Ep 24: "Just Keep Going" with Z Briggs & Chad Williams of Wonderspark Puppets
Reach the Stars Podcast
English - January 24, 2021 03:00 - 1 hour - 58 MBArts Business Entrepreneurship inspiring stories dreams storytelling passion purpose persistence she persisted artist inspiring change Homepage Download Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
On this week's episode, I talk with Z & Chad of Wonderspark Puppets in NYC. They are married, co-owners of the business as well as being parents to two young boys. We talk about their careers in puppeteering, how they successfully adapted their live-action puppet show business to thrive digitally in the pandemic and what life has been like for them during COVID in New York City. My favorite quote from this episode is from Chad, "If you've been kicking the can down the road...the can has come home to roost."
Z Briggs got her professional start doing puppetry in 2004 and has worked for the Jim Henson Foundation for many years. She is the artist and builder behind all of their puppets and she is masterful at her craft. In addition, she is currently fulfilling her lifelong dream of being involved with Sesame Street as the voice/puppeteer for Foley on the Sesame Street Podcast! You can listen to that podcast on Audible or click the link here: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Sesame-Street-Podcast-with-Foley-and-Friends-Podcast/B08L4ZN4KM
Chad Williams is the full-time puppeteer/writer/director for Wonderspark Puppets but he didn't originally start out in puppetry. He was deep in the film and media world when he and Z reconnected and decided to get married and join forces as Wonderspark Puppets! Throughout the pandemic, Chad has not only brought their company into this new era of online programming but he taught countless workshops to others to help them learn to stream their work online. In fact, he was instrumental in helping me to get this show off the ground, so if you love Reach the Stars Podcast, please go check out their website or social media and give Chad some love for helping to make this happen.
With less overhead, zero travel expenses, amazing support from friends / fans and a constant stream of interest for live virtual programming, their company did well in 2020. It was a mad dash to establish what they do and to continue to generate interest but they ended the year strong and are looking forward to continue streaming long after the pandemic is over.
You can find Wonderspark Puppets here:
Website: http://www.wondersparkpuppets.com
Podcast: http://www.puppetparentpodcast.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wondersparkpuppets
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/wondersparkpuppets
Brought to you by Papercraft Miracles: https://www.papercraftmiracles.com
Music provided by Birocratic: http://www.birocratic.bandcamp.com