Five Dollar Friday — Pratima Mani & 'Bug'
A filmmaker and their short film deserving of your attention
The white smoke coming out of the chimney can only mean one thing — someone new has been chosen for Five Dollar Friday!
Today I’m delighted to introduce you to Pratima Mani, a hilarious filmmaker based in New York City.
She’s currently crowdfunding her directorial debut, Bug.
After 10 years of waiting, a woman finally attends her green card interview, only to learn that there’s an unexpected final step: in order to prove her emotional commitment to immigrating, she is required to eat a dead bug. As the bizarre interview spirals, she’s forced to reconcile the ludicrousness of the situation with her desire for peace-of-mind and stability.
This sounds like table stakes for a comedy but sadly isn't always the case: I love how funny your campaign video for Bug is and how much energy it has. Tell me more about the process of creating it.
I had an old video I’d made for a grant application (not very visual, just a talking head) which I sent in first to get some feedback from Seed&Spark. Then I watched a bunch of other pitch videos on the platform, grabbed all the found footage I could, slotted a rough cut together, picked music, edited it down and then re-recorded my speaking parts and added them in.
It was honestly the most work I’ve ever done on a pitch but hopefully worth it 🤞 I wouldn't actually say there's not a huge amount of jokery in the campaign video, but I also don't know that that's necessary—I think people just want to hear what the film's about in quick, simple terms and know that you're passionate about it, and have a vision for it.
It’s not wall-to-wall jokes, but the humor really lands when it needs to. And the energy of the music combined with that frenetic sequence really pulls you inside the experience. Did you learn anything from all the work on the campaign video that now shapes the way you think of approaching film?
Not really. I think making a campaign video is pretty different from making a film. Campaign videos are pitches—they're about explaining the plot and why the film is relevant, efficiently and simply. So, it might not influence the making of the film, but it does really help you hone how to talk about the film to others, which one would hope would come in handy on the festival circuit.
100%. You mentioned Bug was inspired by your own personal immigration story. Was there a step in the real life process that felt particularly ridiculous to you that inspired the story?
The first time I applied for a green card (which was after I had already lived in the country for 10 years) I found out that AFTER getting approved, it was, like, a 12 year wait for people born in India (same for China) to get the card. It’s not the main plot point of this story by any means, but it did feel pretty nuts, so there’s an emotional tie there.
That number shocked me, so I Googled it to double-check — but after just 10 minutes on the immigration Reddit, my head was spinning. It’s wild how byzantine the immigration system is, even without factoring in recent politics.
Yes, best to avoid immigration Reddit—it will leave you sad and confused.
I must confess, although I'm familiar with Armando's work through Veep, I'm not familiar with Flowers or Killing of a Sacred Deer. Would love to hear more about these comps and how they relate to Bug.
I've actually never seen Veep but Armando-wise I love Alan Partridge, of course, The Thick of It and Death of Stalin. All worth a watch, in my opinion!
Flowers is by Will Sharpe (who also did Landscapers — both feature Olivia Coleman) — it's amazingly dark and funny and the end of season 2 will break your heart like nothing you've ever seen.
Killing of a Sacred Deer is by Yorgos Lanthimos (who did The Lobster, The Favorite and Poor Things).
All of the comps are things I like because they don't shy away from darkness even while being funny. I think it makes everything feel more truthful, and we want that feeling to be core to Bug. I don't think sadness is antithetical to comedy. In my opinion, in the best films, they live side-by-side.
That's where gallows humor comes from, right? Transforming fear, pain, suffering into something we can process. And reclaiming agency at times when we feel like we might have none. Which sounds incredibly appropriate for your subject matter.
Totally, even if something's a comedy, it's tough to make it ignore the reality of the situation and still have it emotionally resonate.
Thank you for sharing Stitched with me, the short film you wrote and starred in, about a woman living in the South Asian diaspora who Frankenstein’s together a partner who is perfectly compatible with her mutable cultural identity.
It was great, and you were great in it. It's also a sharp example of your taste for blending darkness with humor. I especially loved how the writing didn’t over-explain the setup — she hits up a cemetery and, boom, he’s at dinner meeting the family. That confidence in the storytelling made it all the funnier.
From the voicemail that starts your campaign video to that quick aside about once dressing up as a swarm of bees, it’s clear you have a strong affinity for quirky, absurd concepts. I’d love to hear more about how you approach getting audiences to buy into the wild premises you dream up.
I think you just have to be all in on the idea, especially if it's a weird one. You have to let the characters fully live in the truth of it and not half-arse it. I think people will come on board with most ideas if they believe you're confident about it.
Back to Bug, how did you and your director of photography, Chris Violette, cross paths? What was the moment you knew he was the right DP for this project?
My producer, Matthew Romanski, had worked with him before. Chris was clearly talented and also really excited about the project and, with an indie project, that is often the most important thing. We're not flush with cash, and it's always a labor of love so people have to be passionate about it. I also didn't go to film school and don't know a lot of technical terminology and Chris is great at bridging that gap.
Fair enough. Speaking of cash, I’d love to hear about the WAVE Grant and the process applying for it.
WAVE’s been great. Their grant is for first-time female/gender non-conforming BIPOC directors. The application was very straightforward, which I appreciated. They ask for, I think, a script, budget, schedule/timeline and short video. And they’re good about reminding you that the budget and schedule don’t have to be perfect which definitely makes it less intimidating as a first-time director.
Doesn’t look like they’ll be taking submissions for 2026 until August but, in case someone reading is interested, here’s their site and their own blurb:
The WAVE (Women At the Very Edge) Grant is devoted to helping emerging female and gender non-conforming BIPOC filmmakers tell their own “great f**king story.” Each year, we select five recipients to receive a $5,000 seed grant for the production of their first short film. Recipients also receive mentorship from our award-winning team with development, production, post-production, festival strategy, and more.
What intimidates you as a first-time director?
Literally everything. It's juggling so many plates at once and you have ultimate responsibility for all of it. It's hard to know when to shift focus from one thing to another and how to build out timelines so everything's done in time.
And how are you overcoming it?
One day at a time. Eating a lot of ice cream when I get stressed.
May I suggest Salt & Straw? Their grasshopper flavor is exquisite. Pratima, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me this week! Good luck with Bug!
You can join me in supporting Pratima and her film Bug by contributing to the campaign here:
Thanks to the help of paid subscribers, my weekly contribution has increased from $5 at the start of this newsletter to now $18.
Again: it’s better for everyone involved if you contribute directly to the filmmaker’s campaign yourself and don’t become a paid subscriber to this newsletter. But, if you ain’t got time for that, you can upgrade your subscription and I’ll contribute a little bit extra each week on your behalf.
💰 Boulder Crest Foundation is offering cash prizes of up to $10,000 for short films and other video content on the theme of post-traumatic growth. The application window is currently open and closes May 23, 2025.
🥂 Congratulations to Jimmy Chhiu on the successful conclusion of his campaign!
⏳ There’s still time to contribute to Rachael Kuecher’s campaign for The Stress of IT!, Heath Hill’s campaign for The Repair, and Evelyn Kuo’s campaign for Monkey Park.
✍️ And, finally, feel free to write back if you have a question for one of the filmmakers, an update on a short film project of your own, or if you just want to say hi!