MANTID

“Having finished my first short film, One Monday, I wanted to explore
my love of ufology while delving into a longer, richer narrative story.
Mantid came to me in a very basic form as I lie awake one night—as I often
do—scaring myself while imagining what just may be lurking within the
shadows near my closet.

For some reason, I always picture waking up to some sort of creature
waiting at the foot of my bed. Whether that may be a grey alien, a shadow
creature, or even a human slasher killer depends on the rotation of my brain’s
attempt to terrify me on any given night.

I had always been fascinated by praying mantises as a child, because they
lived in the billowy bush at the end of our driveway that held our mailbox of
the house that I grew up in. Though creepy, their alluring sense of wisdom
and gracefulness always piqued my curiosity. Such beautiful creatures.

It wasn’t until much later in life that I had begun research on mantid alien
beings. And they quickly became my very favorite species of alien overall. I
couldn’t place a film that treated them as I would have liked to have seen—
wise, powerful, scary, alluring, and clothed in a hooded cloak.

Would it be weird? Absolutely. But this was something that my girlfriend,
Brandy Bryant, and I both desperately wanted to see. And so we began writing
the first draft of a would-be, untitled short film about a mantis-like alien
creatue that attacks a family during the night. We knew that our budget would
be very small, but Brandy wanted to push her limits in terms of special
makeup effects, and we filmed everything in the same small apartment as our
previous short, One Monday. Of course, given a proper budget, there’s much
more that we’d like to do, but we are very proud of what we have accomplished
with our amazing cast and crew!”