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"Our family's kind of unusual," explains Susanna Hoffs, who makes her acting debut in "The Allnighter," a teen-age romance flick that also happens to be the first feature film directed by her mother, Tamar Simon Hoffs. Better known as the lead singer with L.A. pop sensation the Bangles, Susanna explains that "the thing that made our family what it is is our dad."
"Actually, he's my husband not my father," Tamar corrects, as the two erupt into fits of girlish giggles during an interview in an office at Universal Studios.
Susanna's Freudian slip says a lot about the mother-daughter relationship. More like buddies than mother and child, they share a solid friendship built on mutual respect and a shared sense of fun.
"My father instilled a sense of creativity and adventurousness in me and my two brothers," Susanna explains, "but it was my mom who picked up on the fact that I loved to sing and dance when I was a kid, and she's always encouraged me. I think we've always known we'd work together one day."
Produced and directed by Tamar Hoffs, who co-wrote the screenplay with M. L. Kessler, "The Allnighter," chronicles the lives of a group of students at a Pacific Coast college during the 24 hours leading up to graduation. The film exploits many of the myths surrounding Southern California youth culture and is populated with kids who spend most of their time drinking, surfing, dancing and flirting. Despite the fact that none of them appears to have jobs, they own video cameras, surfboards and Honda scooters, and live in apartments on the sand. Everyone knows how dirt cheap beachfront rents are.
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