Puppetcore

Can we make a feature-length puppet monster movie that is worthy of the classics that inspired it? I don’t know. But, I’m gonna try.

One of the have-to-haves is a massive puppet - I just LOVE them. Ludo from Labyrinth. Sweetums from The Muppets. They weren’t just side characters — they have presence. Scale. They make the world feel real.

So I knew Frank & Zed had to have its giant.

That’s where Grog comes in. He’s big, physical, and dangerous. He doesn’t hug. He rips heads off.

He needed to be big, scary, and powerful — stomping around the set, moving both arms, roaring, talking, and tearing things apart.

The challenge is, we’re working with about 1/3 of 1% of the budget of the films that inspired us. No animatronics or fancy mechanics. The solution was simple: two people in lockstep. One on the arms, one on the face. Moving as one. Bringing chaos and power by moving perfectly in sync.

Bringing Grog to life was one of the most fun parts of this crazy process.

If you’re into creature work, practical effects, or this kind of old-school filmmaking, this is all part of our upcoming feature Frank & Zed.

Thanks for following along.

13 years ago I started working on Frank & Zed, but I’ve been chasing puppets, filmmaking, and monsters for even longer than that. Through all of it, there’s been one person who has supported me every step of the way: my mom.

When I moved into puppet films, she stepped up in an even bigger way — hand-making costumes for nearly every puppet production I’ve ever done. And on Frank & Zed, the amount of work was absolutely enormous. Hundreds of details, endless hours, constant problem solving… and she handled all of it with grace, professionalism, and an unbelievable amount of talent.

A huge part of this movie exists because of her hands.

So this Mother’s Day, I’m just feeling really lucky to have her in my life — not only as my mom, but as one of my closest creative collaborators.

I love you, Mom. ❤️

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Someone asked us if Zed was AI?

We make everything by hand. Including spending three weeks making every nook and cavity in
Zed's teeth.

With AI taking over everything, we keep asking… does this kind of handmade work even make sense anymore?

We think so.
But what do you think?

HUGE thanks to for the music.

Friday wrap up

One of the best parts of making an independent, all-puppet monster movie is that you can do whatever you want. And for me, that meant doing a practical, full-on homage to one of the most overused CGI clichés of all time: the big mouth bass demon scream.

But instead of doing it digitally, we decided to do it for real.

We built a special puppet that doesn’t work the way most do. The mouth is controlled by a rod that pushes up from underneath, and the eyes are designed to roll back. The trick is puppeteering both of those things at once... it’s way harder than it sounds.

Jason had to drive the rod with one hand to make the mouth scream, while also reaching up with the other to roll the eyes back at just the right moment. It took multiple takes, a lot of laughing, and a lot of trial and error, but we got it.

This shot is part of a feature film called Frank & Zed — made 100% independently, using all practical effects and puppets. If you’re into that kind of thing, we’d love to have you join us on the journey. You can learn more via the link in our bio.

Sometimes you have to kill your darlings.

One of the challenges of making Frank & Zed is that we’re not just trying to finish the movie… we’re also trying to raise the money and awareness to actually make the movie.

That’s a big reason we’ve been doing all these contests and giveaways. They’re a lot of fun—and seeing so many people get excited about an all-puppet monster movie has been surreal.

But they also take time away from making the film.

One thing I wanted to do was create a big elaborate shot featuring all the winners getting their names in the movie… but the truth is, we just don’t have the time right now. So we’re making the hard call to simplify and stay focused on finishing the film itself.

And the reason we can do that is because so many of you have stepped up—buying Blu-rays, grabbing DVDs, joining the Patreon, and supporting this weird little monster movie directly.

That support is literally helping us finish the film.

So seriously… thank you.

We’re always making weird little things for Frank & Zed.
Storyboard scraps. Puppet bits. Behind-the-scenes oddities. Cast and crew shirts. Random treasures from 13 years of making the world’s greatest all-puppet monster movie.
And sometimes we end up with stuff that’s too fun to just sit in a box — but too limited to sell properly.
So we’re doing something fun.
As a thank-you to the people who support us — especially our Patreon members, who are one of the most consistent ways this movie keeps moving forward — we’re going to start putting together little Frank & Zed mystery boxes.
They might include leftover production bits, artwork, oddities, stickers, maybe even a Frank & Zed T-shirt — which, for now, is basically the only way to get one.
It’s a small way for us to say thank you and share some of the strange little treasures from this whole ridiculous journey.
If you want a chance to get one, head over to our Patreon. Link in bio.
Support the film, join the madness, and maybe one of these weird little boxes will find its way to you.

Making a puppet horror film is insanely fun…
but it’s also relentless problem-solving.

One rule I’ve always followed:
When I write, I don’t think about how hard something will be.
I just write the best idea I can—and figure it out later.

Sometimes that means building an entire forest.
Sometimes it’s something small…

Like this:
A scarecrow that slowly changes from a happy face to a frown.

Simple idea.
Not-so-simple ex*****on.

We’ve already cracked how to do it—but I’m curious…

How would YOU bring this gag to life?

Drop your ideas below. I love seeing how people think through this stuff.

And if you’re into this kind of behind-the-scenes problem solving, we share a lot more over on Patreon (plus early looks, experiments, and all the weird stuff that doesn’t make it here).

We get asked a lot how to get into puppets, practical effects, and filmmaking.
So we asked Gramps to share his thoughts.
It’s a long road.�We’ve been on this journey for over 13 years… and we still don’t know how it ends.
But the most important thing we ever did?
We started.
If you—or someone you know—is sitting on a dream… give it a shot. And maybe give them a hug from us too.
Hope this helps.

I spent 13 years making an all-puppet monster movie (Frank & Zed), and honestly… I’m feeling really good about it.
But when you work on something this long, there’s always that fear:
Did I miss one tiny thing that could break the whole movie?
That’s why feedback is my favorite part of the process.
We sent the film out… and thank God we did.
One person—Julie—caught something important.
A small moment that wasn’t landing the way it needed to.
As soon as I read her note, I knew she was right.
So now we’re going back in to shoot an insert that fixes it—and makes the story hit the way it’s supposed to.
Thank you, Julie. Seriously

Help Needed - We've all seen movies that had one moment or plot point that ruined the whole thing.... but I'm struggling to thing of examples.

What movie was ruined for you by a single bad scene, moment, or plot hole?