The lead singer of a Seattle punk band struggles to keep it together when her performance anxiety takes an unexpected form

Your first big gig will always make you go through some major anxieties. Sometimes the anxieties just crack out something unpredictable, perhaps for the best. The Claw is a short little story about a Seattle punk band called Return Policy who face their first real big challenge. While the band struggles to agree on the set list order, the lead singer has some bigger anxieties clawing in. The film was written and directed by Seattle-based female filmmaker Lael Rogers. Along with her, she crew was able to bring a fresh spin to story and a whole lot of Seattle into it.

THE CLAW was made through a grant called The Seattle Story Award granted by Film Independent and Visit Seattle. I (Lael) was nominated and won, based on the concept of the film. You can read more about its inception in Rolling Stone. I co-founded a company called All is Well where I’m the creative director with producer Sam Kelly, Jr. (EP of All is Well) and executive producer Tony Fulgham (ECD of All is Well). It was made with the intent of being a home for original content, so when this project came around it became the production company and pulled in the Seattle music and film community to make the short. All in all, THE CLAW feels like a very much like a result of the Seattle arts community.

Anxiety and the weird stuff it does to you

Personally, the short is about anxiety and the weird stuff it does to you. It’s scary, overwhelming, and often actually kind of funny. This short is a way of taking all those complicated emotions and making something positive out of them all.

Holding a whole lot of punch and fun dynamic, The Claw stars Alaji Marie, Sidney Jayne Hunt, Avital Ash, Ian Edlund. While the story is quite simple at surface, its setting, production qualities set the rhythm. Then the symbolic character arc turns this into a kick ass little film.