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. ❤️

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.

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.