For Mother’s Day, we asked the Clockwork team to share a photo and a story about their mums – the memories, habits, lessons and little rituals that stuck with them over the years.
Some answers are funny, some heartfelt, some a little chaotic. Together, they’re small snapshots of the women who raised us.
Here are a few stories about mum from the Clockwork team.
EP at Clockwork Films, Jamie Cohen, still laughs about one childhood memory that could easily pass as a movie scene.
“A memory I still laugh about with Mum was when she drove me to the video store to return a VHS when I was about 10 or 12 years old. I ran inside, returned the tape, and halfway through realised I was still wearing my pyjamas. Completely embarrassed, I sprinted back out to the car park where Mum was waiting for me. Except… while I’d been inside, Mum had moved the car forward a few spots, and another car, the exact same make and model, had pulled into the space she’d been in. Without even looking, I jumped straight into the stranger’s car, threw my change onto the floor and yelled, ‘Why didn’t you tell me I was still in my pyjamas?!’ I looked up to see a completely random person staring back at me in shock, while Mum was parked a few spots ahead absolutely crying laughing. Still one of those memories we laugh about to this day.”
For Aborah Buick, EP at Clockwork Films, her mum’s influence shaped far more than childhood – it helped shape the creative person she became.
“My mum taught me critical thinking. How to draw. How to write like a poet. How to love art. History. My mum supported my creative dreams. And for that I’m forever thankful.”
EP at Clockwork Films WA, Katie Trew, doesn’t hesitate when describing her mum’s legacy.
“My mum really sets the gold standard for parenting (and grand parenting). Luckily for her four kids it was contagious. My sister and I have become pretty good mums ourselves now, but she’ll always be the GOAT.”
EP at Clockwork Films NZ, Tim Costar, learned that some mums are suspiciously good judges of character.
“Mum was always right about the women I dated. She always knew when they were good or bad eggs…”
For Marketing Manager, Sharon Annabel, love often looked like food.
“One thing that’s always stayed with me is how my mum would somehow always save the ‘best piece’ of food for everyone else. The crispiest piece of pork, the best cut of fish, the corner slice of cake with the most icing – somehow it would quietly end up on my plate while she’d casually say, ‘It’s okay, I don’t really want it.’ Growing up, I never thought much about it because it just felt normal. Now that I’m older, sometimes I catch myself doing the exact same thing.”
Account Manager, Lauren Cohen, discovered motherhood has a funny way of making you become your parents.
“When my siblings and I would muck around in the car while mum was driving, she’d yell ‘be quiet or I’m going to have an accident!’ And now guess what I say when my kids are too loud in the car!”
And for Production Manager, Josh Nicholas, his mum had a slightly different approach to volume control.
“Most people yell at me to turn down my music, but not my mum. She constantly tells me to turn it up to 11. If you know, you know.”
