LA FOCUS - Some Girls' Mothers
Uninspired by her own mother's taste in music, ten-year-old Grace sneaks records from her friend's mom's collection.
Watch Some Girls' Mothers here:
Length: 19:36
Director: Dayla & Colin Kennedy
Producer: Dayla & Colin Kennedy, Brooklyn Reynolds Gross
Writer: Dayla Kennedy
About the writer, director and producer: Dayla and Colin Kennedy are a husband and wife filmmaking duo from Los Angeles. Dayla is naturally inclined to create projects that are character driven, like her Vimeo Staff Pick, Highpoint Pool. Colin’s emphasis has been on visuals, such as his award winning short, QUIK. Dayla graduated from CalArts in Film and has spent time making films, writing and working in animation. Colin, a lifelong skateboarder, has been making skateboarding films, commercials, documentaries and television shows since 1998.
Brooklyn is a LA born and based freelance Segment Producer for television and a close friend of Dayla and Colin. This is her first time producing a narrative short film with her friends.
Key cast: Georgie Grieve, Stacy Cunningham, Skye Popov
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists): Film Festival Directors, Buyers, Journalists
Funders: Seed & Spark crowdfunding community
Made in association with: The Julian Foundation a California Non-Profit group formed to honor the life of Julian Collender. The Julian Foundation supports the pursuit of education, artistic endeavors and creative self-expression so that Julian’s passions will continue to thrive.
Release date: April 2016
Where can I watch it at Dances With Films or in the next month? Shorts Program 2, 2:45 pm Saturday June 4th at TCL Chinese Theatres, Los Angeles, CA
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Some Girls’ Mothers is based on a short story that I wrote and shared with Colin before we were married and the story resonated with us both as a short film. Like the main character, Colin and I both had experiences as kids admiring a few of our friends' parents who we assumed had better taste than our own. We wanted to show a spontaneous moment a kid has with an adult that helps inform their taste and style, in this film, it's admiring the musical taste of a friend's mom.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Some Girls' Mothers has a great soundtrack, is paced well, and has three excellent actresses. I think it leaves an audience feeling good. It's a sweet film.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Everybody gets inspired by someone else at some point in their life, that inspiration can be related to movies, food, clothing, architecture, anything, and many times those moments are very subtle or even subconscious when in someone's physical space. Both Colin and I were inspired as kids by being around other adults who were unaware of their influence on us.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?
Some of the aspects that worked well in the original short story did not translate well to a short film, so we had to re-think the main character's motive and how the short story would work cinematically.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
From the screenings we've been to, people laugh and smile. Most people say the story is sweet. Some people really relate to being a kid and admiring a friend's parent and a lot of viewers also say they relate to being in love with music at a young age. People often try to categorize Some Girls' Mothers style and tone as something they have already seen.
We've had people say it reminds them of a Wes Andersen film or the movie Little Miss Sunshine which we take as compliments, but when our friends watch it or people already familiar with our work, they say immediately that it feels the "us" - it's what they expect of our filmmaking styles combined.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not yet but we are looking forward to hearing more and getting the film out to a wider audience.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
We would like more people to see the film and read about it.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
We'd love to share this film with as large an audience as possible.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
We hope viewers recognize that the small things in life are worth highlighting in films, like the moment someone begins to discover their personal taste.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
Are laser-discs as worthy of shelf space as records?
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
I wrote an original series that we hope to produce and direct together and Colin is finishing a feature-length skateboarding documentary.