Respectful Politics Thread (Let's Just See)

D'Snowth

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To be fair, the PBS team was impressed enough with my skills as a puppeteer, and again, Steve was a big enough hit, that they were considerate enough to outline some concepts with me in regards of using Steve for the station beyond just pledge drives, including things like bumpers and promos, little PSAs and other educational shorts (I remember we tried brainstorming how to show Steve learning how to ride a bike) . . . none of those things ever came to fruition though, so I have no idea why we never got around to any of those. I did, however, years later, revive one of their concepts for certain YouTube videos I've done, such as this:

(I seriously doubt Steve would have been discussing topics like this, he more likely would have discussed local community events, or special programming the station would have been airing and such.)

But yes, I do fully admit that I have no absolutely no desire to be part of the 9-5 corporate world . . . I do not say that from the perspective of a spoiled, lazy, and entitled Millennial who doesn't want to work and just wants free stuff, but from the perspective of an artist and a creative mind, who knows that the 9-5 corporate world would be detrimental to the very person I am. In spite of the problems I had, I actually wasn't too ill a fit for PBS: I think my colleagues accepted my eccentricities and recognized my artistry and talent (they even kept having me to draw comics and such for them to hang on their fridge in the break room), but as far as professional growth was concerned, that just wasn't happening.

I've looked into other areas that would allow me to actually develop my production company into a full-fledge, fully-operational business, but I keep hitting dead ends. Meanwhile, I've looked into other areas where I can be of use in terms of artistry or creativity, but there's a problem: despite my town having a rather large artistic community (we have indie filmmakers, theater troupes, street musicians, photographers, just to name a few), and the fact that Hollywood routinely comes out here to shoot movies throughout town, there just isn't much of an actual business aspect to it that would make having a living as an artist practical. In fact, just a few years ago, I learned the owner/operator of a once big, thriving YouTube channel actually lived in here in town, and he was on the local news talking about he was wanting to expand his company, and help boost the business aspect of our local creative community. I contacted him about the possibility of him hiring me (even at an entry level position), if it meant I could contribute to something creatively and stay in town - I got as far as an email interview, then a phone interview, then was told that they weren't moving forward in that direction . . . then a few months later, I learned he abandoned ship and relocated to Los Angeles instead.

My future as an artist and a creative mind appears to be coming to an end, though. I'm not sure what will end up happening, so I'll leave it vague for now . . . I will say it looks like the only good things that will come out of this are pay and benefits, but everything else sounds like an absolute nightmare for an artistic night owl like myself.
 

MuppetsRule

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Thanks for sharing the info in your last couple of posts D'Snowth. Very insightful and interesting peek in to your life.
 

dwayne1115

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Can someone explain what the vote the house did yesterday actually does. I know it condemns what Trump has said, but is that All?
 

fuzzygobo

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To be fair, the PBS team was impressed enough with my skills as a puppeteer, and again, Steve was a big enough hit, that they were considerate enough to outline some concepts with me in regards of using Steve for the station beyond just pledge drives, including things like bumpers and promos, little PSAs and other educational shorts (I remember we tried brainstorming how to show Steve learning how to ride a bike) . . . none of those things ever came to fruition though, so I have no idea why we never got around to any of those. I did, however, years later, revive one of their concepts for certain YouTube videos I've done, such as this:

(I seriously doubt Steve would have been discussing topics like this, he more likely would have discussed local community events, or special programming the station would have been airing and such.)

But yes, I do fully admit that I have no absolutely no desire to be part of the 9-5 corporate world . . . I do not say that from the perspective of a spoiled, lazy, and entitled Millennial who doesn't want to work and just wants free stuff, but from the perspective of an artist and a creative mind, who knows that the 9-5 corporate world would be detrimental to the very person I am. In spite of the problems I had, I actually wasn't too ill a fit for PBS: I think my colleagues accepted my eccentricities and recognized my artistry and talent (they even kept having me to draw comics and such for them to hang on their fridge in the break room), but as far as professional growth was concerned, that just wasn't happening.

I've looked into other areas that would allow me to actually develop my production company into a full-fledge, fully-operational business, but I keep hitting dead ends. Meanwhile, I've looked into other areas where I can be of use in terms of artistry or creativity, but there's a problem: despite my town having a rather large artistic community (we have indie filmmakers, theater troupes, street musicians, photographers, just to name a few), and the fact that Hollywood routinely comes out here to shoot movies throughout town, there just isn't much of an actual business aspect to it that would make having a living as an artist practical. In fact, just a few years ago, I learned the owner/operator of a once big, thriving YouTube channel actually lived in here in town, and he was on the local news talking about he was wanting to expand his company, and help boost the business aspect of our local creative community. I contacted him about the possibility of him hiring me (even at an entry level position), if it meant I could contribute to something creatively and stay in town - I got as far as an email interview, then a phone interview, then was told that they weren't moving forward in that direction . . . then a few months later, I learned he abandoned ship and relocated to Los Angeles instead.

