Highest Rated Comments


BenFeldmanDirector11 karma

Ooh, good question. The orchid mantises are so sweet. Don't think I knew about them before the show. But they use behavioral camouflage so they imitate a flower blowing in the wind by shaking rapidly. It's amazing to see. Favorite bug before the show, was probably a VW. Cheesy, I know.

BenFeldmanDirector9 karma

Well, I knew I didn't want to be a lawyer anymore. So I asked myself what was something I worked really hard on and enjoyed working hard on, and all I could come up with was a documentary short I made in college. So I figured I'd try my hand at making a doc... Never imagined it would end up as it did. Still blows my mind.

BenFeldmanDirector9 karma

Glad you enjoyed the show! Philly is a great city and Holmesburg is indeed an interesting part of it. We actually wanted to get across that this museum isn't in CC Philly where most of the other museums are -- but rather is in the NE which is home to a huge number of Philadelphians but is definitely a different flavor of the city. Interesting people would stop into the insectarium for sure. I remember once this lady brought in a dish full of some kind of poop that she wanted someone at the insectarium to identify for her. The insectarium still sells pesticides which seems kind of odd considering they have bugs on display -- and people definitely still ask for their expertise in geting rid of pests. But they declined to ID the poop -- it definitely didn't come from an insect.

BenFeldmanDirector8 karma

This was my first project. I had some money saved up, but also didn't quit my law job entirely right away. My plan was to quit but a friend was like, "why don't you ask to go parttime?" Never would have occured to me. So I kept working parttime for the first year or so until we got greenlit and then I worked on Bug Out fulltime. Also, at the beginning I was developing this story nights and weekends while I worked my dayjob. I think we often want things to be black and white -- jump all in or not at all -- but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way. At least not to make a start.

BenFeldmanDirector7 karma

I'd say you need skill, perseverance and definitely some luck. But if you have a great story to tell and work hard to get it out there, it can happen. I linked up with the Cinemart by writing their info button and we had a shopping agreement signed two days later. I'm amazed by that, but I guess it can happen if you have a great story to tell.