Tuesday, July 07, 2015

The Vermin Show and the Puppet Forge!


So many awesome things emerged out of the recent CONvergence. I had a chance to hear some great and fascinating ideas and found some ground-breaking inspiration for my next projects. It was energizing and revitalizing in all of the right ways. I'll have some more thoughts on the rest of CONvergence over the course of the week, because there are so many exceptional things to appreciate and celebrate.


I particularly enjoyed having the opportunity to spend time with Gordon Smuder and Jennifer Wenke from the Puppet Forge, which has brought us amazing projects like Transylvania Television. Gordon was one of the Guests of Honor with me this year at CONvergence, and it was really wonderful to hear his perspective and journey as an artist. Based in Minnesota, they work with an amazing team of artists to really bring some amazing puppetry to the world.

I think there's a lot the Lao and many other communities could learn from their approach and experience. I really hope we get a chance to bring them overseas one day to share their talents, because I think it could make a tremendous difference in our cultural reconstruction.



At the moment, they're working on a project I'm really jazzed for, "The Vermin Show" which just launched a kickstarter to raise $30K. They hope to tell the hilarious story of a cohort of lab rats who are trying to get to the bottom of a big mystery at the corporation they're being used for test subjects. Having met all of the rats, they're sweet and hilarious. I really hope this project succeeds. It would mean a lot if you can help spread the word about it, and contribute, if you can, I think this will be a great new series for everyone. They're already almost 30% of the way there!

Check them out at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/792672696/relaunch-vermin-web-show


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