UMass Boston

For many people, the “crazy cat lady” moniker might evoke an unsavory depiction—terrycloth bathrobes, hair rollers, and a colony of felines roaming aimlessly around a person’s unkempt property. 

But award-winning film director, writer, and producer Garrett Clancy ’88 has set out to change that narrative, overhauling the antiquated portrayal and turning it into an appellation that represents salvation, humility, and, above all else, compassion. 

He has made strides in doing this through his critically acclaimed, feature length documentary, Crazy Cat Lady (2022), which sheds light on the feral cat crisis in the city of Los Angeles. The documentary highlights a problem that many people don’t realize exists, Clancy said. An estimated one to three million feral cats roam the streets of Los Angeles, which is close to the city’s human population. 

But within that population exists a group of people—called “crazy cat ladies” in the film—who have made it their mission to resolve the feral cat crisis, one cat at a time. The film follows these men and women as they do their part to trap, spay or neuter and release (also known as TNR) or adopt as many cats as they can. 

“These are people who volunteer their time to trap feral cats, get them fixed, put them back in their colonies, and try to keep the numbers down,” said Clancy. “If you think of the term ‘crazy’ as just ‘passionate’ about cat rescue, then it’s a whole different tone. 

There are maybe hundreds or even thousands of these folks, but they’re all doing it on their own dime.” That’s because for nearly a decade, no government funding existed for this type of feline population control. In 2010, the city instated a TNR injunction, effectively putting a halt to any funds being allocated toward spaying and neutering feral cats. The ruling has since been overturned, with the Los Angeles City Council approving the Citywide Cat Program to spay, neuter, and vaccinate at least 20,000 community cats annually. Clancy said he wants people who watch his documentary to take away one valuable point. 

“If your city doesn't have a feral cat crisis, it’s because the city government is involved in it, whereas LA city government was not able to get involved,” he said, adding that the documentary addresses a universally themed issue and pays homage to dedicated animal rescuers everywhere. 

To date, Crazy Cat Lady has appeared in 37 film festivals, amassing accolades and recognition along the way. It received top honors at the Oaks, Real to Reel, and Golden Gate international film festivals. Clancy was also named best director at the Malta Film Festival and best producer at both the Madrid Art Film Festival and Barcelona International Film Festival. 

“It makes the journey more satisfying,” said Clancy of the film’s widespread success, calling it one of his proudest achievements among any other film project he’s worked on. 

“I was essentially the captain of this ship, so I could make the film that I felt needed to be made.” Clancy is no stranger to the art of visual storytelling. He wrote, directed, and produced the festival-winning feature film Cold Ones, starring C. Thomas Howell, Kim Darby, and Geoffrey Lewis; wrote the children’s film Scooter Kidz, and cowrote the film The Newcomers, starring Chris Evans, Kate Bosworth, and Paul Dano. 

Additionally, he was a co-producer on the festival-winning indie feature Getting Grace and a producer on the family feature Amazed by You. His play Steamers was an LA Weekly pick of the week, and his short play The Weight was honored at what is now known as the Valdez Theatre Conference. 

Crazy Cat Lady is available for streaming on Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, and Apple TV+. 

Bell Canyon Volunteer Wildland Fire Department

In 2020, Garrett Clancy helped to create a community-run fire department in his California town—called the Bell Canyon Volunteer Wildland Fire Department—in response to the Woolsey Fire, which destroyed over 1,600 structures in California. Clancy, who has first-responder experience from his time in the military, is fire chief and compares the project to filmmaking: “You have all these different parts of the film that you’ve got to put together—the actors, the crew, locations, a budget. And that’s kind of what it was to put together the fire department,” he said.