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Sam and Friends BookHi, today I was looking at the most recent fast company magazine and in it is a section called dream jobs....well any way they interviewed Halle Stanford from the creature shop (she helped create Bear an the Dark Crystal anime series) heres the article.
Pursue the Creative Spirit
Halle Stanford
Head of Children's Television
The Jim Henson Co.
Hollywood, California
In college, when all the other students were making dark movies, I was saying, "Let's do a puppet television show!" I interviewed for a job with the Jim Henson Co. after graduation and was told that I was overqualified but to keep in touch. They actually meant it, though, because soon after, I was hired as a creative assistant. I was the grand note-taker, but it was exciting nonetheless. The first time I met [Muppets puppeteer] Frank Oz, I nearly fainted. The words that came out of my mouth were, "I like Grover." And he said to me, "So do I."
At the time, the company had just healed from the grief of losing Jim, when everybody picked themselves up again. As a 22-year-old just starting out, I really benefited from that creative spirit. The company was willing to nurture who I was, building my talent from within, and I worked my way up.
In 2000, a German company acquired Henson. I loved working at Henson, but I didn't love watching the company go into creative limbo, so I left. For three years, I produced shows on my own, trying to keep that Hensonesque creative dialogue going. When the Henson family took back the company in 2003, I knew it would have everything again creatively. When Jim's daughter, Lisa, called me last year to come back and head kids' TV, I gladly accepted. The staff is leaner, more focused, and very excited. My mom told me, "You are so much happier now that you're back there again." It really is more of a dream job now.
Halle Stanford, 35, is responsible for developing such children's television programming as Bear in the Big Blue House and the Dark Crystal anime series.
theres also a REALLy coooool picture of her in the creature shop!
Pursue the Creative Spirit
Halle Stanford
Head of Children's Television
The Jim Henson Co.
Hollywood, California
In college, when all the other students were making dark movies, I was saying, "Let's do a puppet television show!" I interviewed for a job with the Jim Henson Co. after graduation and was told that I was overqualified but to keep in touch. They actually meant it, though, because soon after, I was hired as a creative assistant. I was the grand note-taker, but it was exciting nonetheless. The first time I met [Muppets puppeteer] Frank Oz, I nearly fainted. The words that came out of my mouth were, "I like Grover." And he said to me, "So do I."
At the time, the company had just healed from the grief of losing Jim, when everybody picked themselves up again. As a 22-year-old just starting out, I really benefited from that creative spirit. The company was willing to nurture who I was, building my talent from within, and I worked my way up.
In 2000, a German company acquired Henson. I loved working at Henson, but I didn't love watching the company go into creative limbo, so I left. For three years, I produced shows on my own, trying to keep that Hensonesque creative dialogue going. When the Henson family took back the company in 2003, I knew it would have everything again creatively. When Jim's daughter, Lisa, called me last year to come back and head kids' TV, I gladly accepted. The staff is leaner, more focused, and very excited. My mom told me, "You are so much happier now that you're back there again." It really is more of a dream job now.
Halle Stanford, 35, is responsible for developing such children's television programming as Bear in the Big Blue House and the Dark Crystal anime series.
theres also a REALLy coooool picture of her in the creature shop!