About the Film: A Martian Picnic
A Martian competes with a mysterious creature for the contents of his picnic lunch. Made of both sculpey oven-bake clay and regular plasticine, our star stands only 4-1/2 inches tall. The planet surface where the film’s action takes place was also compact – only 2×3 feet, in order to fit into a small corner of the home studio space where filming took place over several months.
Creative Team: Animator Patrick Neary collaborated with composer John M. Askew (Calvin Marshall, Deadwood and Portlandia) and sound designer Jason Thomas Edwards (Grimm and Nightscape) to create the film’s original score and soundtrack.
Critical Acclaim
“Martian Picnic was a huge success at our festival! Kids wanted to see it twice so we played it again after all the others. They laughed loud, jumped up and down by the screen and one kid kept yelling “one eyed monster, one eyed monster!” over and over!”
“With a fantastic soundtrack by John Askew, A Martian Picnic is a treat for anyone who likes to eat. Five minutes isn’t nearly enough time to spend with the unfortunate fellow.”
“This one got the gold star from both of my kids. It’s a charming, old-school Claymation (with clay!) story about a Martian trying so very hard to eat his picnic lunch before it’s pilfered by a subterranean (submartian?) be-tentacled thief.”
Film Festivals & Distribution
- Skagway Film Festival – Official Selection
- Reel Fun Film Festival, Alberta, Canada – Official Selection
- Anchorage International Film Festival – Official Selection
- Tallgrass International Film Festival – Official Selection
- Tacoma Film Festival – Official Selection
- DC Shorts Film Festival – Official Selection
- 1 Reel Film Festival at Bumbershoot at the Seattle Center – Official Selection
- Traverse City Film Festival– Official Selection
- Tumbleweed Film Festival, Family Night at Veranda Beach, Oroville, WA – Official Selection
- A Martian Picnic played to a full house at the Seattle International Film Festival in The Family Picture Show
- Premiered at Ashland independent film festival. A Martian Picnic was included in a solid line-up of short films in the festival’s Family Choice Program. We took Ollie along to meet the audience, and created some fun hand-drawn t-shirt designs for the occasion.
- Cinebarre Pre-Show, All theater locations in Seattle (WA), Salem (OR), CO, SC & NC, February 2013
- batteryPOP – featured video
- vimeo
