Phoebe Jane Hart’s clever and unforgettable short Bug Diner won the Best Animated Short prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival last month. The beautifully crafted stop-motion project takes place in a one-of-a-kind diner that caters to a bug clientele and is run by a “mole with a hot ass.”

We just had to track the imaginative creator down to find out more about this tasty artistic meal:

Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about the inspiration behind your short?

Phoebe Jane Hart: You know, it’s funny … I sat down to write a script for an assignment, and my intention was to write this quiet and simple story about an orange girl living in the desert working at a diner run by bugs (maybe because I moved to the desert and missed diners). But somehow, Bug Diner‘s story full of tension, lust and fantasy fell out instead. I was in a screenwriting course at CalArts with the lovely Lewis Khlar and because it was in the theater school I got to hear acting students read the script in class. It was low-pressure and really just a formatting exercise, but when it was read aloud everyone got such a kick out of it, I was shocked. And then I thought, well … shit; I guess this one’s gotta get made! (Knowing it would take all I had in me to create it.)

I think the script came so naturally from a place of having just left pent-up COVID-quarantine days mixed with feelings of distrust and sexual frustration I was experiencing in a relationship at that time. I guess I was craving something … explosive.

When did you start working on it and how long did it take?

It was around a year in total. I wrote the script in 2022 and decided then that I wanted to make it for my thesis film at CalArts. I started building the sets with my talented production design collaborator, Jalen Colbert, in the fall of of 2023. From then on it was about nine months of a non-stop train of pouring myself into the film.

What are the puppets made of and how big are the sets?

I built wire armatures and used various techniques to finish. Some of the puppets have faux fur transfer, or flocked faces that were sculpted out of epoxy. A lot of their mouths were sculpted with epoxy and I used magnets to snap replacement mouths on and off of characters. I think the hand-painted eyes I made really brought the puppets alive when one of my professors, Stephen Chiodo, told me to paint the eyes with some clear nail polish to give them some glisten. It was that moment my puppets suddenly came to life!

The sets were different in scale, the exterior diner I shot on a downshooter, so they were tiny flats. The interior of the diner was the big boy of them all, measuring at about eight feet long by four feet deep, about the right scale for a Barbie. And the underground kitchen was 1/8 scale, so it was quite a bit smaller.

How many people worked on it with you?

It was a small team and really a network of gorgeous, perfect angel friends helping out. My work involved writing, directing, fabrication, animation, camera/lighting, some VO and editing. I had two core collaborators: Natasha Jacobs, who crafted the composition, sound design and mix to my wildest dreams, and an incredibly talented and hard-working student at the time, Jalen Colbert, who helped me design and build all of the sets. I can’t thank these two enough for making my film what it is. I had help with post from a team of lovely CalArts folks who really came through: Anthony Jones colored, and current faculty member Paul Kyle was my post supervisor.

And then really it was a handful of family and friends who witnessed the unfortunate state I was in and got me to the finish line. My sister, Rose Hart, knit the incredible sweaters: she’s an ear doctor so … it was amazing to see her make such detailed costumes from the sloppy mock-ups I brought home over the holidays. My dear friends Noa Hu and Emily Downer fabricated the other costumes. And my talented actor/writer friend Jacob Levy came in and brought so much humor performing the voices of Bill the mantis and Taylor the Anteater.

I also want to thank my CalArts mentors Kangmin Kim, Pia Borg and Stephen Chiodo for all of their guidance and support and my friend/film collaborator Zazie Ray-Trapido for coming in to fabricate last minute props!

What was the best part of the making of the short?

Getting to hear an audience laugh.

What were your biggest challenges?

I would say once all the fabrication was done, it was the animating. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every second, even the three seconds of film that took all day to make. Because I was at school and sharing spaces, I had a limited amount of time with space and equipment. So, out of necessity, I animated eight minutes of animation in 60 days straight, which any animator I think might tell you is masochistic and I highly don’t recommend it. Let’s just say I don’t remember the month of June 2024. Isn’t it messed up I’m dying to make another film? Animation can be like a toxic relationship, but God, I love it … which may or may not speak to the dynamics in Bug Diner. 

When did you know you wanted to work in animation?

I was in a workshop taught by Professor Sabrina Marques in my undergraduate program at West Conn University. They didn’t have an animation department and I was pursuing illustration after leaving a frustrating acting career behind. I got into acting because of my obsession with film, but I quickly realized I had little control over what I was cast in. I was always interested in highly stylized film with visual language so strong you could pause the film at any moment and the story told itself. And when I took this workshop in experimental animation, it was momentous for me. I could make a movie … completely alone … with a small budget … and have control over every single frame?! I was hooked.

What are some of the favorite TV shows, shorts and movies that made a big impact on you?

At a very young age I would interrupt my parent’s movie nights and as a result I got to see neurotic sexy films like Amelie, Delicatessen or Magnolia. I will never forget finding a DVD of Cool World, a deeply horny animation/live-action mixed film that my mom definitely didn’t realize wasn’t for small children when I got it. So those films speak to my early exposure to cinema and perhaps why I make what I make.

Nowadays I am very inspired by the work of Niki Lindroth von Bahr, in particular her short, The Burden. And my most recent favorite TV show is White Lotus. I actually edited the climax of Bug Diner to the Season 2 opening song! “Renaissance” from composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer, which my composer Natasha Jascobs said was impossible to compete with but ended up scoring to the same BPM and absolutely crushed it.

What was the biggest lesson you learned?

Make what you really want to make! And when someone tells you it’s not possible, just say, “Watch me, baby!” Maybe say it with a wink.

And what are your plans for the future?

I have a few pitches ready, for anyone reading .. .please help me fund these films. One is a feature that is a prequel of sorts to Bug Diner. The story sets-up the origin of the dynamics of the same characters. Much like the short, It’s filled with raunchy puppet scenes and a similar tone but centered around exciting new characters and …. murder(?!). While I do my festival rounds with Bug Diner I hope to meet people along the way who can help make one of my new ideas a reality. In the long-term I also have a strong desire to teach and find so much fulfillment in providing mentorship that I hope can mirror my many wonderful mentors along the way.

For more information, visit phoebejanehart.com/bug-diner.