Buck-Beaver!!!

[dj lewzealand]

Hey Buck-Beaver

I have been trying to contact you, but the system won't let me email or pm you. Anyway Hi, my name is Derek, I used to be involved with animation but am trying to do the crossover into Puppetry. I recently did a two day course with Rob Mills at Radical Sheep and am looking for employment in the Puppetry field. I noticed the thread of the volunteers in the Toronto area and I am considering that, it would just be alot better if it was a paid position. Do you work at Omle Media? How is that job? Are they looking for any positions, I noticed awhile back they were looking for apprentices or interns? Is Omle located in Milton now?

Anyway thank you for your help!!!
Derek

 

[Fozzie Bear]

You might set up your profile to accept emails and maybe Buck could just email you that-a-way!

FOZ

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Omle Media went out of business in the beginning of the year because of finanacial difficulties so that is probably not a good option for you. The company was located near Milton briefly in mid-2002 but later moved back to Toronto.

Honestly, it's difficult to find paid puppetry work - especially if you only have limited experience - anywhere, especially Canada. Not impossible, but it is difficult even for people with years of experience. If you have not done a lot of work it is a good idea to invest a lot of time volunteering for puppet-related companies. Even if you are not working as a puppeteer you can often learn alot just by being nearby other puppeteers and there is always the chance you will be "in the right place at the right time".

I'd encourage you to think about the Concerned Kids opportunity. They are a great organization that does a lot of good work so you would be learning puppetry and helping the community so it's a win-win for everyone! Just think quickly, I believe their puppeteer training begins next week and all their spots are filling up quickly.

You might want to check out the spiffy new all-Canadian puppet site CbBoy has put together - Puppetry.ca. It has listings and links to most of the companies in Canada and you might find other companies that would be willing to train you or let you work as a volunteer. Be warned though that *very* few of them ever hire people on, most are one or two person operations. Still, you never know.

You can also consider joing the Ontario Puppetry Association. They don't really do that much, but they do publish a newsletter a few times every year and their annual general meeting is sometimes a good way to meet other puppeteers from around Toronto.

I hope this helps.