Vi City and Chris Jackson on American Clay’s journey

 Vi City and Chris Jackson are the creative force behind American Clay, a visually stunning short film that blends historical trauma, spirituality, and resistance. Set in 1937, the film follows Bernice, a mixed race 18 year old with second sight who uncovers a dark family secret and fights for her life in a dangerous sundown town. As executive producer, co-writer, and music director, Vi City partnered with first time filmmaker Christopher Ray Jackson to create a project that has earned recognition at festivals from Martha’s Vineyard to Venice, with a Cannes semifinal nod.

What was the seed that grew into American Clay? What are we trying to tell that Hollywood hasn’t told yet?

Chris Jackson: We’re trying to tell a unique story of the struggles of mixed race African American, white, and Black people in America. On one hand, you are extremely blessed being in America, but on the other hand, you have to fight against a lot of the oppressive systems. It’s a story that highlights that interesting sliver of humanity that is underrepresented in Hollywood.

Vi City: We’re speaking on a specific individual, Bernice, who was actually a survivor of these atrocities. I got with the family, Carmen Perkins and Michelle Taylor, and they were telling me about their grandmother. It’s a story of struggle, oppression, but also triumph. It’s from a female perspective, which is so underrepresented. We blend it with elements of spirituality, mysticism. When you think about what we overcome as people of minority, it had to be a divine intervention. It has to be a strong spiritual connection to keep us going, being in tune with our ancestors.

The meaning of American Clay, what does it symbolize when you say American Clay?

Chris Jackson: From the dust we came, from the dust we returned. It’s a humbling expression. You mix it with American Clay, it really symbolizes, this is our American flesh. This is America, this is what makes America. You can’t have any life without the clay. The main character in the film is fighting for land, so it speaks to that on different levels.

Vi City: In the beginning, God created mankind in His image, and molded us from the dirt, from the earth, from the clay. When you look at Bernice’s story, how she was molded through that fire, basically how you mold clay, and it takes place in America, so it’s all of our stories in one form or another.

Chris, as a first time filmmaker, what was it like?

Chris Jackson: It was an amazing experience. It was difficult at times. There were times where we didn’t sleep. But it was worth it. From the moment Vi sent me the script, I knew it was amazing. I gotta thank Vi, Carmen, all the executive producers, because they really supported me as a first time filmmaker. They allowed me the space to say, hey, I know this is crazy, but let’s do it.

Vi City: Me and Chris go back, doing my music videos and visuals. He’s an amazing photographer, director, storyteller. When Michelle brought this story to me, I was like, I gotta call Chris about this. His vision is crazy. When I hit him with the script, it wasn’t even a few days later. He brought that energy every day, 12, 13, 14 hour days. He’s like my instant coffee.

Let’s talk about the music. How do you go about creating the sound?

Vi City: I kind of had a cheat code, because I’m one of the writers, so I see all the visuals before. Music and film go hand in hand, it’s life. By the time I got in to create the music, I called my man Vega Heartbreak. As we were shooting it, I was thinking, this has to be spiritual, it has to be triumphant. When she’s running, it has to be cinematic, and it has to have soul and power. When the soundtrack and the score hits, that really shapes the film for me. I wanted the music to pull you in. We went in there with my man Alan, black violinist. I brought in live guitarists. I wanted to feel spacey and futuristic, but still have a soul to it, to embody the past and the present and the future.

What does your collaboration look like in practice?

Vi City: It’s fun working with Chris. He’s my real life buddy. What I love about working with Chris is that he allows me the space to fail, to create, to make mistakes. There’s absolutely no ego working with him. We just bounce off each other. It’s like going to school and playing on the playground with your homie.

Chris Jackson: Me and Vi have known each other for years. When we came to American Clay, we were locked in. He knows, if I get the legs, you get the arms. It felt very Kobe and Shaq ish. Individually, we’re great players, but when you put us together, it’s champions.

What kind of reactions from audiences have really stuck with you?

Chris Jackson: We did a screening in LA, and one audience member told me how it resonated with her as an ebb and flow of the positive and negatives of the American experience. She said it resonated with her, because that was her experience, being a mixed race African American in America. When you make a really cool piece of art, it really has a life of its own.

Vi City: That was everywhere we went. The family was in New York, so that was an amazing experience. In the vineyard, I had a guy walk up to me with his wife, and they said, people don’t know that a lot of African Americans have a lot of Indigenous in them. It really opened up old wounds, and it was a healing for a lot of people. As Carmen would say, it’s as if our grandmother would sit down and tell us a story.

What’s next for American Clay?

Vi City: We are in the process of getting the funding for the full length feature. We’re in active talks and meetings. Winning Venice film shorts and being semifinals in Cannes doesn’t hurt. Our goal is to get into shooting, top to mid next year, 2026. We’ve gotten a final script that we are in love with. Once we get that locked in, we’re gonna go into pre-production and casting.