PREMIERES
Strawberry Mansion
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair
Give Me Pity!
IN PRODUCTION
I Saw the TV Glow
Joybubbles
Dream Team
Good One
Sour Minnows
LIBRARY
Clara’s Ghost
Chowder
Men Don’t Whisper
The Feeling
Moneybag Head
The Starr Sisters
The Follower
Call Your Father
Ching Chong Blues
A Key for the Kid
Whiskey Fist
Tond
Affections
IN DEVELOPMENT
Seems Nice
Traum
Time and Space
Dolphin
I Was There Too
Mano A Mano
ABOUT
Smudge Films is an independent production company dedicated to making personal films with unique worldviews.
Founded in 2016 by producer Sarah Winshall, our films have played all over the place, including at Sundance, New Directors/New Films, SXSW, AFI Fest, Rotterdam, SFFilm, SIFF, CPH:DOX, Outfest, Rotterdam, BAM Cinemafest, MoMA, on the Criterion Channel, as Vimeo Staff Picks, and more.
We make shorts, features, docs, experimental videos, music videos, commercials, web series, and TV shows. We are based in Los Angeles.
© 2022 Smudge Films Too LLC.
Los Angeles CA
Clara’s Ghost
2016
2016
Ted Reynolds, an aging comedian, copes with his fading fame by living a quiet life away from the spotlight with his wife Clara in rural New England. When they invite their two daughters —a pair of former child stars—home to celebrate the family dog's birthday, the vodka-loving clan devolves into a drunken mess. While Ted and his daughters rehash old wounds, Clara finds herself face to face with a supernatural spirit that only she can see.
Clara’s Ghost is written and directed by Bridey Elliott who also stars in the film. Bridey, imitates life through art, blending a voyeuristic look into the cattiness of a family steeped in show business with the unsettling elements of a traditional, fictional ghost story. Bridey casts herself; her father Chris Elliott; her mother Paula Elliott; and her sister Abby Elliott (Julie) to riff on their own identities as a multigenerational family of performers.
WRITTEN & DIRECTED by Bridey Elliott
PRODUCERS
Sarah Winshall
Rachel Nederveld
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Christopher Burch
Chloe Gordon
Daniel Powell
CO-EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS
Julia & Kevin Hartz
Sujay Jaswa
Ari Stidham
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
Stephanie Szerlip
Francis Capone
Eliza Cash
Angela & Chris Cohan
Sakurako Fisher
Bing Gordon
David Kelley
Vinod & Neeru Khosla
John Tyson
STARRING
Paula Niedert Elliott
Chris Elliott
Abby Elliott
Bridey Elliott
Haley Joel Osment
Isidora Goreshter
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Markus Mentzer
EDITED BY Patrick Lawrence
MUSIC BY Stella Mozgawa
PRODUCTION DESIGNER Tory Noll
COSTUME DESIGNER Caitlin Doukas
SOUND DESIGNER Fred Paragano
SCREENINGS
February 14, 2019
THE FUTURE OF FILM IS FEMALE, PART 2
New York, NY
December 7, 2018
IN SELECT THEATERS
November 4, 2018
INDIE MEMPHIS
Best Narrative Feature
Memphis, TN
October 18, 2018
EASTERN OREGON
La Grande, OR
September 22, 2018
SUNDANCE HONG KONG
Hong Kong
June 24 & 25, 2018
CINEPOCALYPSE
Best Actress, Paula Niedert Elliott
Chicago, IL
June 21, 2018
BAM CINEMAFEST
Brooklyn, NY
June 13, 2018
HOMEBREWED at the Ragtag Cinema
Columbia, MO
June 6-10, 2018
LVFF
Las Vegas, NV
May 4 & 5, 2018
MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL
Baltimore, MD
April 19 & 20, 2018
SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL
Sarasota, FL
April 16, 2018
ATLANTA FILM FESTIVAL
Atlanta, GA
April 6 & 7, 2018
WISCONSIN FILM FESTIVAL
Madison, WI
(w/Let's Scare Jessica to Death!)
March 24, 2018
TREEFORT MUSIC FESTIVAL, FILMFORT
Boise, ID
January 19, 2018
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
Park City, UT