Clark, 25, has entered a short film into a contest that could put him on a reality show called "On the Lot," produced by Spielberg and Mark Burnett. His film, "Caregiver," must earn him a spot among 16 filmmakers who will be chosen for the Fox Network show. The movie, a spin on the fairy tale "Little Red Riding Hood," was filmed in Sevier and Knox counties.
Clark was born in Sevierville to Mack and Sandy Clark, but his family later moved to Ohio. His love of movies came from his mother, Clark said. They occupied a lot of his time, especially during the year his condition kept him in a wheelchair.
"We rented most of the movies," Clark said. Every Tuesday his mother would go to the video rental store to pick up the newest releases or other titles on Clark's list. "Steven Spielberg was my biggest inspiration," Clark said.
"Every time I saw a movie I liked, his name was on it. 'Back to the Future,' 'ET,' 'Indiana Jones, 'Jurassic Park.'" "I was 11 years old when I figured out what I wanted to do," Clark said.
It was then that the movie "Jurassic Park" finally had Clark asking his mother who was this Steven Spielberg whose name kept popping up in the credits of his favorite movies. After explaining Spielberg's job as director, Clark told his mother, 'Well, that's what I want to do.'" Pretty soon, Clark said he was making movies with the family's 8 mm camera.
"I started setting up my "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs," he said. His friend, Michael Mynatt who is now in film school, would help. Soon family and friends became actors in their films.
The editing process meant either using the VCR to piece the film together or shooting the scenes in sequence, Clark said. "Don't mess it up," Clark said he would tell his actors. "Or we'll have to start all over.
" Shortly after Clark graduated in 2003 from Full Sail film school in Winter Park, Fla., he got the chance to work on a feature film as a first assistant director. The movie, "Shadows Light," went straight to DVD, Clark said, but only solidified Clark's desire to direct his own films.
"I didn't want to be the assistant director," he said. "I wanted to be the director." Admittedly, Clark said he is a perfectionist.
"I've been called Dusty Kubrik a lot," he said of his tendency to shoot a scene over and over again until he's happy with it. He said he usually shoots a scene at least five times and the most takes he's ever asked for during filming is 16. To try to get his foot in the door, Clark moved to the land where the movies are made - Los Angeles.
"I lived in my car for a while," Clark said. "I think that was scarier for my mom than it was for me," he admits. He said he "camped out" in more exclusive areas of the city where he wasn't likely to be mugged and moved his car so he wouldn't be as noticeable.
A state park was close by, he said, where he could shower every day. But his home in East Tennessee, where his family had finally returned, kept calling, and Clark moved back to continue making films. He plans to return to Los Angeles in 2008, but plans to keep a base in Tennessee too.
"I want to be bicoastal," he said. But if he's lucky, he could get to L.A.
earlier if his film gets him a spot "On the Lot." Clark said he found out about the contest on a Web site. "I was quite ecstatic," he said, to have found the contest.
He said he'd recently written a script that would work for the five minute time requirement, now all he had to do was make the film. The film was shot over three days, using actors from East Tennessee. "It's about a girl who has a dream about her grandmother dying, and a guy she had a fling with, the caregiver who's caring for her," Clark said.
She later finds out the caregiver is a werewolf. "It sounds cheesy, but it's done tastefully," Clark said, adding it's tone is more like a lullaby. And if his movie doesn't make the cut?
That's OK, Clark said. He already has plans to make another short film and is working on a feature-length film, a western. "They say it takes until you're in your 30s to be a success," he said.
"I've got about six more years to suffer." To view and rate Dusty Clark's movie "Caregiver" for the Fox reality show "On the Lot," go to http://films.thelot.
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