THE INQUISITIVE SNAIL Directed By Flemish Beauty

Shane: Tell us about your film?

Flemish Beauty Collective:  Our movie is a Stop-Motion Animation about a little snail, living in a very
dangerous world. It's the shortest short we've ever made, (1 minute, credits
included) and it took the combined work of 9 people, over 4 weeks to make
it!
 
 How did you come up with the idea for the film?

 Adam (our writer) accidentally killed a snail one day while trying to avoid
 another one. CRUNCH! It was while he was trying to come up with a story
 idea, and so The Inquisitive Snail was born from the shards of a broken
 shell.
  
 Was this a school project?

 It wasn't a school project, in that it wasn't affiliated with any accredidted
 learning institution. But, we can honestly say that we learned way more
 while making this movie, than we ever have in any film or video class.
 
 How did you find your cast?

 We made our cast from scratch!
 
 How long did the film take? (From conception to final edit)

A very long, hard, stressful, weird, but of course fun and worthwhile five months.
 
 What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

 The hardest part of this shoot, and really of all our shoots, was the
 general lack of money, space, equipment, resources, and biggest of all --
 time. But facing these challenges has always forced us to come up with
 innovative solutions. We've learned to make the most of our limitations and
 approach everything in a fearless way.
 
Tell us about the films festival experience so far?

We made the film for the One Minute Film Festival in Toronto, where to our
surprise, it picked up the Audience Award as well as the juried Best
Animation prize.  This made us realize that our little movie had a future...
and that perhaps, we should submit to other festivals. So far, it's been a
fun ride. We've met a lot of great filmmakers and made friends in places
we would not have otherwise gone.
 
What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?

The Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore.
 
What was your favorite question?

This was not for our film, but for another playing in the same
program...."Did you actually stick it into a Nintendo?".
 
How was the dialogue afterwards?

The dialogue after has been great. It is always encouraging to hear what
people think about your work. And the fact that people are talking to you
means they are actually interested! Great for the ego.
 
What films or filmmakers inspire you?

The list is long….very long, but essentially, we enjoy films that make us
laugh, make us think, and remind us how fine an art storytelling can be. We
also like to think that we inspire each other.

What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

We were jealous of all the attention our friends were getting from their films.
 
What is next for you?

More festivals. More movies.
 
What is next for the film?

Try to take over the world?
 
If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first
short film… What would it be?

You can do it.