Channel Frederator Blog

Mary J. Hoffman presents us with a creepy, crawly modernized cautionary kid tale where she teaches us to NEVER use a Green Crayon… UNLESS it’s for vengeance.

1. How did you come up with the idea for this film?
Well, there’s the long version and the short version. . . and to anyone that knows me well, they know I tend to ramble.  So here’s the long version.
Before the powers that be finally let me into CalArts, I recieved my associates degree from a community college back home in Seattle.  A classmate in my art class and I were just randomly discussing that I wanted to be an animator, which led to the age old topic of “if you could make a film, what kind of film would you make”.  I told him that I wanted to make animated horror films, kind of along the lines of “Tales from the Crypt” tv series, or the old “Night Gallery” show.   Having heard that he told me that he had an idea if I ever wanted to use it (and all I had to do was say that he gave me the idea, so thanks Brett).  He then proceeded to tell me the basic groundwork of the film.  He said that when he was in the first grade, he was given that exact same assignment, based on the Sheb Wooley song, and did the very same thing, creating a green monster, instead of the purple one.  Unfortunately, being the good little boy he was, he just took the bad grade and lived with it, but deep in his heart, he always wished he could have gotten his teacher back somehow.
And that’s how it started I guess.
I happened to have a creative writing class that same semester and started to write the poem then and there.  I worked and reworked the poem for about 3 years before I finally got the courage to try to make it into a film.  By then it was my third year at Calarts and I’d felt it was “time” and that the story finally had an ending I was happy with.

2. Who are some of your influences?
Oh MAN!! My list would probably get me black listed. . . well, not really. 
I seriously am influenced by a lot of really lame things.  I LOVE old horror films, and the worse they are, the better.  Actually, I’m influenced by bad movies in general.  A few of my classmates used to make fun of me in college because of my addiction to bad movies.  I was embarassed for a long time, but realized that they make me who I am and have influenced my work a lot.  Same with old tv shows,  the cheese factor on an episode of the “A-Team”, “Wonder Woman”, or “I Dream of Jeannie” is enough to influence me for HOURS.
Artistically, I really love Charles Addams and Edward Gorey, but I also LOVE the photographer David LaChapelle and fashion magazines.  I taught myself to draw, like a lot of us have, by copying Disney drawings when I was little, so that’s seeped in, and I ADORE the drawings of Chris Sanders.  But quite honestly, I’m almost always influenced by my peers and co-workers, I wouldn’t have made it through college, work, or my films without them helping me out along the way and teaching me that I will always have a lot to learn.
I guess a lot of my influences have also recently become mainstream thanks to the dumb “emo” movement.  Oingo Boingo/Danny Elfman, Tim Burton, Henry Selick, Jim Henson. . . Invader Zim, Nightmare Before Christmas you name it.  Unfortunately, if they’re selling it over at Hot Profit, chances are I’ve been influenced by it at some point.

3. What do you do when you get stuck creatively?
Geeze Jeaux!!  Why don’t you give me a HARD question?
I seem to be having that problem a lot lately, actually.  I’ve tried all sorts of things and I can tell you what DOESN’T work. Looking at the blogs usually doesn’t help me specifically.
But I have found that watching any Pixar movie, or any animated Disney movie from the 1950’s, and of course, “Tales from the Crypt”. . . all I can say is, thank GOD they’ve finally released those on box set!
And the #1 thing I do when I’m stuck. . . have a pity party with my friends and have them bitch slap me and tell me to “knock that sh*t off”.

4. I didn’t figure you for a monster person Mary. (I Kid, I Kid! When, I first met Miss Hoffman, she was wearing a cool t-shirt of Vincent Price & Kermit both dressed up as Dracula) Who is your favorite Old Hollywood Black and White Movie Monster, and what do you think about the state of horror films today?
Awe, that’s easy.  The “Creature From the Black Lagoon”. Frankenstien’s Monster is pretty sweet too, but the “Creature” has always held the key to my heart.
As for horror films today. . . they personally piss me off.  I mean, slasher flicks, like the ones in the early 80’s and mid 90’s were fun for me. Freddy, Jason, Michael Meyers, they’re awesome. . . and the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, they’re all really cool, but why remake them?  I think it’s a total waste of time and money to recreate a bunch of horror film “classics”.  Now I know that they’re not just doing remakes, but come ON!!  How many more vampire/werewolf hunter movies do we REALLY need?  I mean, they don’t even TRY to make them look different!  And Zombies?  I realize it’s easy to follow a formula, and the people backing the projects are probably forcing a lot of stupid lame sh*t to happen, but it’s just getting retarded.

5. What are you working on currently?
Well, currently, when I’m not bustin’ my bootie over at Neopets, my boyfriend/partner and I have started customizing guitars.  It’s a ton of fun for the both of us and gives us something to do together.  Carlos is a musician and guitar tech, so he doesn’t always understand what I do and working on the guitars together kinda gives him a tiny glimpse into my world.  Then, when we’re not working on one of our guitars, I paint little, evil, food monsters.

Thanks Mary, your film was awesome! Hope to see more from you in the future!
-Jeaux Janovsky
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