The Journey
I found myself rummaging through my old drawers filled with leftover cotton, needles, scissors. I was overwhelmed by the sense of not knowing how to be creative again, of not knowing where to start. My thoughts were tangled and a huge sense of anxiety took over me.
I was looking for old fabrics that I left years ago thinking I will revisit them in a couple of weeks, not knowing these couple of weeks turned into years of me staring at excel sheets at a job I hated but loved because it paid the Bills.
The dustier my tools in this drawer got, the more depressed I became..
After getting fired last year, & losing that distraction once and for all, I gathered all the courage I had to get these tools out, the fabrics, the needles and scissors. I turned on my machine and opened an old software, I took out my old tubes of acrylic paint and I thought to myself this is my last chance of trying to turn my hobby into something I can live off of.. to turn it into a career as I couldn’t imagine living my life forcing myself to do something just to get by & make a bit of money.
I opened the software I haven’t touched for at least 7 years and started drawing lines, erasing them, getting frustrated, I kept forcing myself to revisit my artwork & in a way it felt like reconciling with an old friend that I’ve fallen out with.
I started animating, painting, and sewing. I didn't have much of a plan or a sense of direction, but I know that every ounce of my being was delighted, filled with life & hope again. I went from feeling contempt to feeling content.
After many trials and errors I’ve realized I need to focus more intently on creating content online.
I’ve started creating small animated segments, stop motion, as well as puppetry. I was on a roll but unfortunately the work didn’t blow up as I’ve naively expected it to.. at least to be able to keep myself afloat and survive while continuing to have time to create more content.
Due to the outbreak last year and the challenging circumstances where I’m currently residing, finding a side gig or part-time job to cover the bare minimum is like finding gold dust. Part-time jobs usually never stick to 4 hours a day & my craft requires at least 13 dedicated hours a day to have a decent result, However this left me with a financial burden & an insomnia inducing debt.
Days and months passed by, so did my growing frustrations with me constantly searching for grants online and asking for ways to fund my projects to kick start my long queue of ideas that’s been ‘dismantled’ due to the lack of means to execute them, while juggling ways to keep food on my table and in my two cats’ food bowls.
I was lucky enough that one day my friend referred me to Vocal and the different challenges it has. I can’t hide that I was skeptical at the beginning for the mundane years of stagnant creativity have turned me into a jaded old cat lady. I had to force my fingers to type in the search bar, open the website and sign up, while chanting in my head “If I don’t try, I will never Know”.
This will be the first official challenge I sign up for, and no matter what the outcome is, this website is reinforcing me with some structural integrity and in a way it’s like a mentor keeping me on toes and feeding me -in an odd way- with a nutritious dosage of hope again.
It describes exactly what I’m looking for: Creating content is creating happiness for me.
About the project:
I’ve always enjoyed watching The Muppets as a kid and as a grown up. I was truly immersed in their world of colors, music, with hidden gems and messages here and there. I have to say I was actually envious of their work not because it was well executed but because I can feel the love and passion for their crafts oozing through the screen and I can only imagine the laughs and giggles behind the scenes.
I’ve always flirted with the idea of having a puppet show, & found myself working with my hands. This passion started from childhood watching mum making pillows from crochets, and my brother animating cardboard cutouts, so I followed suit & started pushing clay figures inside small cars, in my head this played out as a scene from a massive production & it narrates: “The little blue man blob is racing through in his small white Jeep". I then moved on to making plushies at age 16 & giving them out to friends from school.
Creating tangible items stuck with me sporadically throughout the years from making crazy wooden creations to making odd paper dolls & cotton stuffed ‘toys’ for my cats.
Now that I’m 32, I’m thinking why run away from the idea that filled me with joy and why can't I give it a one last go effort of trying to kick it off ground & consequently creating a proper career. Dare to dream, right?
My idea for this specific show is featuring two misfit puppets Called Beat & Nik a play on word of the term "Beatnik" as shown in the video, singing and dancing about everyday topics people face, & trying to normalize being different (Discussing mental health, ambitions, & simple everyday acts of kindness)
It will consist of short Episodes, 5 minutes in length broken down as follows:
- The Intro :1 Minute- highlighting today’s topic.
- A Comedy sequence: 2 Minute playing out the topic for example “feeling lost in life”.
- 2D animation:1 Minute of a comedy filler .
- Musical outro: 1 minute .
Winning the prize will give me a major boost to be able to refine, organize and seek out other talents to help me grow this content and entertain while maintaining a meaningful message to the masses. It will help me kick start a Pilot Episode, pay my debt and launch my career all while crediting Vocal and Fiskars of course.
Listing below the 1st prize winning budget breakdown:
- Overhead ( Paying Debt, Studio rent, internet, upgrading sewing tools & editing softwares) :8000 USD
- An assistant Puppet maker & Puppeteer: 2000 USD
- A video compositor & Editor :1500 USD
- A music composer: 1500 USD
- 2D animators: 1500 USD
- Advertising & Promoting the series online : 500 USD
....This is my vision board, sharing it publicly with an overwhelming feeling of love & gratitude.
Yours faithfully,
Lamia
About the Creator
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