Pig and Sheep are here

[Buck-Beaver]

Hi all!

As some of you know, we're very excited up here in Toronto because we are producing a TV show called "Down on the Farm." We just finished (well, almost) our two puppet "stars" Pig and Sheep.

There is a picture of them online here.

These are actually the first of many versions of the puppets that we will have to produce and these particular ones will be used to shoot some skits for our distributor's sales kit. We'll likely have to build at least two more copies of each puppet for the production of the actual episodes later this year and make posable full-body photo "double" of each of them for publicity pictures.

As I said, they're not *quite* done yet. We're planning to add big lashes to Sheep's eyes and put barettes on her ears (to make it clearer she's a girl). Pig is pretty much going to be used as is, though we've been talking about adding some more colour to his stomach.

They'll be more "behind-the-scenes" photos posted on the "In Production" section of our website at omlemedia.com over the next few months (including Bork Bork's much-requested step by step guide to covering foam puppets with fleece!).

We're eager to get some feedback so please take a look and let me know what you think!

Thanks!

 

[fluffmuppet]

They are soo adorable!!!! I hope that video shows up around Ottawa, I wanna see it!!

You're so lucky your a puppeteer! You get all the fun! *sniff*

 

[doctort13]

*oink* *baa* = looks cool

Wow! Nice puppets! Good luck with the show. Will you ever upload clips for us to check out?

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Re: *oink* *baa* = looks cool

Thanks! Glad you like Pig and Sheep!

The show is going to be a mix of all-puppet segments shot in a studio and "live action" segments shot on real farms. We're actually shooting the on-location(farm) stuff first because we have to get it all in before the end of the season.

We go in to the studio after Labour Day to tape enough puppet segments for a video "sales kit" that our distributor is putting together (the rest of the puppet segments won't be shot until February).

We'll definately have a clip or two on our website omlemedia.com mid-Sept. The "pilot" being shot will be online, but only at our distributor's secured site which is password-only access because it's really not intended for the public, just for the industry.

The show hasn't been sold in North America yet (we constantly joke that it will likely end up being seen in Europe and Asia in every language except the one it's shot in - English). It won't be on air anywhere until at least Fall 2003, possibly later. I'll keep everyone on Muppet Central posted as things develop.

FYI, we've also set up a "behind the scenes" section on our website here that has conceptual art, photos, videos, storyboards, etc. We'll add more stuff to it as the production progresses. You can also subscribe to the mailing list on our website to keep updated on our projects.

Thanks for your interest!

 

[CaptCrouton]

I'm interested in knowing a few things about the production that I didn't get from the website.

1) Is this an educational or entertainment production. I can see that it's both but was more interested in the thrust and purpose of the project.

2) Are these videos that average Joes like me can purchase? Or is it a television program that I'll never see? I don't see any videos on sale on your website so I'm not sure what my potential is of seeing your workmanship in action.

Really like what I see and I appreciate your information to all us closet puppet makers.

Markus

 

[Buck-Beaver]

To answer your questions:

1) Is this an educational or entertainment production. I can see that it's both but was more interested in the thrust and purpose of the project?

It's interesting that you ask, because that is the very question being debated here right now. The goal of the show really is to teach children 3 - 6 about farming, where food comes from and who grows it for us. Each episode has a primary farm-related educational objective (learning about pigs, cows, planting/harvesting, etc.) and a secondary social development-related educational objective (learning co-operation, tolerence, etc.).

The problem with kids shows is that often the focus of your show depends where on it where it runs. Public broadcasters (PBS or CBC & TVO in Canada) generally like a very education-driven show (Sesame Street is the first, and probably best example of this).

Private Broadcasters (the big networks, Fox Kids, etc.) generally like an entertainment driven show (i.e Pokemon). I heard a good example of this recently - a children's writer was talking about a network executive who insisted that children would learn alot about Haitian culture from watching Zombies get repeatedly blasted away!

So the thrust of your show really depends on who your broadcaster is and what they want. As a puppeteer/producer it's been a very interesting and occasionally frustrating learning experience. This is the first time we've really worked with a television distributor and made a series for broadcast, so every day you learn something new (usually you learn it the hard way).

Our show is a little unusual in that "Down on the Farm" being done for a distributor without a pre-sale (meaning no network or station has committed to it 100% yet), so we are doing it such away that it could play well many different ways, depending where it airs. There will likely be different versions in different countries.

2) Are these videos that average Joes like me can purchase? Or is it a television program that I'll never see? I don't see any videos on sale on your website so I'm not sure what my potential is of seeing your workmanship in action.

Well, there will be videos & DVDs but usually you can't release them for a year or two because when a channel buys a show they like to have a year or two of "exclusivity" before episodes are available on tape (that's why many shows start offering episodes on DVD/VHS around the 3rd season). We'll have (at least) a 2 or 3 minute clip from the pilot on our website beginning mid-Sept.

If for some reason the show wasn't sold eventually in Canada or the US (our distributor controls the rights for most of the rest of the world so we don't have much to with how the show is released elsewhere) we would probably have the shows compiled or re-edited and released as a series of home videos to help us turn a small profit on the series.

We don't currently sell anything through our site. We plan to set up an online store sometime in the next year to sell Pig and Sheep stuff (there's some small-scale merchandising in the works) and tapes will definately be there whenever they are available.

Don't worry CaptCrouton, when those Pig and Sheep plush hand puppets start rolling off the assembly line and the DVD is out we'll be making sure EVERYBODY knows about it and can get them - mamma didn't raise no fool here!

Let me know if you have any more questions about the show!

 

[Aerosmith]

Really kool!