Amanda Deering Jones (Little Mother Lies)

Joshua Polanski interviews the director of Little Mother Lies, a short film about two feuding sisters, a bowl of borscht, and an addicted son; they discuss fiction written from experience, Russian heritage, optimism, nostalgia and more!

Amanda Deering Jones is the producer behind Oscar-nominated Borrowed Time (Andrew Coats and Lou Hamou-Lhadi, 2015), an animated Western short film. She has more than two decades of experience working at Dreamworks Animation, and now at Pixar. She has now finished her directorial debut, the short film Little Mother Lies. It tells the story of Dorie, her sister and her son, delving into the tribulations of alcohol and heroin addiction. Our writer Joshua Polanski, who has seen the yet-to-be released film, describes Little Mother Lies as “un-ironically resembling anti-drug Dare (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) infomercials”

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Joshua Polanski – Please tell us about the journey from production/production management on to the director’s seat?

Amanda Deering Jones – I was a directing major in college but changed to a focus in producing my senior year, it seemed a more logical path at the time. I entered the world of animation on the production side and that has been an incredible journey. But something was always missing. I eventually realised I needed to be a storyteller. We had discussed making a proof-of-concept short for the feature, Mother Lies, so a beautiful opportunity presented itself.

JP – What was the original concept for Little Mother Lies?

ADJ – The feature story originates from our writer Kitty Edwinson. Purely fiction but written from experience and the backdrop of a Russian immigrant family, which is part of her family line. We wanted something that would give people a taste tonally of what we are trying to achieve with the feature, particularly highlighting the complexity of the sisters and their relationship. Once I came on as director, it also became about finding what story I want to tell for this short. The dinner scene became the focal point on which we built out the rest, giving everyone a taste of the sister’s dynamic but containing it within its own story overall and showing the lengths Dorie will go to in order to save her son.

JP – What is the next step in turning a proof of concept into a feature film?

ADJ – We feel we’ve conveyed the tone we hope to achieve with the feature so we are submitting to festivals, attending film markets, and seeking out the feature director, executive producers and the cast. The sister’s roles are particularly complex and layered so we are excited about who could play them in the feature.

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