A veteran short filmmaker, Paley felt that it would be impossible to adapt Ramayana for a short film. She also realized that feature films create a bigger buzz and can theoretically make money.

As Paley pondered Sita, she headed back to New York for the launch of The Hots. That's when step two of the feature emerged. While in New York, Paley's hubbie ditched her, via email. Ouch. "Instead of returning to India," says Paley, "I stayed with friends and friends of friends, one of whom was record collector Sherwin Dunner. My friend pulled Annette Hanshaw's 'Mean to Me' off his shelf, and I was hooked. 'Mean to Me' was my theme song that September, and when I moved to Brooklyn in October, I listened to my Hanshaw CD constantly. All those torch and blues songs captured my feelings at the time: longing, self-pity, love, heartache, and even a little self-deprecation. At some point I connected my heartbreak experience (especially my continued longing for my ex in spite of my better judgment) to both the songs and the Ramayana, and realized I could animate my characters to Hanshaw's voice. So I created a short film, Trial By Fire, featuring a pivotal scene from the Ramayana with 'Mean to Me.'"

That was gonna be it. There was still no urge to make a feature... until... Paley got dumped, get this, a second time. "I got really depressed. Only one thought cheered me up: the thought of a Sita feature, one that would explain the Ramayana story, and my own. It started as a passing fancy, but as it offered such relief from the depression, I entertained it more and more. The only reason it seemed outrageous was that it would take years and provide no income and I'd never made a feature before so it would be a leap into the unknown. So on the one hand: no money, no security, maybe I'd lose my apartment, and maybe I would fail. On the other hand: suicidal depression. I made the only rational decision, obviously."

Plympton finances his films out-of-pocket. For Idiots he received some pre-sales money, but he hopes a distributor picks up the film and pays off his costs.

Plympton, on the other hand, isn't entirely sure where his original idea for Idiots and Angels came from. "The earliest memory I have is I was at a film festival in Lille and I was walking back to my hotel and this kid asked me what my next film was going to be about. This was about three years ago. Off the top of my head, I just said 'an asshole guy wakes up one morning with wings on his back.' He laughed and said, 'I like that idea, that's a clever idea.' So, in fact, that night as I was laying in bed I took out a pad and started writing down possible plot summaries, character descriptions. I was so excited about it that I drew until one or two in the morning."

Okay, fair enough, but why a feature? Why not just churn out some affordable short films instead of gambling on an indie feature that might never be seen and end up costing the animator a ton o' cash? "I just thought," says Plympton, "that there was a lot to talk about in terms of a person reforming themselves and that the situation was really ripe with ideas. Also, it's a little more serious topic then my other films and I wanted to do something a little bit deeper, not a jokefest like some of my other films. I felt I needed more time to explore this guy and his situation."

Paley felt that it would be impossible to adapt the Ramayana (one of the longest epics around) for a short film, but also admits to being aware of some other advantages to making a feature. "People pay more attention to features than shorts. Features can, theoretically, make money [although this hypothesis remains unconfirmed in my experience]. Feature filmmakers get treated better at film festivals -- sometimes they even get free travel! I tried to tune out these ego temptations while working. My main goal was simply to finish it. As I saw it, the film wanted to exist, and it wanted to be long-form, and it was my job to make it real."

"Ego temptations" also drove Plympton towards features (Idiots and Angels is his sixth feature). "I do feel that features are a bit of an ego trip because when you go to a film festival like Cannes, Sundance or Annecy, the feature filmmakers get a lot more respect. People want to talk to them. It's easier to get distribution. For some reason short filmmakers really do not get any respect at all, but also I saw what was happening with Tim Burton, Terry Gilliam and all these guys that went from shorts to features and were huge successes, and I say, well, I can be the next Tim Burton or Terry Gilliam.