Will Vinton in the studio - Image Courtesy of Oscilloscope Films
A modern day Walt Disney, Will Vinton picked up a ball of clay and saw a world of potential. Known as the “Father of Claymation,” Vinton revolutionized the animation business during the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s - along the way winning an Academy Award and pop culture recognition after creating a series of commercials featuring the California Raisins. But after 30 years laboring in relative obscurity as the unheralded king of clay, Will Vinton’s carefully sculpted American dream comes crumbling down at the hands of an outside investor… Nike’s Phil Knight.
CLAYDREAM kicks off Salem Film Fest as the festival’s opening night film on Thursday, March 24 at 7:30pm at Cinema Salem. SFF Program Director Jeff Schmidt caught up with Director Marq Evans ahead of the film’s Massachusetts premiere.
Jeff Schmidt: What is your background as a filmmaker and what attracted you to filming CLAYDREAM?
Marq Evans: I came into filmmaking a little later in my career. I wasn’t someone that grew up wanting to be a filmmaker. I wanted to be a baseball player but that didn’t pan out. After college I got a job in sales and did that for 7 years. But all the while my older brother, Kevin Noland, had been in LA and in the film industry and we started talking about working together on creative projects. When the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010 we went down there and made a documentary (which we’re actually still making to this day). That project was kind of my film school and really got me into making documentaries. Not long after that I made my first feature, THE GLAMOUR & THE SQUALOR (recently named one of the Top 20 Music Documentaries of all time by American Songwriter) and it was towards the end of making that when I discovered the story of Will Vinton. I knew of Will and I grew up with many of his characters. But it wasn’t until reading an article about the rise and fall of his company when I realized there was a big story here that would make for a great documentary. I remember reaching out to him that day when I read the article. He wasn’t too interested in doing a documentary at first but we kept in touch and after about six months I finally won him over. After that, it was such a pleasure working and getting to know him.
Filming CLAYDREAM - Image Courtesy of Oscilloscope Films
JS: I don't think a lot of people realize the legal drama that surrounded Will and his animation company. While your film goes into the creative aspects of his career and those California Raisins that many of us remember, the business aspects of his journey are really fascinating. Did you know from the outset that this would be a significant part of the film?
ME: I knew it would be a big part of the film, but I didn’t know how that part of the story would be told. Looking back, I still don’t really know how I would have told it had I not gotten my hands on the deposition footage from his court case against Phil Knight of Nike. I didn’t get that footage until about 2 years into making the film. In fact, I didn’t even know it existed! Will just casually asked me one day, “Did you ever get the deposition?” I thought he meant there was a written transcript of it but he clarified, “No, we shot the whole thing.” He actually hired a film crew to shoot the deposition. It was all on old beta tapes so we had to get them transferred, but when I finally get them from the lab I knew we had something really great.
Will Vinton and Marq Evans - Image Courtesy of Marq Evans
JS: What surprised you most during the production of the film?
ME: Just how down to earth and normal Will was. He was just a regular guy, not eccentric or hard to deal with. Just a guy that was fun to hang around. There were many days I’d show up at his house and we might have had a loose plan to shoot some things, but I ended up leaving the camera in the car and we’d just hang out. He’d take me out on his boat. I just really liked being around him.
JS: Taking a film on the festival circuit the past 2 years has been a challenge for filmmakers, what has the experience been like for you? We're excited to host you in Salem on opening night!
ME: There hasn’t been much of a circuit for the film! It premiered at Tribeca last year but it was totally virtual. On the same day of the virtual premiere, I was able to host an in person screening at the arthouse theater where I live and had a couple hundred friends and family and people from the community out. So that was fun and felt like a premiere. And then we had the international premiere at the Annecy Film Festival in France, which was a lot of fun. That was lucky because we got to do that in a tiny window when things had opened back up. There have been a few other small in person screenings, and a ton of virtual screenings and Q&As. I’m really looking forward to screening the film for an audience in Salem and honored that it is playing on opening night.
CLAYDREAM screens in-person only as the opening night film of Salem Film Fest - Thursday, March 24 at 7:30pm at Cinema Salem. Purchase tickets to the film here.
