Pins and Needles Productions is an award-winning, female-led theatre company in Bristol. Based on a strong Director/Designer partnership between Emma Earle & Zoe Squire, the company is well known for their beautiful stage adaptations of children’s literature and this Christmas they will be bringing L Frank Baum’s classic, ‘The Wizard of Oz’ to Tobacco Factory Theatres. Emma Windsor caught up with Zoe Squire to find out more about this magical production. Can you tell us more about you and Pins & Needles Productions?  We create imaginative theatre for all ages and are passionate ab ..read more

Oh the weather outside is frightful but festive puppet films are not! Christmas, puppets and cinema – a recipe for ultimate joy, these special ingredients will warm the cockles of your heart like a spiced mulled wine. You’ll be so warm you’ll completely forget about the frightful weather everyone’s singing about. Puppets, often fuzzy, are the perfect companion at this chilly time of year, evoking excitement, love and mischief in a way that wouldn’t quite work with human actors. Imagine a big human man gremlin in place of the little fluffy Gizmo we all cherish. With a mix of live action puppetr ..read more

Formed in 2000, Puppet Place resident artist theatre company Pickled Image specialises in puppetry for live performance and theatre. Since its inception, the company has gained international recognition and numerous awards for their humorous visual productions. We caught up with Puppet Place resident artist Vicky Andrews of Pickled Image to chat about Woodland Tales with Granddad, making short films during the Covid-19 lockdowns in the UK and their plans for the future. Over the last 18 months or so, during times when we were in lockdown, you were able to bring Granddad to new audiences via a ..read more

Manual Cinema is an Emmy Award winning performance collective, design studio, and film/video production company founded in 2010 and based in Chicago. In this interview, Cat Rock from Puppet Place chats with Manual Cinema’s Co-Artistic Director, Sarah Fornace about what makes shadow puppetry such a good medium for horror, and that amazing title sequence for Nia DaCosta’s latest horror feature film, ‘Candyman’ (2021). Listen to more interviews with The Quay Brothers, Barry JC Purves, The Paper Cinema, Corina Duyn and more on our Vimeo channel here ..read more

As Halloween approaches, Cat Rock looks into puppetry’s relationship with horror. With thoughts from Aya Nakamura, Kathleen Yore, Mike Oleon, and the Puppet Place residents. Featuring a special interview with Sarah Fornace from Manual Cinema about their recent shadow puppetry creation for the 2021 film “Candyman”. Cat explores why and how puppets have been used to unsettle and terrify audiences over the years. “Puppetry as an art form provides a powerful feeling of escapism and is especially good at tapping into our subconscious fears; bringing to the surface hidden imagery and diving deep int ..read more

© The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation, photography by Brian Robertson, National Galleries Scotland What do dinosaurs, skeletons, a giant octopus, and a phorusrhacos have in common? Ray Harryhausen’s legendary hands zapped life into all of them! Since the 1950s, Ray Harryhausen has been hypnotising audiences world-over with his unprecedented stop-motion special effects. After seeing King Kong (1933), teen Ray Harryhausen was awe-struck and discovered a new life-long love for creating stop-motion creatures and bringing them to life. Harryhausen quickly became Hollywood’s go-to guy when it c ..read more

The Lost Librarian is a ground-breaking escape room for inquisitive explorers of all ages. Using interactive books, employing creative technology, groups of up to six people experience a 60-minute journey, uncovering a fantastical retelling of the Devon Witches and the legacy that they have left behind. The project is the brainchild of Puppet Place resident artists Lizzie Johnson, Kyle Hirani, Matt Gibbs and Chat Akula, and the installation was commissioned by Libraries Unlimited. We sat down with writer and narrative designer, Matt Gibbs, to find out more about this innovative installation ..read more

With registration about to close and the Bristol 48 hour Puppet Film Challenge weekend fast approaching (27-29th August, 2021), we caught up with three of this year’s Judges to get their thoughts and advice on puppetry, fabricating, and film making. What are you looking for in a Puppet film? What is it that excites you about puppetry in film? Colleen Smith (CS): I prefer performance over fancy puppetry. I mean, I’m always impressed by beautiful puppet work. But it needs great acting to back it up. I love puppets over special effects. I like how you can forget it’s a puppet and think that it’s ..read more

Last year, Cat Rock, Izzy Bristow, and Helena Houghton came up with a brilliant plan to inspire creative people around the world with a puppet film challenge that must be completed in just 48 hours. The online event was such a success that Cat decided to bring it back this year and challenge anyone from anywhere to make a short puppet film over this August bank holiday weekend, 27th – 29th. We caught up with her to find out more. Who are you and what inspired you to organise the Bristol 48 hour Puppet Film Challenge? I’m Cat Rock, Resident Artist and Trustee of Puppet Place, and Co-Director of ..read more

As much as it is all about taking part, I’ve been told that winning is an experience that feels very good. At last, you can stand tall on that podium, sit up on that high horse and look down at all the little runners up! Joking aside, we’re getting close to the 2021 Bristol 48 hour Puppet Film Challenge and there’s excitement in the air. Finishing the challenge itself is a tremendous feat. Coming up with a concept, constructing puppets, making all the little set bits, animating/puppeteering, filming, and then editing the whole thing in 48 hours – it’s a little bit crazy and a lot of fun! Creat ..read more