Mantis and Moon

Wants and Needs

11 of 12 premises proven. The twelfth is still out.

11 proven. One still out.

Wants and Needs put 12 premises on the table about recessions and the generations who live through them.

11 of 12 have been proven.

The twelfth is still out. The story is not finished, and neither is the argument.

A second film is in discussion.

Van Mueller and Tom Hegna

Two voices from outside the company, in their own words.

Van Mueller

Tom Hegna

The work

Five films

Each one is shown as it stands today: released, in distribution, or still in the edit.

Wants and Needs

Status: Released

Why do recessions keep coming back? Six years of interviews and C-SPAN footage look for the answer in the generations who live through them.

Wants and Needs began before the last recession and kept filming through it. Over six years, Cap Averill II interviewed hundreds of people and worked through volumes of C-SPAN footage from Washington.

Interviews by Cap Averill II

About the film

Gold text on black: For thousands of years the lake saw no change. So many years have passed, that now a whole summer seems to pass in just one day. The same two loons return every year to practice their rituals and raise their young. — Thunder on the Lake, opening clip (0:14)

Thunder on the Lake

Status: National distribution with public television

A summer on northern lakes, passing in a single day.

Thunder on the Lake is the third film in the Thunder series. It was shot in Alaska, Ontario, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

About the film

The Society

A love story meets a legal drama, shot in Sylvania, Ohio and Bogotá, Colombia.

The Society is Mantis and Moon's second full-length motion picture, after Out of the Shadows. It is part love story, part legal drama.

About the film

Runs with Scissors

A documentary about autism, featuring Dr. Richard Solomon.

Featuring Dr. Richard Solomon

About the film

Eye of the Eagle

Status: In post-production

A new film, now in post-production.

Eye of the Eagle is in post-production. There is no release date yet.

About the film

Music videos

Olds Cool

Rock and roll on real instruments, played by people, for the sake of a good jam. No MIDI. No quantizing. No auto-tune.

“Everybody”Olds Cool · 5:57
“Good Woman”Olds Cool · 4:56
“Writing on the Wall”Olds Cool · 4:14
“Mending Fences”Olds Cool · 3:39
“Left Behind”Olds Cool · 4:35
“No Apologies”Olds Cool · 2:56
“The Intervention Song”Olds Cool · 2:34
“Slow Motion”Olds Cool · 3:30

All 14 videos, studio and live

Festival honors

Awards and accolades

Each honor is listed as it was given. So far they have gone to Thunder on the Farm, Thunder on the Mountain, and Out of the Shadows.

Thunder on the Farm

Honorable mention
Rural Route Film Festival
2007
Honorable mention
International Wildlife Film Festival
Use of natural sound
2007
Official selection
Ozark Foothills Film Festival
2007

Thunder on the Mountain

Honorable mention
7th Annual Montana CINE International Film Festival
Use of natural sound
Honorable mention
7th Annual Montana CINE International Film Festival
Creative approach

Out of the Shadows

Winner
Hollywood International HD Festival
Best full-length motion picture
2005
Official selection
Hollywood International HD Festival

The awards page