Clown Short Wins Prize

by BRUCE REID

Having ignored every stage of his fundraising and production efforts, and after only one jokey reference to his flying off to the Slamdance Film Festival (alternate to the Sundance Film Festival), In Arts News now offers congratulations to Brian McDonald. McDonald's short film White Face, a mockumentary examining the prejudices hurled at a race of clowns, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at Slamdance, which just wrapped up. Precisely the prize the comic-book writer and first-time director most desired ("I'm a big proponent of stories being for people, not critics or other directors," he says), McDonald hopes the recognition will aid in developing his upcoming horror project, Mrs. Baker, scheduled to start shooting in Seattle this spring.