My future as an artist and a creative mind appears to be coming to an end, though. I'm not sure what will end up happening, so I'll leave it vague for now . . . I will say it looks like the only good things that will come out of this are pay and benefits, but everything else sounds like an absolute nightmare for an artistic night owl like myself.
I appreciate your honesty and candor discussing your artistic ups and downs.
You have talent, no doubt, but that's not always enough. It also takes luck, and continuously hustling.
A lot of people come to New York to make their big break on Broadway. But they also wait tables and wash dishes,
live in squalor in some little broom closet, and sometimes it takes years of struggle, sometimes it never comes at all.
There is no magic formula to follow, you do A,B, and C, and Mr. Big will offer you the standard Rich and Famous contract. Some people get lucky breaks, others don't. I can't see you becoming a 9 to 5 corporate monkey working in Dilbert's cubicle land, but having something to fall back on while you follow your dreams isn't the worst thing.
 

LittleJerry92

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I can honestly say this.

Working in retail has made me crave cigarettes. I can see why people smoke them on their break.

Personally, I really hope my life doesn’t consist of working in 9-5 jobs, but sometimes there are days I feel like I was born just to go to school, go to an average job, pay bills and die. There are days I even feel like I was lucky at all to graduate high school with a diploma. :smirk:
 

fuzzygobo

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No, it's one thing to follow your dreams. Do that with everything that's in you. Is it going to be easy? No. Will there be setbacks? Probably.Disappointments? Most likely. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.
The biggest mistake people make is thinking the perfect job or career will just fall out of the sky and you'll never have to put in any effort.
And sadly, the world doesn't owe you a living, either.
Back in 2013 I submitted a video to Matt Vogel when they were auditioning puppeteers for Sesame Street.My performance wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either.Snowthy probably would've stood the best chance out of anybody.
Nothing came if it, but I was happy I tried, I gave it my best shot, and I can live with that.
 

LittleJerry92

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Oh trust me, I really hate that with people myself, and I’m glad you brought that up.

I really hate it when there are people out there with a huge ego who think life will just hand them whatever kind of career they want, and are upset when they find out the truth.

For instance - this is a common pet peeve I have with people who want to get into voice acting (such as myself) who just think “Oh, I can do funny voices! This job is PERFECT for me!” No. Do some research on it like taking acting classes, finding a good agent, learning about rejections, etc.

And just recently we were dealing with a user on the Muppetcentral discord who had a huge ego with puppetry who clearly did not do any research on it and pretty much tried changing the topics when we told him the honest truth. Because he tried hiding from it.

Personally, I think the worst thing to happen to anyone is someone who works hard and does lots of research just for their dream to be turned down. That’s where I can really sympathize with people. But those who just think they can get whatever they want in life and then play the victim card when they’re told otherwise are annoying.
 

D'Snowth

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Back in 2013 I submitted a video to Matt Vogel when they were auditioning puppeteers for Sesame Street.My performance wasn't the best, but it wasn't the worst either.Snowthy probably would've stood the best chance out of anybody.
Nothing came if it, but I was happy I tried, I gave it my best shot, and I can live with that.
I did as well, and was also rejected . . . I'm not going to call it into question, but I can't help but wonder, because this was first come/first serve, if after a while, they just stopped accepting submission, since those who were rejected received one of two mass rejection responses. Otherwise, I've done demonstrations for other puppeteers who have either worked for, or had connections to Henson or Sesame, and they've said they can't critique me because they have nothing to critique: they see no flaws in my puppeteering skills as far as manipulation and lip sync are concerned. One such puppeteers did actually offer me a summer job with his troupe in Nashville one summer, but unfortunately, nothing ever came of that.

Similarly, the troupe Kids On The Block (they visit schools and such to put on skits and short subjects about touchy topics like divorce, molestation, and things like that) also once expressed interest in hiring me for a summer, but again, nothing became of it. Ironically, they follow me on Instagram now, lol.

With this in mind, and the fact that I have my own ideas for shows and characters and the like, this is why I decided to launch my own independent company back in 2007, and this is why I've been using YouTube as sort of a demo reel to show what I can do - I acknowledge that a majority of my content (especially older content) isn't spectacular, but I feel my content as a whole shows what I can do with the limited tools and resources I have, and that if given the opportunity, I could turn the content into something bigger and better. Steve came close to having his own show, and I was even discussing hiring other puppeteers to perform other characters (all of this local, mind you), but the outlet wanted copyright and ownership over the show, which I would not agree to, and that's another problem in this business as well: so much of it has been taken over by "suits" (network executives, studio heads, and other business-minded people) that only care about money, profits, revenue, and numbers, than they do about quality content.
 

D'Snowth

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Can someone explain what the vote the house did yesterday actually does. I know it condemns what Trump has said, but is that All?
I don't know what exactly is going on, but I see where apparently in the case of legal action, Trump's tweets can now be used again him. Apparently, this has to do with his tweet indirectly aimed at AOC and other ethnic Democratic Congresswomen telling them to "go back to whatever country they came from before and fix their own problems."
 

Old Thunder

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Similarly, the troupe Kids On The Block (they visit schools and such to put on skits and short subjects about touchy topics like divorce, molestation, and things like that) also once expressed interest in hiring me for a summer, but again, nothing became of it. Ironically, they follow me on Instagram now, lol.
I thought you wrote "Kids In The Hall" and I was like holy flippin peanut whiskers
 
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