Just over two years ago, NFS introduced you to the animated short The OceanMaker as writer/director Lucas Martell and producer Christina Martell launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise funds to complete the film. We've also shared Lucas' creative process, using an ideas tournament to filter and refine his best story concepts, so we're definitely fans. Today for Earth Day, The OceanMaker is now available for free on YouTube. Check it out below and keep reading to learn more about the unique creative process behind the making of this animated short.

Making any film is a labor of love, but putting together an animated film of this caliber with a small team of dedicated collaborators outside of a studio takes that labor to another level. Recognizing this, Lucas invited his friends and collaborators to join him on a retreat to tropical Belize to work on the project, merging work and play on what would end up becoming a multi-year journey. The hard work certainly paid off with an extensive festival run (including SXSW, Clermont-Ferrand, and Montreal World Film Festival among many others) and an invitation to screen the film on Pixar's campus for their creatives.

If you want to learn more about the film, you can purchase it on Vimeo on Demand and get access to four commentary tracks. Mighty Coconut has partnered with Earth Day Network, and for every purchase, they will plant a tree through the Canopy Project.

You can also watch a 13-episode behind-the-scenes series of 2-3 minute videos below that Mighty Coconut put together to see how everything came together.

Thanks to Lucas, Christina and Mighty Coconut for sharing the film and their creative process.

Source: The OceanMaker

The OceanMakeranimationMighty CoconutMartell AnimationLucas Martell
DirectingEditing & Post-ProductionScreenwritingProducing