How do I get a job as a Muppeteer?

[Frogpuppeteer]

i say just do what you do,waork hard at being a puppeteer and get to know people. no ones going to walk up to you and hand you the job


ive had the same dream as a kid and while i haven't had the chance to work on any official puppet stuff i sure have met a lot of the Muppeteers during casual events and puppeteer conventions

Or stop Wanting to Play with muppets And start your OWN PUPPET COMPANY! >:-(

no need to be mean about it

 

[Gerbert]

Sorry dude i Edited it.

 

[Gerbert]

Or you can start YOUR OWN PUPPET COMPANY! Not to be mean but Get proffesional puppets like puppets from LunasPuppets.com They have blinking eye Puppets Heres a Picture of Mine http://img2.pict.com/f3/32/83/3635471/0/1276122628.jpg Here's They're Website http://www.lunaspuppets.com/Luna_s_Puppets.php there Or Puppetusa.com Not proffesional but a start.

 

[Michael Earl]

That's probably true but I would suggest that people not make assumptions or base expectations on shows or books from the 70s/80s (or even 90s). The company is very different today than it was then or even a few years ago. Focus on becoming a good puppeteer if it's what you really want and then see where it takes you.

I agree that you should first focus on becoming a good puppeteer. If you want solid training, I provide that. Go to www.puppetschool.com for more info.

 

[Michael Earl]

This question comes up so often it really DOES need it's own thread title. I figured just putting the actual question in there as the title of the thread would make it easier to find.

So, who wants to answer it?

Best I've ever known was that you make a short video tape and send it to them, they review it and notify you of any auditions.

Henson used to have workshops where they'd find people. I'm not sure if they still do that. I was very fortunate to know Frank Oz's parents and Kermit Love who both talked to Jim Henson about me...so that was an unusual situation. But I have helped several people over the years break into the business, including Muppet performers Drew Massey and Camille Bonora. For 25 years I have trained puppeteers and now have a school in LA called Puppet School (www.puppetschool.com) where I train the next generation of TV and film puppeteers. I also teach puppet making as well as an one-day intensive TV Puppetry workshop in NYC and Seattle. Hope that helps.

 

[zns]

I have been making some of my own films on youtube with my puppet Morris Monster. Do you think any of these would be worthy enough for Henson to look at?

http://www.youtube.com/user/654zns?feature=mhee

 

[bluebomber95]

I have been making some of my own films on youtube with my puppet Morris Monster. Do you think any of these would be worthy enough for Henson to look at?

http://www.youtube.com/user/654zns?feature=mhee

Your puppetry is really good, seriously. A lot better than some of the other stuff I've seen online. But, if you want Henson/Sesame/Disney to see it, definitely make a reel. It's just the professional thing to do.

Seriously, though, your stuff is top-notch and you should send this to Kevin Clash. He's the go-to guy for recruiting talent for Sesame. If you just send a DVD to Sesame Workshop c/o Kevin Clash, that should do the trick.

 

[bingboingcutie]

Henson used to have workshops where they'd find people. I'm not sure if they still do that. I was very fortunate to know Frank Oz's parents and Kermit Love who both talked to Jim Henson about me...so that was an unusual situation. But I have helped several people over the years break into the business, including Muppet performers Drew Massey and Camille Bonora. For 25 years I have trained puppeteers and now have a school in LA called Puppet School (www.puppetschool.com) where I train the next generation of TV and film puppeteers. I also teach puppet making as well as an one-day intensive TV Puppetry workshop in NYC and Seattle. Hope that helps.

Seattle? Can you tell me what day the workshop is this year?

So I have a question: how do you actually get started as a puppeteer? My dream is to work with the Jim Henson company, the Muppets, or Sesame Street, but I just don't know how to start. I've only built about a couple of puppets, and I'm really bad at scriptwriting on my own, so I've only done the occasional puppet show for my sister. So how do I get experience (or hopefully my first paying puppet job) to make me look good to the company?

 

[NotKarl]

Meet Karl... He's been to the Cannes Film Festival:

Your puppetry is really good, seriously. A lot better than some of the other stuff I've seen online. But, if you want Henson/Sesame/Disney to see it, definitely make a reel. It's just the professional thing to do.

Seriously, though, your stuff is top-notch and you should send this to Kevin Clash. He's the go-to guy for recruiting talent for Sesame. If you just send a DVD to Sesame Workshop c/o Kevin Clash, that should do the trick.

 

[CBPuppets]

I think my skills have been improving the past couple of years (The focus, the lip-synch and stuff like that!)