'Obsession', Memes, and the Desire Path
You don't need to have seen the movie 'Obsession' before you read this piece. I haven't.
KILL THE LION
Thoughts by truly independent filmmaker Cody Clarke.
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The Dark Art of Stolen Footage: Three Examinations
PREFACE / EXCUSE This is my first piece for my Substack in quite a while. Can it count that I had meant to write this piece many, many months ago? Can I get partial credit as though I had written and published it back then instead of now? To be fair to both me and the subject matter, it wouldn’t have been as good of a piece back then. Two occurrences that round it all out narratively hadn’t…
Let Your Kid Stay Home
Gavin Newsom and Charlie Kirk. About six months ago, Charlie Kirk (1993-2025) appeared as the very first guest of Gavin Newsom’s podcast, ‘This is Gavin Newsom’. Early on in the conversation, Gavin tells Kirk that his 13-year-old son is a big fan, and very badly wanted to meet him that morning, but Newsom insisted that he go to school instead, as it was a school day. I really hope that, within the…
My New Improvisational Album / Movie
Orphans and Other Children: Live (2025) I have a free improvisational band called Orphans and Other Children, which is just me on solo acoustic guitar. The tracks aren’t Frankenstein’d in any way—each track is one continuous improvisation. This is not music that will appeal to everyone, however, I would recommend trying it even if you assume it might not be up your alley, because you might be…
I've Resurrected Something!
From 2013 to 2016, I was the head writer and editor-in-chief of a film blog called Smug Film. I was also the host of its podcast. After I closed Smug Film’s doors, I moved on to just making (a ton of) truly independent feature-length films, but now, after nearly a decade, I am opening those doors again: Smug Film is back, baby! (I will still make films too, don’t worry—or do worry, if you hate my…
Help Me Make a Feature Film of 'Anthem'
The classic novella by Ayn Rand
We Can Have Nice Things
Watch my television pilot for free on YouTube . This past week I engaged in, for the fourth year in a row, the annual tradition of shooting an entire feature-length film instead of watching the Oscars. This insane (and insanely fun) ritual was started by friend and filmmaker Joel Haver in 2022, and since then, thousands of people around the world have participated in it, and over a thousand films…
Toast Battle: Kill Them With Kindness
A couple days ago was my good friend Taylor Drew’s birthday. She’s a wonderful standup comedian here in New York City, and she asked me to roast her for her birthday show, where a bunch of her standup comedian friends, including myself, would be roasting her. I did so, and it was great. But, she was also hosting her weekly open mic (The Taylor Drew Review) a few hours before that, so I decided to…
My film was banned from YouTube, so now it's on X
Back in 2021, I made a film called Attack of the Giant Blurry Finger. It’s become a bit of an international cult hit—YOU may never have heard of it, but it’s got a ton of fans from Brazil and Indonesia to name just a few far-off places. Until yesterday, I hadn’t released it on YouTube, due to the fact that there’s nudity in it, and being worried that it’d get taken down. Over the years friends of…
I've Been Mockbustered!
A lot of budding filmmakers start out with achievements in mind for themselves to reach throughout their filmmaking career. Milestones that mean they’ve ‘made it’ or something. Maybe it’s a Spirit Award, or an Oscar, or a Pal’eme D’oor (or whatever it's called). One that I had never even considered for myself, simply because I never imagined in a million years that I could achieve it, is to be…