HE'S ONE NOT-SO-BAD DAD SANTA MONICA FILMMAKER IS IN A FAMILY WAY.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

Independent filmmakers traditionally tap their networks of family and friends for talents that may come in handy on camera or off, and for -- let's be honest -- cheap or free services.

Writer-director Mack Polhemus (``The Scottish Tale'') has taken that idea to the extreme with his latest, a family-

friendly comedy titled ``My Bad Dad.'' Its credits are peppered with people who share his surname.

The project, premiering tonight as the closing feature at the Dances With Films Festival, stars Mack's brother, Joe, as an often-unemployed drifter and heavy drinker who is given charge of his three young children after his ex-girlfriend dies. Mack's own kids -- Emma, Mary and Josiah -- play the children.

In an interview at their Santa Monica home, Mack said that, over the years, he's seen a lot of movies about families that are idealistic but probably not realistic for some kids.

``I wanted to make a movie so kids who are not from great families can see a family and go, oh, this family is weird too, but it's OK. They seem like they have fun, and there's love there, and if there's love there, then the family is intact.''

Writing and directing a script starring little children (Emma was 5 at the time, Mary 3, Josiah not yet 2) meant feeding them lines as they needed to say them and keeping the digital camera rolling for unexpected moments.

``You can't really write characters for kids at that young age because they can't deliver those lines,'' he said.

Casting their grandparents and uncle, though, made the kids more comfortable.

``They actually have a natural affection for him,'' Mack said of their Uncle Joe. ``If he opened his arms, they'd come to him, and they wouldn't do that for a stranger.''

Mack's wife, Ann, was a producer on it and plays the children's cold foster mother. His sister, Camilla Polhemus Ford, plays the social worker who at first encourages Joe to take responsibility for his kids and then tries to remove them in light of his reckless parenting.

Joe, Camilla and Ann are trained actors, and the children had experience in TV roles and commercial work, but Mack also tapped some novice performers in the clan. His mother and stepfather play Joe's parents, other relatives play bit roles, and his niece Heidi Ford got a day's work as a crying infant.

Mack's father and stepmother, who by day are English professors at Stanford University, playfully donned biker leather and kissed passionately in a bar scene.

``That was Mack's most hated scene,'' Ann said.

``My brother and I were like, `Eeew, disgusting,' '' he said.

Of course Mack and Ann hope that ``My Bad Dad'' will get more festival dates and, if the indie gods smile on them, wider distribution. But if nothing else comes of it, it's been a great experience with their loved ones, who are sure to occupy many of the seats at the premiere.

``The thing about Mack doing these movies is he brings together all the family -- we come from wherever,'' Camilla Ford said.

``And we came together for a positive experience rather than a funeral,'' Mack added. ``This is like a gift to everybody. The kids, too. I think they'll like this when they show their friends. It's sort of a gift to my sister, my mom and everyone.

``So I don't need to do that again,'' he added with a laugh.

Valerie Kuklenski, [phone]

valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com

MY BAD DAD

Where: Laemmle Fairfax Theatre, 7907 Beverly Blvd., Los

Angeles.

When: 7:15 tonight.

Tickets: $10. [phone], www.laemmle.com or www.mybaddad.com.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

In ``My Bad Dad,'' Joe Polhemus is an unemployed drifter who, after his girlfriend dies, takes charge of his three young children -- played in the movie by his real-life nieces and nephews Emma, top, Mary and Josiah.