Animal Behavior! 1/1/2018!

CLICK HERE, and save this site!  On 1/1/2018 Elmwood Productions will premiere 

"ANIMAL BEHAVIOR" on Vimeo/VHX!

FINALLY!!!  Yaaaaaaayyyyy!!!

I Believe In Santa

Christmas Eve at The Wooden Beaver!

Last Christmas Wes and Quig got stuck at their bar, The Wooden Beaver...

Click here to see how their nite went...

And when you're done, feel free to check out all of 

"The Risley Brothers" adventures on Vimeo/VHX HERE!

Have Yourself a SCARY Little Christmas!

Today's Mug - Merry Christmas

I only use this one once, maybe twice a year.

It was my grandfather, John Risley's mug.

When I was a kid I used to love looking at this at his house at Christmas, it's one of those things that makes me smile and brings me back to those good times as a kid...

And good times are what we need now.  

So I'm sitting on my couch with a great cup of coffee...  

And John Denver and the Muppets are singing...

Sweet dreams, Ripper

At the Humane Society they had named you Al.

You were definitely an Al. 

But I know you preferred to be called Ripper.

Thanks for being my best bud all these years, Rip!  I'll miss you buddy.

  

 

And thank you Brie, for being the best mommy a cat could have!

"Clicks, clacks, riding the backs of giraffes for laughs. S'alright for a while..."

KING TIKI TIKI!!!

Thank you Pam!

2nd year in a row...

Thanks Pam!!!

Prince cookies rock!

Mahna Mahna...

Riverbottom Nightmare Band!!!

This is one of the flicks that put me on the path...

Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas

Miss Katie's Imaginary Boyfriend

See More of Miss Katie HERE

A classic...

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

Time to start decorating the home!

And Now You're In Love With Miss Katie!

See more of Miss Katie HERE

1/1/18 - Animal Behavior!

So, finally, after, like forever - ANIMAL BEHAVIOR is getting released!

Once it's out I'll write about what took so long to get it out there for the world to see...

But for now I just wanted to share the date!

January 1, 2018!

It'll be complete on Elmwood's Vimeo/VHX page!

This is a project close to my heart, and that may be why it's taken almost as long as "Chinese Democracy" did to create! Hahaha...  

Can't wait for you to see it!

Thankful...

I was with my dad last week and we started talking about the holidays.

And he said he hopes I had good one's as a kid.

And to be honest, I only can think of smiles, and love.

We didn't always have it easy, and there was always some sort of stress from illness in my family...

But we would rise above it, at least for the holidays.

And they were wonderful.

I'm thankful for that, and for the wonderful friends and family I am surrounded by now.

Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Was thinking today...

This life... It's good.

B&W Day 7

B&W Day 6

B&W Day 5

B&W Day 4

Portal 503 - L'eclipse Nue

 http://www.leclipsenue.com/

Look for more L'eclipse Nue and Elmwood Productions team up in 2018!

B&W Day 3

The Answer Is Yes...

 

 So the puppets for HEAD were built in a hurry...

We decided a little under two months of shooting to do the film with puppets.

I had ideas for the look of each character.

For example, I'e keep it no secret that the character of Bruce is intentionally designed to look like Ash from "Evil Dead".

But one puppet that never really got analyzed by anyone was Vicki.

Originally I wanted the puppet to be a cross between Velma from Scooby Do and Kim Basinger.

But that wasn't working.  

So three years after the flick is done two people recently asked if Vicki was intentionally designed to look like Francesca from "Mad Monster Party"

And she is!  Just a little less busty, hahaha...  

I didn't want her to look exactly like Francesca, just a little...  Like a long lost relative, or something.

 I'm a huge Rankin/Bass fan.  And love "Mad Monster Party".  

Wanted to throw a little tribute into HEAD.  I've been found out!  Hahahaha...

And don't forget to check out HEAD on VHX now!

B&W - Day 2

B&W - Day One

I got "challenged" on Facebook by my wife's cousin Kara to do this thing that's been floating around FB for a few weeks where you post a black and white photo with no humans in it.

Looks like this:

Seven days. 
Seven B&W photos of my life. 
No People. No explanation. Challenge someone new every day.
Day seven, photo seven 
Challenge: Jon Bristol

So...  I'm doing it.  But posting the pics here!

Here's the first one, but instead of challenging anyone, I'll leave it up to you if you want to do it!

Happy Halloween!

Evil Doll

Hand Puppet from "Christmas Wishes"

We had a lot of fun making this short...  Look for it soon!

Here's some making of pics..

 

 It started with a store bought doll, just cut opened and gutted! 

 

Then I pulled some of the armature wire it came with out and made a mouth and eyes.  Added some classic yarn hair, and a little weird dress!

 

And she's ready to kill!

 

Tomorrow Nite!

I don't know if they'll be able to top last summer's spectacle...  But I now it's gonna be good!

I write a lot about Prince on this blog...

Gn'R have a very special place in my life n' heart.  Someday I'll delve into more.

In the meantime I just wanna rock out.

Sometimes u just don't wanna dance...

Sunday AM...

I've said it before...

Some folks got to church on Sunday...

But I listen to Prince.

Coffee in hand, cat on lap.  So far a great day.

It's Horror Season!

Don't miss out on HEAD!

Check it out now on VHX!

