The internet opened new avenues for indie movies, from iTunes to online stores. A look at how The Mantis Parable reached viewers through online sales.
With the internet opening up new avenues for sharing indie movies, it is a different world for the indie filmmaker compared to ten years ago. iTunes is now selling short films online. Plus, with the ability to have your own DVD replicated at a reasonable cost, the market door is swinging open for the entrepreneur. Is the indie playing field being leveled? Is it actually going to be feasible in the near future to take the reins of marketing and distribution into your own control, and actually make a return on a low budget indie film?
The Mantis Parable is the brain child of Josh Staub. This $4,500 eight-minute animated short is now available for download on iTunes and at Josh’s website as a DVD with extras. In the last year, The Mantis Parable had been shown at over 50 festivals, and won 15 awards. It’s reputation has so proceeded it, that it has now been screened at the top museums in the United States, including the Smithsonian Institute, the National Gallery of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art; MoMA even going so far as to purchase a copy of the film for their permanent archives. The Mantis Parable fans, through word of mouth, the website, and festivals, demanded to get their hands on this delightful short. Josh acquiesced.
I sat down with Josh Staub to find out how he took this path from first time short film maker, to award-winning animator, and then on to film distributor. I wanted to pick his brains, and find the secrets he had discovered. Immediately, Josh dashed my hopes of there being some secret code, or template to follow.
“Honestly, I made a film that people liked, and it won at the film festivals. That is there is no magic to help you. You have to make a film that people like, and that wins at film festivals.”
As this was his first film, he knew nothing about the festival scene. With a background as an art and visual director working for Cyan Worlds, Inc. (Myst, Riven, Uru) since 1994, this art designer decided to create his own animated film. The Mantis Parable was created, written and developed entirely by Josh. This also included the original wistful piano soundtrack. Working at night, while his family slept, the short took 18 months to complete. That entire cost ($4,500) was used to buy a new computer, and new software.
Josh also started his film website (www. themantisparable.com). The reaction to his site surprised, and supported him. This especially helped with those late nights.
“The website production journal was my big thing. I put little clips of the short up there. I had people I did not know emailing me to tell me how they loved the animation. I would hit these brick walls, and then I’d get an email, and I‘d feel obligated to keep going. There were people following what I was doing, and those people told others about it”.
Josh also utilized online tools for filmmakers. There are huge groups and a number of websites of different levels and qualities for filmmakers, and they’re free. Josh was able to put information about his project online, and submit via online his press kit and applications to film festivals. He needed to target some reputable festivals and find out their deadlines. At this point, Josh didn’t know how his short would be received, and he was honest about his chances for success.
“I looked at statistics. A filmmaker should expect 10 to 15% acceptance rate to film festivals, so that meant that if you apply to 100 film festivals [which is very expensive] you really expect to get into ten festivals. That’s a scary thought”.
Josh chose five festivals to test the waters. To his disbelief he got into all five. At this point he then changed his strategy on the festivals. He then went looking for festivals that were on the Academy qualifying list. There are thirty or so short film festivals that are on the Academy’s list. If you win at one of these festivals, then you are eligible to be chosen for an academy award. “When you are looking at a sea of 3,000 festivals this helped narrow my choices. Most festivals are $20 to $70 to enter, which is a lot of money, especially when I made the film out of my own pocket. I figured if they were good enough for the Academy, they were good enough for me”.
Josh proudly states that the first festival he was turned down by was Cannes. “However, as they only pick ten shorts for the whole year, from all over the world, I didn’t feel so bad”.
At this point, The Mantis Parable took 4th runner up – Golden Space Needle award (best short film) in the Seattle International Film Festival (2005). The film kept winning awards. At the Palm Springs International Film Festival (Sept 2005), The Mantis Parable won best animated short. Josh also received the award for Future Filmmaker for the entire festival. Tribeca followed, and numerous other festivals.
With it being a CG animated short, I wondered if he had any problems getting into any of the festivals.
“I checked before I had finished the film, and found out that to be eligible, the Academy required all animation films to be at least 1280 resolutions, so I was prepared. At festivals I either screened in Beta SP, or HD cam. Each festival has its own criteria, and my film luckily fell in with these criteria. It’s not too long as a short, being under 10 minutes. The short film programmers are happy. If your short is 20 minutes it is harder to find a slot for that much time for one film, so it better be good.”
“I had started getting offers to go to film festivals now, and some even waived the entry fee. That helped a lot. Plus, I had a lot of people asking for a DVD.” At this point Josh was getting about 1,000 hits a day on his website. Josh had always felt he would do a DVD.
However, festivals really don’t approve of a film being shown online, or on DVD, while it is still showing at festivals. At this point, even if iTunes had been selling shorts, placing the short on iTunes, and/or similar sites would have caused a problem. Also, Josh admits that at Palm Springs he got an offer of distribution, but declined it. He felt The Mantis Parable had not finished its festival circuit run. How right he was!
Then, this summer, after a year on the festival scene, iTunes found him. Through a connection he had made at the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films (who has the exclusive rights to putting short films on iTunes) he was offered a deal he could not refuse. The Mantis Parable was one of the first ten films for sale on iTunes. Of the fifty shorts currently available Josh’s short is in good company. About 10 of the shorts are offered by DreamWorks, and 10 are old Disney shorts of Mickey Mouse.
Now it was time for the DVD. Once again this was a one man show. Utilizing his background, Josh designed the cover himself. He also burned the DVD himself, adding 3 director’s commentaries (1 Creative and 2 Technical), 17 Making Of “Featurettes” including WIP images, and clips from the film. Josh sent the DVD out to Discmakers for DVD reproduction. I asked if he expected to make anything off the DVDs.
“Really, winning the film festivals has paid back the cost of making the film. In selling the DVD, I have to be concerned with selling a certain number to get even on the cost on making them.”
The Mantis Parable is one of the most notable short animations to show up on the festival circuit. However, kudos to Josh for utilizing every avenue open to a low budget indie filmmaker. There are certainly lessons to be learned from The Mantis Parable experience: think outside the box, and utilize all indie film avenues (internet, and festival), and take control of your film. Jake Lovell is a freelance writer based in Houston. With a background in theater arts and science her articles offer a unique perspective on her subjects. She can be contacted at www.jacquelinelovell.biz.
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