To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:24:20 -0500
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Puppetry Awareness Projects?


Hi Mathieu & all critters;
    Really liked your list and even after all these years in Puppetry it is 
great to see someone excited and dedicated. One comment I would make is 
"Just do it"
    This isn't a Nike commercial or anything but what I mean is "do it for 
you".
    It has taken me a long time for me to  figure this out. Do your show for 
you, don't get it in your head that someone is going to come along, give you 
money or a chance at stardom, just do it for you.
    I think we all have this Idea ( and I may be over simplifying this so 
bare with me) of a gennerous donor or friend or company that will swoop in 
and fix all you problems, give us $, materials  and of coarse a free hand to 
spend it, and through this our carreer will be made. Well very rarely does 
that happen. So just do it for yourself.
    A lot of famous or wealth people seemed to have done this when just 
starting out. Most seem to say that they "can't believe they even get payed 
for doing the thing they love".
    Again I really liked what you had to say, I just think we should just do 
our shows or project because we love them, really charge what we think they 
are worth and let the future just happen. Thanks

Mark
The Puppet people
    ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mathieu René" <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 11:45 PM
Subject: [Puptcrit] Puppetry Awareness Projects?


> This is a topic close to my heart.
> I've been talking about it for years, with local and international 
> contacts.
> The efforts I've seen were mostly online, and those really help making the
> information available.
>
> Every little step counts, but I'd like to see a stronger, more mobilized
> effort to bring Puppetry back into the mainstream of showbusiness.
>
> What I mean by this, is I'd like to see people of every slice of society
> have the reccuring reflex of "Hey, let's go see a puppet show tonight!",
> instead of the usual movie or stand-up comic or sports event. Humans are
> creatures of habit, so those activities are already engrained in their
> thought patterns.
>
> Puppet shows often have a hard time getting the word out, so the room is
> often far from full.
> Puppeteers of international caliber operate for years in a their city, and
> the next-door neighbors don't even know about them!
>
> The one excuse I hear all the time, from most people, is the lack of funds
> for publicity (posters, radio add, TV spots). I understand, but I also
> understand there are free ways to publicise and to make converts from
> influencial people. Once it becomes "in" to go see a puppet show, the 
> people
> will catch on. The power of Puppetry will keep them coming back, you'll 
> see!
> After most puppet shows I attend, I hear newcommers full of wonder and
> astonishment that such Art was done locally, and how come they hadn't
> learned about it before?
>
> It's time we started enlarging our small circle of initiates which only
> grows by word to mouth. Let's use other means as well, turning it into a
> large world of puppet enthusiasts.
>
> What strategies can we use to make the awareness happen?
> Let's share those here, and see how we can make them work.
>
> The same strategies can work locally for small companies, and globally for
> bigger ones.
>
>
>
> My contribution:
> I have collected the following suggestions over the years, while talking
> with colleagues in person and online:
>
> Free publicity:
> .send sleek info package to newspapers for them to feature you and/or your
> show in an article.
> .make something outrageous (of good taste) so that the News and talk shows
> will talk about your work and Puppetry. They'll be glad for the change of
> topic!
>
> Cheap but powerful:
> .Use the power of the Net, by updating your website into something sleek 
> and
> attractive, with great quality pics and video excerpts.  Even today, most
> puppet sites are greatly lacking in those.
>
> .photocopy small black and white posters of your show or workshops on
> regular sized sheets, 4 to a page, and cut by hand. Slide those into free
> newspapers, at the most used stands downtown. This is called: "Publicite
> sauvage" in French (wild publicity).
>
> .Keep a client list protected as if it were a sacred book. Keep it 
> updated,
> and use it wisely, to let the people now, at least once a year, what new
> offerings you are bringing. Otherwise, they forget about you, and fall 
> back
> into their usual patterns: mocies, sports, politics, stand-up comics...
> We have a lot of competition out there, it's about time we made ourselves
> seen.
>
> .Not for our own company directly, but for the whole of the profession:
> We should all individually keep a list of the high quality websites we go 
> to
> regularly, so that we can share it with newcommers and members of the
> public, when they ask about the work.
> Such a list should be well-organised and easy to consult.
> Many sites are now available, but if we send people to the best that can 
> be
> used as starting points, then we save a lot of time. I recommend: 
> Puptcrit,
> the Puppetvision Blog, Puppetbuilding.com (will come back soon), and
> Puppethub. If they want more, let's send them to the major association's
> websites, and then Takey's website of puppetry links.
>
> A bit more investment:
> .Instead of making our next show into the artistic project of our dream,
> maybe we should create something popular that will appeal to most people.
> This would build our popularity, and people would then be curious about 
> what
> else we have to offer. Of course, we shouldn't sacrifice quality! Just
> change the topic to something that will grab people's attention. And even
> more fun: that popular show could have our social or philosophical 
> messages
> sneaked into it!
>
> Let others invest:
> .Associate ourselves or our company with a big event or show that already 
> or
> surely will attract a crowd.  It could be showbiz, commercial, or
> community-based. Make it plain to see that our team can bring all the
> expertise the event needs to go to the next level.
>
> Adjusting our mind:
> .Trust the power of Puppetry: Once we get the influencial people to see 
> our
> work, if it is truly good work, they will recognize it, and support it.
> Bring them fun, escapism, food for thought, education, thrills, nostalgia,
> inspiration, and all that comes with good puppetry, and they will pay for
> more!
>
> ."Going commercial" isn't evil in itself. It's a means to an end. Great
> works have been done commercially without sacrifice to integrity. As soon 
> as
> we understand this fully, we will cease to be "starving artists" and start
> being an "expanding artistic and economic success".
>
> .Money isn't bad, it's a great tool of convenience. Prevents us from 
> needing
> to carry a goat and cow around when we need to buy a bag of potatoes!
>
> .Money isn't going to corrupt our work or ourselves. Corruption comes when
> we let it enter.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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