Cardboard might be a found object, but cardboard puppets & props dont need to look like "found object puppets". This workshop will introduce the properties of cardboard & methods for making it dance!
Description:
Making the simple complicated is commonplace. Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, thats creativity. - Charles Mingus. Resources should never come between you and creativity. Cardboard is everywhere and you likely already have a bunch of it. Just because cardboard is a found object, does not mean cardboard puppets need to look like "found object puppets". We can create entire shows out of just this one material. This workshop will introduce the properties of cardboard and methods for making it dance! Resist the urge for overbuilt puppets. Keep them simple and cheap and still tell your story. These skills are also applicable to prop, costume, and set making. Learn to make mockups in cardboard for projects before you start spending money or using up the good materials!
Put your dancing shoes on your hands folks, cause its time for a PUPPET DANCE PARTY! Choreography is very important in puppetry, especially when it comes to musical numbers and group scenes.
Build a pro-quality puppet with Emmy-winner Michael Schupbach! Just come ready to make an amazing new fuzzy friend.
Description:
This might be the easiest puppet-making workshop youll ever takeand youll still walk away with a screen-ready puppet character you designed yourself. In this hands-on session led by Emmy-winning puppeteer and creature designer Michael Schupbach (Sesame Street, Imaginocean, Johnny and the Sprites), youll build your own custom, moving-mouth hand puppet using the same materials and techniques used in professional TV and film production. No experience requiredif you can thread a needle, great! If not, well show you how. Using simple hand-stitching, youll follow guided steps to create a fully finished, high-quality puppet. Michael will share insider tips on how features, fabric, and shape bring characters to life. All materials are providedjust come ready to have fun, get weird, and leave with a new skill and a fuzzy new friend.
Join professional dino-maker Michael Schupbach for this all-ages, dino-mite workshop! Build your own paper puppet in four easy steps: Color, Cut, Staple, & ROAR! Mammals only.
From Good to Great: Building Unforgettable Puppet Characters
Summary:
Perfect for beginners & veterans, this hands-on workshop will help you push your characters beyond basics. Join puppeteer & creature designer Michael Schupbach & learn how to make characters great!
Description:
Take your puppet or gaming characters from good to great. Join veteran puppeteer and creature designer Michael Schupbach as he shares the same tools and tricks hes used on Sesame Street, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Avenue Q to bring foam and fleece to life with personality, heart, and humor.
You'll explore how voice, movement, focus, and intention can turn a simple puppet into a scene-stealing character. Learn how to avoid the puppet traps and instead build distinct, believable personas that audiences remember.
You'll also get his go-to techniques for developing a characters backstory, emotional range, and signature movesthose subtle but powerful details that separate a solid performance from a great one. Bring your puppet (or use one of ours), warm up your imagination, and get ready to dig deep, go big, and maybe get a little weird.
From Sesame Street to the Big Blue House to Avenue Q: Carving Out A Home in Puppet Design
Summary:
Learn how puppets are designed and made with Puppet Designer Michael Schupbach. See the world of characters through his work on Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, & Johnny & the Sprites!
Description:
Puppet Designer Michael Schupbach takes you backstage and on set to learn how puppets are designed and made. From New Yorks Muppet Workshop to the soundstages of Disney Channel and beyond, Michael Schupbach has spent over two decades bringing creatures to life with stitches, foam, and just the right dose of mischief.
In this personal and career-spanning talk, Michael invites audiences behind the curtain to explore the messy, hilarious, and heartfelt world of character creation through the lens of his work on iconic properties like Sesame Street, Bear in the Big Blue House, and Johnny and the Sprites.
You'll see behind-the-scenes clips, concept sketches, and learn some new design techniques. Plus, you will learn his three essential tips to get your designs noticed, approved, and into the show!
Would you like to get a start making puppets or other crafty things, but don't quite have a grasp on sewing by hand? Good news! This sewing for beginners workshop is perfect for you!
Description:
You'll learn 4-6 of different hand-stitches, & of course you'll get to practice them. We'll get through as many stitches as we can in our 2 hours. You'll even learn a couple of tricks for threading needles & tying knots. The instructor, Stacey Gordon, has been sewing by hand since she was much shorter than she currently stands, & she stopped growing a long, long, long time ago.
If you're hoping to bring puppetry into your videos, career, gaming, or your classroom, this seminar is for you! Get inspired by our panelists & learn how to incorporate puppetry into your world!
Description:
How do you start in puppetry? How do you get your first show? Do you have to do puppet shows to be a puppeteer? How can you convince people that puppets aren't just for kids? What kinds of puppets are acceptable to use? What age group is too old for puppets? You've got so many questions, and we've got the answers!
How to Make a Robotic Dinosaur (& Other Assorted Beasts): Confessions of a Dinosaur Doula
Summary:
A career in puppetry, animatronics, & immersive theme park experiences has given Michael Schupbach the answers to all sorts of questions about his creatures that blink, roar, & bound across arenas!
Description:
How do you teach someone to drive a full-scale T-rex? How much free will should we give the robotic Banshee from Avatar? These are the questions Michael Schupbach loves to answer. With a career spanning puppetry, animatronics, & immersive theme park experiences, his creatures have roared, blinked, & bounded across arenas & sound stages around the world. From baby dinos in Jurassic World Live, to the Banshee in Avatar the Experience, to Baby Banshees at D23, Schupbach's creations mix engineering & storytelling. In this fast-paced & funny talk, learn how scrappy experimentation fuels high-tech innovation, & how old-school puppet skills still shape cutting-edge creature design. Whether you're a builder, performer, fan, or just want to know what its like to make a Dilophosaurus spit, this session will leave you with a deeper appreciation for the art& chaosof bringing beasts to life.