I prefer Dogs because cats seem more indifferent to our well being.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?

EC: I work full time in a bicycle repair shop. The owner rented me the back of the shop which happens to be a full one bedroom apartment with a back yard. On slow days when it is raining I can open the "employees only" door and my bedroom door, and work on my computer while keeping an eye on the bike shop.

RF: What is your current/next project?

EC: I'm currently working on a piece about godlessness. 'Wind in the Willows' meets Richard Dawkins in space, on acid. That's the quick description. It follows the life of a tadpole as he watches his friends mostly die off. He becomes a frog which is quite an accomplishment for tadpoles. Some tadpoles might even consider frogs the gods of their species, with the ability to leave the water's surface like they do. One of the characters can been seen on the main page of www.mega-beast.com . It is one of the much larger creatures that the frog encounters.

RF: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?

EC: I loved coming out to New York and hanging on a roof with the Rooftop squad they are such a nice group of people. Some of my old friends including Amy Seimetz, the co-writer of 'princess', live in New York now so I ended up hanging out with a big crew. Seeing my own drawings and hearing my own voice-over projected out over Brooklyn was exhilarating. I haven't been able to get to most of the festivals 'Princess' has been a part of, but Rooftop, I had to attend.

RF: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?

EC: I just like getting it out there so more people can see it. I'm glad there's a place like IFC.com where one can thumb through work by up and coming film artists.

RF: Do you have any questions for the viewers? We hope they'll post comments!

EC: Do you have any stories about your favorite pet?