Sweet Dreams Mr. Petty

Thank you for being part of the soundtrack of my life...

I know somewhere, soon, my mom and brother will be enjoying a show among the wildflowers.

Apple Harvest Film Fest!

Friday nite!

Join me at the Southington Apple Harvest Festival in the Southington Community Cultural Arts Building for a short film fest!

After a great screening of "The Risley Brothers" I was asked to juror this fest!

Can't wait to see ya Friday nite!

Click HERE for the full schedule of events that SoCCA is having at the Apple Harvest Festival!

Happy Birthday Jim Henson!

Keeping Busy....

Some work in progress...

 And now off to the studio!

 

Watch Elmwood Now! 

Lucky Man!

 I don't do a whole lot of talking about my personal life online, here on this blog, Facebook, etc...  

Usually I do my best to keep it about my art.  The puppets, the films, the doodles, and so on.  Sure I have touched on things over time, here and there.  But not a ton of it.

Today is different!

Tonite I want to put up a special post, about Brie.

I'm a lucky guy.

A few weeks ago I woke up in pain.  24 hours later I was in the ER.

Luckily it isn't anything life threatening, and I will be fine.  No, I won't get into details, since it's no big deal in the end...  

But my wife, Brie, was awesome through the whole thing, even keeping me laughing at the whole situation.  

We've been together for ten years.  Wow.  

I can't believe it myself sometimes.  

She keeps me laughing, well fed, and is totally on board with the crazy life I have managed to survive! 

 I've known plenty of couples who do not support each others interests and creative sparks, and I'm glad to have found some one that not only supports mine, but someone who has that spark herself, and it keeps me inspired in return.   And she loves the cats!

Again...  I'm a lucky guy.

Pics from the awesome Corey Lynn Tucker 

15?

Fifteen years ago this week I moved back to Connecticut.

Although the seeds of Elmwood Productions had been planted a few years before.  I had the name, and puppets were made, and ideas and scripts existed...

But when I got back to CT in the fall of 2002 that they sprouted.

After moving back and re-connecting with Russ he asked something to the effect of "So...  Wanna start making puppet movies?"  He knew the answer...  And we really started.

Moments later Tricky Pete was in...  And by 2003 we were working on an early version "Josh and Todd" and "It's Late Enough With Plink"..

It took another four years for us to really find a groove we liked a lot.  Not that we didn't have fun from 2002 to 2006, cuz we did.  
We laughed a whole lot, and made some fun stuff.

But it was a little angry vampire that helped us get in the great groove...
And we're grooving better than ever these days.

Over the past 15 years I've been lucky and fortunate to have some amazing people work on the various project we have done as Elmwood Productions...

And I want to thank them all...  Literally.  

So, to keep it simple, you know who you are...  
and 
I THANK YOU!

Screw it...  Here's Everyone!  
In no specific order...
(but if I missed you, let me know, I'll fix it!)
Russ Werlebird
Pete "Tricky Rock" Lucco
Ricky Passmore
Mike Finland
Gabe Finkenstein
Rick Corbo
Paul DeNio
Nicki LaPorte
Alex Sims
Katie Scenic
Muffin Burton
Cassie Martin
Ray Attahiru
Kendra Meany
Nick Foreman
Chris Gierowski
Kelly Osborne
Dave The Beautiful Man
Josh Tanner
Liz Werlebird
Mark Elsinger
Keith Paul
Rob Meany
Anna Gawel
Jim Williams
Josh Leder
Liz Hill
Jeremy Jordan
Rachel Ly
Jena Gara
Brian Smith
Jaime Williams
Christopher A. Lemanski
Crystal Jordan
Manda Vasas
Sally Arlette-Garcia
Jorge Gonzales
Robert Fullerton
Chrissy Finland
Jennifer Lemanski
Erika Pocock
Dan Nyren
Eric Stegmaier
Sam Hugh
Rich Mislivets
Steph Neagle
Lisa Wilson
S.W. Rand
Chris "Chinaman" Ly
Ryan Brown
Sarah Maddalena
Matt Ficaro
Ricardo Davila
Sean Michanczyk
Michael Pucci
Shane McNeal
Amanda Towle
Desi Hugh
Ben Farley
Michelle Lucco
Ashley Zdeb
Jordan Deschene
Abel Mercado
Jackie Etling
Tugger, Ripper, Blue, Penny, and Phantom
Audrey Becker
Dan Sine
Mindy Levack
Pat Carroll
Brian Woodman
Jason Finberg
The staff at WRF Designs
Josh Blumenthal
Meghan Sandelli
Gaelon Morris
Everyone from the Ol' Paris In Plantsville
Theresa Martin
Joe Parker
Caitlyn Goode
Jesus Pimentel
Ajay Brainard
all the bands who hooked us up with music, all the venues who screened our flicks, all the sponsors who kept us fed and hydrated, all the press who interviewed us and gave us reviews and publicity, all the folks who have downloaded flicks on VHX and I Bleed Indie, all the Kickstarter backers from HEAD...
my folks, Linda, Roger, Sue..
and my awesome extended in-law family,
and of course my wife Brie...  Who has lived with this madness since the day we met, and still wanted to spend her life with me and even be a puppet!

Happy Labor Day Weekend! Support the MDA!

MDA is amazing!  Help them keep up the great work...

Contribute HERE!