Filmmaker and actress Clara Mamet dishes about her new film 'Two-Bit Waltz'

Taking a small break from her busy life, filmmaker, playwright and actress Clara Mamet gave this exclusive interview about her new film "Two-Bit Waltz" and her hopes as she develops as a filmmaker.

Clara Mamet is a young woman truly a product of the 21st century. Her parents are filmmaker David Mamet and actress Rebecca Pidgeon, but Clara Mamet is definitely a playwright and filmmaker with her own vision and a determination that is of her own making.

Clara Mamet had her mind made up early as to her career path. She became legally emancipated at the age of 15 in order to pursue her career as an actress and writer.

When she was thinking of making her first feature film, she asked her mother for advice, "I was talking to my mom about making a movie and she suggested that I write about what I know. So, I wrote what I knew - which is my family and my love situation at the time. It's my life - my heightened life!"

So, she wrote "Two-Bit Waltz." Her mother, Rebecca Pidgeon was cast to play her mother in the film and to find the actor to play her father, she e-mailed actor William H. Macy. She knew the actor personally and was very pleased when he replied to her e-mail with an affirmative response.

In the film Clara plays a teenager named Maude. It spans the time over one week as Maude must decide what to do when she turns 18. With the recent passing of her grandmother, she can only earn her large inheritance, if she decides to go to college - something she had not planned on doing. Along with an enormous decision to make, Maude is going through a trying time with her boyfriend. It's a very funny and yet charming coming of age story.

"Two-Bit Waltz" was filmed at house that Clara found near USC and much of the set decoration of the home interiors were part of the house before filming. At one point Clara uses a rotary dial phone in a very humorous point in the film and she remarked, "I wanted it to have that timeless feel to it."

In another comical scene Clara shares a scene as her mother hangs upside down through the middle of a tree. "She was a really good sport. She is a very good mom and I am lucky to have her."

Clara even chose a piece of choral music for her film that truly fit the situation in the film, "I love choral music. I sang in a choir both in middle school and in high school."

Clara appears to be on a similar path as another independent filmmaker, Woody Allen. When I asked Clara about the comparison, she said, "That is very flattering. I am a big Woody Allen fan. He has a lot of staying power. Although I am not sure if I will ever star in another one of my movies."

As for the future, Clara already has a growing stack of screenplays she has written ready to produce, "I hope someday, I will have a large body of films behind me."