Specific thoughts on lending puppets

[spcglider]

Hey everyone,

As you may or may not know, I am in the middle of finishing up the ilot episode for a new tv series called Transylvania Television. You can read more about it at www.transylvania-tv.com, but the basic idea is that it will have lots of grown-up parody style humor.

Really nothing is out of the realm of possibility, but we are trying to make it smartly irreverent, not overly vulgar.

Anyway, I was going to throw out there the idea of "guesting" puppets. And what I mean is this; if someone were to make a likeness puppet (for example, something like the Jarod Boutcher Jack Sparrow currently on eBay), how many folks do you think would be willing to "lend" the puppet to the TVTV production? In return, of course, their name and/or business would be listed in credits under "Special Guest Puppets/Puppet Maker". There'd be a release form involved, of course. And complete guarantees would be made for the safe handling and return of the puppet in question.

Now, I can hear many of you laughing loudly. But consider this: once the puppet has appeared in a television program, it garners the term "screen used" in the case of it's sale to a third party. In fact, the production could even go so far as to provide a quality certificate and DVD copy of the show authenticating that as a "value added" feature.

And just so you all don't think that I think I'm trying to get away with something here, I'll just say it up front: the show has a big fat zero for a budget (right now), yet it's going to be expected to provide new and spiffy entertainment on a weekly basis over a 12 episode season. So yes... I'm trying to find a way to up the overall visual value of the show without comitting to spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars in building or buying new specialty puppets for every script.

The show will be heavy with parody bits and sketches based upon popular properties in movies and tv. Say we know that one of you folks has a particular character available (in our example, that's Jack Sparrow). It is immediately possible for us to write and film a parody in record time... keeping us on-track for our production schedule. Considering that I'M the one who's building the puppets for the show so far, as well as performing, writing, producing and wrangling the production, this sort of arrangement would not only lighten my load, but greatly expand the possibilities for crazy, fun parody pieces.

Add to that the increased intrinsic value to a "screen used" puppet and on-screen credit for the builder, it could be a nice arrangement for those of you who are keenly interested in spreading your names as builders.

There. Its in print. Now's your opportunity to tear the idea to shreds or help me to improve it. Your choice. I'm sincerely interested in all opinions.

-Gordon

 

[Blink]

I'm game.

 

[puppetsmith]

You had me at "Hey everyone"

I think it's a great idea. I actually had considered the same kind of thing when coming up with the prizes for the Once Upon A Puppet Contest..ie. the Grand Prize Winner's puppet character would appear in a popular puppet web series or on PuppetGreetings.com, etc. Needless to say, it was a lot easier to work out the logistics of righting a check, BUT being the one producing the show makes a whole lot of difference. And so we come full circle...I think it's a great idea.

 

[spcglider]

Great Googa MOOga!

I was expecting a torrent of "You gotta be kidding!"s.

Well then, let talk. I'm just starting to write episode 2 of the show and it'll be heavy with parody stuff.

-Gordon (available at spcglider@aol.com)

 

[Kevin the Frog]

I've got a Kermit replica if you want to borrow it . . .

Waka Waka! Just kidding Gordon, sorry I couldn't resist.

I do have a hot 20-something year old girl puppet that you could borrow if you need something like that. She's pretty cute!

 

[ravagefrackle]

Sounds like an interesting Idea,

my only thought would be about rights to the character, whitch i know gordon is a strong proponet of,

should the show get picked up(i certainly hope it does), thier is a distinct possibility that one of the "GUEST" puppt could become a break out character,

so it might be a good idea to form a agrement about ownership,/future use, and possible merhcandise royalties should that become a reality

hope i didnt take any wind out of the sales,

i think its a great idea and i do not want to discourage any one from this, i know Gordon would be more than respectful of the designers ownership rights.its just a thought.

-James

 

[spcglider]

My tought was that the lent puppets would be "guest appearances" and that's the extent of it. Should a puppet appear as a character and suddenly become very popular, there would, of course, be negotiations to purchase the puppet. But that's not the intent of the idea.

I'm referring to specific character representations like Jarrod's Jack Sparrow. None of us owns the rights to that character except in a "fair use" situation i.e. parody. And if lent, he would appear in a parody situation. Not as a regular cast member.

At Transylvania Television, the station wasn't doing so hot until they hooked the transmitter up to the Frankenstein Device... the machinery that brought Frankenstein's monster to life. Not only did it push the signal past the Carpathian Alps all the way to Lubbock Texas, but it had the strange effect of "resurrecting" old tv shows and movies... warping them and spitting them out in unexpected ways. Thus giving us intrinsic parody powers.

So I'm not talking about creating characters out of whole cloth or working with generic puppets to create new cast members. I'm more specificaly referring to puppets of characters that we can parody.

Does that make sense?

-G

 

[ravagefrackle]

Makes Perfect sense,

it also clarified what you are doing ,(i think i misunderstood your needs)

still i think its a great idea, (it may be a good tool for you in the future if you need background puppets as well)

hope i didnt create any controvery here

 

[spcglider]

No controversy at all. Honest!

You actually made me aware that I wasn't being clear enough. I have that problem sometimes. I over-explain and obfuscate the very nub of my gist.

LOL!

So then, I would say this: If anyone has a puppet likeness of someone or some character, it'd be great if you would lend it to the show for a parody piece. Who's got what?

-G

 

[Kevin the Frog]

Ahhhh, I see the light. Well, unfortunately I won't be able to help out. Sounded like fun. The closest puppet I have to a character is a puppet that is made in the Fraggle style, but is not a particular fraggle on the show.