Chugging Away In the Workshop

I always think it's neat when our dusty old "business plan" seems to be working the way it's suppose to. When we started Grey Seal away back in the roaring '70's, the idea was to have several "irons in the fire" at all times. That way, if one iron cooled off, hopefully, another would heat up. Our three irons have always been live performances, on-camera performances and custom-built characters.

So, now I'm seeing long Summer road trips around the country to perform in libraries and theatres give way to Fall building projects here in the studio. We are so lucky to have a really neat myriad of projects to work on.

We just finished a HUGE project for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. They are launching the largest cruise ship in the world, the Oasis of the Seas, and we built 29 super-cool masks to be a part of the on board entertainment. Cheralyn Lambeth headed up the project here and did a great job. The masks had to be virtually indestructible and involved cool materials like "alumacore" inserts, 1/16" airline cable, aluminum pool poles and about a gazillion 10/24" nylock nuts and bolts. A lot of work, but we were very happy with the end results!

Now it's on to a slew of sports team mascots. This is the time of year the pro guys get their costumes tweaked or rebuilt. On the workshop tables now are a new Hugo the Hornet for the New Orleans Hornets, Roofus the Charlotte Bobcat, Sir Purr from the Carolina Panthers and Norm from the Charlotte 49ers. Oh, and the local hospital's favorite fish, Dr. Gil Getwell, has come in for a new stethoscope and some seam repair.

On the very near horizon are two on-camera projects as well. We have begun construction on puppets for an oral hygiene DVD aimed at 4-6 year olds. Next week we begin construction on puppets for another pilot as well. More on that when the non-disclosure is lifted! Grey Seal Puppets will be providing puppeteers for both of these projects too.

So, we're chugging away in the workshop. It's awesome to have these hot irons in the fire!