Davron Mananov, 19, a
Bucks film student from
Feasterville, woke up on Oct.
16, 2009 with the goal of making
a short film every day for
an entire year. Mananov called
the goal the OMYP, “the One
Year Movie Project.”
For the next year, Mananov
and some of his friends worked
hard to make his dream a reality.
What would ever spark
someone to take on such a
demanding project? “I just
woke up one day and decided
to put myself through the
toughest year of my life,” said
Mananov. “No preparation, no
pre-production, just me and a
camera and hopefully some
friends who want to help,” he
elaborated.
For a long time it was tough
going for Mananov: “I wanted
to quit almost every day. Some
of my friends were peer pressuring
me to quit.”
But things changed the deeper
he got into the project.
“After we hit movie 100 and
movie 200, it became harder
and harder to just abandon
everything when we already
came so far,” said Mananov.
Mananov and crew persevered
and produced 365 shorts
by Oct. 16, 2010, exactly one
year after he started. His
videos are designed to appeal
to different viewers. They
cover a wide variety of genres,
including action, drama, reality,
and comedy.
“To me personally, OYMP is
a diary of my life from 2009-
2010. But to everyone else, its
entertainment, and I’m happy if
anyone finds one of them
slightly entertaining,” said
Mananov.
As he completed each short,
Mananov posted it on
YouTube. It isn’t everyday
that someone attempts to make
a film a day for a year, and
Mananov expected that he
would attract a huge following:
“My head was huge when
we started this. I was thinking,
‘Oh yeah once we hit like 50
movies and people think we’re
serious, we’re going to get
thousands of views per day!'”
Mananov’s YouTube success
was modest. “In reality we
averaged maybe 20-50 views
per day throughout the entire
year, and the subscribers were
pathetic,” said Mananov.
Despite the low numbers,
Mananov says that he is proud
of what he and his collaborators
accomplished. “This is
something that I will remember
for the rest of my life,” said
Mananov.
Asked if he thought that
there is chance that OYMP will
still become a YouTube sensation,
Mananov responded, “It’s
hard to say because it’s not
being updated anymore. I’m
sure some blogger can find our
treasure trove of movies and
spam it all over the internet but
it’s a stretch.”
For those who are interested,
Mananov’s videos can be
found by searching “OYMP”
on YouTube.com.
Asked if he has any particular
suggestion for those that
might not want to view all 365,
he suggests “Drug Dudes, but
it’s hard to pick. Go watch
“Drug Dudes” (Movie 107)
and you might like it as much
as I do.”
“Floppy Scallywagger!” he
added. Watch the movie and
you’ll know what he means.
So what is next for this video
productionholic? “I won’t say
no to OYMP2 because I think
it would be amazing if the next
OYMP had a budget and, even,
professional actors,” said
Mananov.
“Beyond OYMP is making
actual short films with production
value,” he added.
Mananov summed up his
OYMP experience: “Hardest
part was getting up and filming.
The thought that I had to
film, edit, export, and upload
to YouTube was a terrible
thought process. Worst part
was when I started slacking
and ended up being behind.
like 30 videos. Best part was
when we got our act together
and released maybe 50 movies
in a week to end the entire
thing. All the final movies are
very good and I love them.”
Just a reminder, search
“OYMP” on YouTube.com if
you want to access the vast collection
of Mananov videos and
support a fellow Bucks student.