Phil Mao

Claire Makes It Big, Jeremy Workman's award- winning short comedy, follows the travails of a talented overweight actress and her difficulties landing a decent movie role. A sharply written and briskly directed satire of the acting and filmmaking professions that then turns into a hilarious wish-fulfillment fantasy, it also features a lovely lead performance by Mara Hobel (whom Joan Crawford-heads may recognize as the child Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest) and funny supporting turns from more recognizable folks like Clancy Brown, Paige Turco and Peter Bogdanovich, along with a voice cameo from the late Don LaFontaine.