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https://youtu.be/du875FWRJmc

Hi everybody!

I wanted to share a project I've been working on for a long time now, a feature length documentary about puppetry called PuppetVision: The Movie.

For the past few years I've been traveling to different cities and countries in my spare time, interviewing puppeteers, puppet builders and other people who are really passionate about puppetry. So far I've amassed around 20-30 hours of original footage and I probably have at least another 10 hours of archival material for the film (and more keeps coming in). I'm editing all of this in to a documentary that's going to explore puppetry as an art form and (hopefully) provide more exposure to a lot of incredibly talented people and fuel interest in puppetry internationally.

My goal is to create a film that can show a mainstream audience (that is, people who don't know much about puppetry) just how much amazing work is being done around the world. I also want to give the puppeteers in the film as much exposure and publicity as possible. I plan to have the film screened at film, animation and puppetry festivals internationally. Most importantly, I want to release it online, for free, under a Creative Commons license so as many people as possible can see it.

I've been very lucky so far that most of the film's expenses have been covered through air miles, donated travel and accommodations and a very generous anonymous supporter who prefers to remain anonymous...and quite a bit has come out of my own pocket, but, to finish the film next year I need to raise $12,500 to cover the cost of licensing copyrighted footage and to pay for post production. It's a lot of money, so - you guessed it - I've just launched a fundraising campaign on IndieGoGo.

Here's the favour I'm asking the online puppetry community for...Google Analytics tells me that over the years close to half a million people have enjoyed thousands of puppet films, videos and articles about puppetry on PuppetVision. If everyone who visited the blog was able to contribute $10...I'd be a multimillionaire.

Seriously though, not everyone can or will contribute to something like this, but if you can, well, that would be fantastic. You'll be doing a great thing for me, for puppetry and since it's IndieGoGo you'll get perks!

• $10 or more will get a thank you shout out on Twitter as well the PuppetVision Blog and Facebook Page with an optional link to their web site. You'll also have your name listed in the credits of the final film.
• $25 or more means that you get all of the above and you get to see the film before anyone else. You'll get access to a HD digital download of the film before it's publicly released, plus if you're in (or can get to) Toronto, New York, or Los Angeles you can attend one of the screening parties in those cities where you can meet and mingle with some of the puppeteers who appear in the film.
• $50 or more gets you get all of the perks listed above, as well as a DVD of the finished film (with bonus features) and a copy of the film's poster signed by several of the puppeteers who appear in the film.
• $100 or more would be insanely generous, and anyone able to do that gets not only the perks listed above, but will also receive an exclusive bonus DVD featuring hours of original interviews, outtakes and puppetry performance footage that does not appear in the finished film (this DVD will be exclusive to supporters on IndieGoGo and will not be made available publicly).

To contribute go to www.indiegogo.com/puppetvision

I completely understand that not everyone is able contribute financially, but there are other ways to help out. If you can, please, please, please:

• Comment on the campaign at IndieGoGo
• Comment on, "like" and share the PuppetVision: The Movie teaser video on YouTube
• Share the campaign on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc. providing a link to the IndieGoGo campaign at www.indiegogo.com/puppetvision
• If you're not already a fan of the PuppetVision Blog on Facebook, you can "like" that too!
• Share it on your blog, with your friends, anywhere you like. Every little bit helps!

Thank you in advance to everyone who is able to donate or help promote this project. I've been working very hard on it for a long time and I really want it to be something special that the entire puppetry community can enjoy.

Oh and for anyone who wants to know, here's a break down of all the puppeteers who appear in the film's teaser:

00:39  Yunlin International Puppetry Festival (Taiwan)
00:42  Hebden Bridge Handmade Parade (UK) – footage courtesy of Thingumajig Theatre
00:44  Channel 4 news report by Krishnan Guru-Murthy (U.K.)
00:53  Clay and Paper Theatre (Canada)
00:55  Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre (Vietnam) – footage courtesy of Cheryl Haettig
00:57  Unraku (Canada)
01:02  Thingumajig Theatre (U.K.)
01:15  Puppeteer training (Canada) – footage courtesy of Unraku
01:18  Unraku (Canada)
01:22  Hsin-Hsing-Ku Puppet Show Troupe (Taiwan)
01:24  Mathieu René (Canada)
01:26  Girovago & Rondella Family Theatre (Italy)
01:34  Huang Shih-Chin (Taiwan)
01:36  Chung Jen-Pi (Taiwan)
01:42  Traditional Wayang Kulit performance (Indonesia)
01:44  Wen Yang Lion Dance Troupe (Singapore)
01:45  Applefun Puppetry (Canada)
01:48  Elise Handelman & Bob Nathanson (U.S.A.)
01:50  Kelly Kirkham (Canada)
01:52  Yunlin International Puppetry Festival (Taiwan)
01:54  “Jasper & Carl” T.V. Pilot (Canada)
01:55  Wen Yang Lion Dance Troupe (Singapore)

The puppets behind me in the video are from my personal collection:

Policeman – Puppet Heap Playthings
Sock Monkey Hand Puppet - RoRo Art
Sock Ninja – Unraku Workshop
Marshall Mountie – Unraku Workshop
Traditional Chinese Hand Puppets – Yenching Chinese Puppet Company

Dude. You rock! I'll do my best to sneak a little cash your way and I'll do some interweb sharing too! Best of luck!

liked, liked and shared. This is one ambitious project! Cool stuff!

I will be donating $10 (about all I can afford at the moment), but before I go and do that, I just want to say:

What an awesome idea and I wish you every luck with the film. I'm sure it will be fab! I think I'll post news about this on School of Puppetry. Did you happen to get any Aussies in there?

Thank you so much everybody, I really appreciate your support.

I'm planning to be in Australia at some point next year. There isn't really any money left in the budget for it - every penny I raise through IndieGoGo is to pay for licensing & post production - but I'm hoping to be able to make it with some Air Miles.

Great project Andrew!  Can't wait to see it's completion.

There are just a few days left in the fundraising campaign for PuppetVision: The Movie and I wanted to check in here and say thank you to everyone again for your support.

Here's a short video with some footage from the film that I shot in Taiwan:

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https://youtu.be/hGr7Eb7UrsQ

The campaign is unfortunately still well short of its goal, but every little bit helps and there are some nice perks available to supporters! If you'd like to contribute just go to http://IndieGoGo.com/puppetvision

I noticed the campaign is coming to an end and that it was falling short. It is a shame you can not extend the time. Seems odd that the time limit on these fundraisers seems so short. Heck for some movies it takes years to raise the  capitol for them.

WOW! That is quite amazing! I really hope you can get this finished. You'd think there would be some businesses in your area that would contribute. The movie you are making is exactly what I need to use when presenting workshops on puppetry around the world. If I had deep pockets I would certainly donate more. Unfortunately I had to buy a different car for my business because the transmission went out on my PT Cruiser (the last of MANY problems with that car - found out it had been in an accident and the dealer never told me and it was not repaired right  which meant more and more problems kept cropping up) Now my Pockets Full of Fun is actually Pockets Full of IOU's! Anyway - I really hope you can get this together! I am SO eager to see it!!