GIVING CITY AUSTIN: Nobody makes films this way, but The Oceanmaker makes for great Earth Day viewing

In 2012, Austinite Lucas Martell invited filmmakers and artists to a working retreat in Belize to work on a short animated film about the importance of conservation. Three years later, “The Oceanmaker,” a post-apocalyptic film, has been screened at more than 25 film festivals across the country and, for the first time, will be available for free on Earth Day, April 22, on YouTube.

The way this film was made starts with the production process, a bootstrapped collaboration in a setting people don’t normally go to create animated films. “I couldn’t afford all the artists I needed,” says Martell, “so instead I decided to bribe them by moving all production to a small island in the Caribbean. I call it the ‘destination production’ model.”

- Monica Williams, Editor