Idol Features: Debra Lamb

This 1994 music video featuring Scream Queen Debra Lamb, is a rare gem that recently surfaced on Youtube. It was produced and directed by then-USC film school student Susan Lambert. The song the video is set to is "Ruby, " performed by Marti Jones off of her Used Guitars album. It was written by Janis Ian and Kye Fleming and originally released on Janis' Revenge album. As for the story behind this video, just read on.

In director Susan Lambert's own words:

Back in film school, pre-Internet mind you, I fell in love with this song "Ruby," sung by Marti Jones on her 1993 Used Guitar album, and I wanted to make a music video of it.

I don’t know how I figured out how to write to everyone, but I did. I wrote Marti Jones, the publisher and songwriters Janis Ian and Kye Fleming and got permission to use the music. Janis Ian wrote me the nicest, handwritten note back. It was really cool.

So then I sneaked out a camera from the USC stockroom, made up a class number and booked the sound stages. Thanks to amazing design by Tim Doyle and massive, massive work by so many of my film school friends including Tim Doyle and Edgar Stroke (RIP), we built this amazing set -a two story building and street and church and apartment, taking over both of USC's sound stages. I've always loved dance, musicals and music videos. I really love this film, though it's a bit dated (90s music videos, man!) and the transfer is rough, for sure. This was made in 1994. The talented dancer and actress Debra Lamb was fabulous, patient with the young me. It was just a year ago that Debra and I found each other on Facebook, so excited she was still acting, also now producing, and still remembered our film fondly. So this is for Debra and my friends who helped me so, so many times through film school and beyond; Brittany Taylor and Edgar Stroke.