DAYTIME ENTERTAINMENT EMMY® AWARDS
Q&A
Clay Weiner & John Roberts
Director Clay Weiner and writer, actor John Roberts are the minds and talent behind MAKE MOM PROUD. Last year Weiner and Roberts were MySpace/MyEmmy Scholarship Winners for their short, THE CHRISTMAS TREE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTs5eKZ0i1E). Though they did not take home an Emmy last year, that video introduced the National Academy and our Blue Ribbon Panel Judges to “Mom” and the talented duo, whose simple production techniques, minimal crew and enormous web following are proof that the “new” Tube is just as relevant as the old one. We defy you to watch THE CHRISTMAS TREE and not laugh or sympathize or both. Weiner and Roberts’ videos are frequently highlighted on YouTube. In fact, their short, THE PHONE CALL (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JyfBFz9X54) was selected to the Top Spot on the broadband broadcasting giant’s main page.
Steve Rogers: Give us a little background on your production experience?
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| Clay Weiner - in deep thought |
Clay Weiner: I write and direct commercials and have just created an animated TV show for MTV called Puberty. You can check out the Puberty website and meet the characters at www.immaturity.tv
SR: Who's behind the camera? Who are you working with on these projects?
CW: We have found a dedicated and inspired group of editors, cameramen and crew to help us realize our vision. They're terrific and add so much to the equation and we'll take them all with us as more and more opportunities present themselves. Our production capabilities are really unique, techniques I've learned from experience on bigger budget commercials and TV shows.
SR: Who or what experience inspired the hilarious DEBRA & JACKIE short (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdpKwwomO_A)?
John Roberts: DEBRA & JACKIE are inspired by me experiences as a child hanging
around my sister and her friends a little too much.
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| John Roberts - funnier than your mom (yes really) |
CW: I thought it was inspired by your experiences pre-sex-op?
SR: THE CHRISTMAS TREE, a film about your mother's yearly obsession for the tree. I think this is a comic tour de force…is it funny because it's true?
JR: It is true. My mother loves Christmas and the tree. She's also from Brooklyn where they don't have a lot of trees. So she get's really excited about it.
CW: Margie, John's mom, served as consultant, fashion stylist and caterer during that shoot. So she was really busy, but not too busy to point out several times how nice her tree looked. And she's right, it's a nice tree.
SR: Besides this being about your mom, I saw my own mother's obsession in the character. She's converted to a fake tree by the way. Do you hear from other people that they recognize their mother in your film as well?
JR: So many people tell me "that's totally my mom too." Especially if they are from the east coast. But I bet it's pretty universal anyway. P.S. My mother's tree is fake now too. "It's just easier" "No needles"
CW: I've had a lot people say, "That's just like my Jewish mom!" without even thinking that Jewish moms wouldn't be talking about a Christmas tree.
SR: Who are your greatest influences, cinematically and otherwise?
CW: Ernie Kovacs, Mel Brooks, Polanski.
SR: What's your life like away from the camera?
CW: Pretty worky by day, sexy time by night. I write a lot and then try to find a way to get anything that I feel happy with realized. Each are equally tough. As a creative group, we're all very talented writers and performers so that makes us quite agile.
SR: Television and internet seem to be two colliding universes. Where do you fit in?
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| Clay Weiner - thinking on the box |
CW: We've been approached by both networks and websites to make content or full-on shows for them and we're considering both options but nothing has felt right yet, so I guess that makes us like a slice of ham between the bread. What's funny is that everyone is tilting the table to these new media places because they are stealing audiences from TV. But when it comes to producing original content, they really don't have a clue what to do until they've see it done already.
SR: What do you consider Primetime in this day and age?
CW: Whenever someone is viewing something.
SR: In an age of people branding, how much of what is seen on YouTube or MySpace represents who and what you really are?
CW: If you work it, then sure, MySpace is a wonderful tool to express BRAND YOU. For us, it's a been only a part of the equation. John's been performing at venues in NYC for years and I've been writing a directing a lot for TV and commercials. So we're pretty busy, and more concerned with the next idea, the next creation, than the maintenance of our presence on the web. When we do have time to utilize the web we don't want anything getting in the way of our porn time.
SR: Are places like YouTube and MySpace and the Internet in general helping to create a new generation of artists, creators, directors, producers and broadcasters?
CW: Definitely. This isn't a hypothesis anymore, it's been proven. But we feel like having an audience and having a vision are two different things. We're less concerned at this point with having ridiculous numbers of people interested in our work, more concerned with cultivating a true fan base. And by true fan base I mean a lot of hot girls in tube tops.
JR: Or hot dudes in skimpy boy briefs.
SR: If it wasn't for Broadband "broadcasting" where or how would you go about getting your work out there?
CW: I suspect we'd be doing it the old-fashioned way: taking it door to door. That's why we're both wearing comfortable sandals. But, in truth, the broadband model is getting old anyway, it's so June 2007. We're already looking for the next. Some people would say that's so forward-thinking of us, and those people would be right.
SR: What are you influenced by more, television or what you view on the web?
CW: Television. It's still the big leagues. Maybe it won't be in a couple weeks, or months or years, but T.V. is still how the masses digest media, it's still the biggest ham in the smorgasbord. Also with comedy, the standards on the web are really low. A shock gag is still highly effective because the delivery vehicle is so new. That will die out as web audiences become more discerning.
SR: Before it seemed that creative people in Broadband were trying to catch up/compete with Television, now it seems the Television Industry is trying to catch up with the web?
CW: Commerce drives both enterprises, not content. So they are both chasing the dollar, not the idea. If they would chase the idea more often, the dollar would follow. The television industry is like Detroit in the 70's. Their development model is too slow. The films we have created take the medium and the viewer into account and I think in large part that has helped them be as successful as they have been. TV is still making a lot of AMC Pacers.
SR: What was your favorite TV Show growing up?
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| John Roberts |
JR: Knots Landing. Me and my mom used to watch it together.
CW: Ouch. Too many favorites to name. I guess the Gong Show. I am a huge Chuck Berris fan.
SR: What is your favorite film?
JR: Pee-Wee's Big Adventure
CW: Network
SR: Who are your heroes?
JR: Paul Reubens, Amy Sedaris, Stephen Colbert, Martin Short...
CW: Buck Henry, Paddy Chayevsky, Gene Wilder, Robert Smigel, Steve Martin, Jim Henson,
Chuck Berris, Richard Pryor.
To view all of Weiner and Roberts’ videos go to http://www.youtube.com/user/mittymoo.