Meet Alex U. Griffin of Griffin Eye Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex U. Griffin.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It all started when my mother went skinny dipping with old college friends. We had just moved from Denver, Colorado to the small unique town of Fairfield, Iowa. As a high schooler, that transition was rough and my mother was trying to find something to help me adjust. While skinny dipping, one of my mom’s friends recommended a puppetry class taught by Francesca Hoerlein.

We had a ‘don’t knock it ‘till you try it’ rule in our house, and so any protests towards attending the class were mute. Though it only took one class before I was hooked for life. With on-screen puppetry, the puppeteer often stays out of frame, which leaves a sort of instant magic when seeing a living, breathing character on the monitor and knowing that you are creating the magic while experiencing it.

My family was very poor, and could barely (or sometimes just couldn’t) afford stuff like phone or electricity, let alone an external puppetry class. So I worked of my class every week scrubbing the mold and mildew from Francesca’s basement tiles with a toothbrush. Soon, the class ended by the collaboration with Francesca never did. Years were spend performing for the local community and public access station, and most recently creating educational and children’s shorts with her Les Mutts Puppets.

Helping with almost daily performance, I quickly became the go-to tech person. I’ve always had a love of photography and film, and even did my first “photoshoot” at the age of nine years old with a beloved Fisher-Price camera and my two years old sister. This love resurfaced as moving pictures as we recorded improvised skits, shorts, and educational content.

My very first puppetry film was Barry Blue Learns Bicycle Safety. I created it as my Eagle Scout project, and it followed the puppet Barry Blue as he learns the laws and safety around riding a bicycle in Iowa. The VHS could be rented form the library, and for many years was shown at Fairfield Middle School in P.E. It is also, as with any first film, certainly a bit “rough” to watch from my current perspective!

All of the puppetry content we were creating, and that I was studying, at the time was hand-and-rod puppetry, sometimes also called hand-in-mouth puppetry or just “Muppet style” puppetry. Martin P Robinson (Marty), who is a respected puppeteer and has performed characters such as Mr. Snuffleupagus and Telly Monster on Sesame Street, had been a major source of training and continual input for Francesca, which transferred to me. Francesca would bring some of our recordings to get critiques and notes from Marty to share with us. One year, Francesca suggested that I attend the O’Neill Theater Center’s National Puppetry Conference to work with Marty, and helped me get a scholarship.

Attending “the O’Neill” helped expand my view of what puppetry is and what it is capable of. Marty’s class, “Puppet Anarchy,” was a sort of crash course looking first at all form of puppetry, and then looking at how to break free from their conventions or restrictions. What is tabletop puppetry? Now, what is it without a table? For a final performances, we had a romance between a pillow and an umbrella, body-less martial arts uniforms fighting, and a giant face made out of our arms, hands, and heads. My mind was blown.

Attending the O’Neill eight times, I’ve able to workshop under established and celebrated puppeteers like Ronnie Burkett, Martin P Robinson, Tim Lagasse, Tyler Bunch, and work as a Resident Company Member with many more up-and-coming artists. In 2014 I was welcomed as an Emerging Artists, directing my own short theatrical piece Northern Lights.

Risking lifelong student loans debt, I took the deep plunge and attended Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts in attempt to give me similar growth as a filmmaker. I had decided that it was not practical to work with puppetry, and I needed to just focus on filmmaking with, well, humans. At Chapman, I got to fine-tune my filmmaking and cinematography skills with established cinematographers like Johnny Jensen, ASC, and Bill Dill, ASC. Though it was a special workshop with Isidore Mankofsky, ASC, that really solidified my path going forward. Having been the cinematographer for The Muppet Movie, Muppet-Vision 3D, and the Handmade Puppet Dreams Film Series’ short rod-puppet film Too Loud a Solitude, Mankofsky had a wealth of knowledge and stories to share. Though more importantly, he gave the inspiration needed to believe that I can work between two worlds… and that it won’t always be easy! With that needed inspiration, I spearheaded many projects at Chapman University, primarily as cinematographer yet also performing and directing, and was able to explore and experiment under expert guidance in an environment that felt safe.

Since then, I have been fortunate enough to work on many projects both large and small in my career, many of which offer looks into creative, fantastical worlds through the use of puppetry arts. I have been fortunate to work as a Film Coordinator, director, and cinematographer for Heather Henson (daughter of famed puppet folk Jane and Jim Henson), her companies IBEX Puppetry and the Handmade Puppet Dreams Film Series. This is all thanks to director/producer Sam Koji Hale, who I met through the LA Guild of Puppetry and became memorable after fixing a tech issue during a Puppeteers of America National Festival screening. I also had the privilege of being cinematographer on Hale’s all-puppet feature film Yamasong: March of the Hollows featuring the voice talents of Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Fillion, Freida Pinto, George Takei, and more.

Caring a lot for the greater puppetry community, I haven’t shied away from volunteer work. I often call it “building my nest” for what I hope will be a lifetime of connection, inspiration, and opportunity. Within that, I am currently Vice President of both the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry and Puppeteers of America. For the PofA, I also serve as liaison for a number of committees, including the newly formed COVID-19 Task Force. Through the COVID-19 Task Force, we’ve been able to raise money to help puppeteers who are struggling to adapt to a world where many venues have shut their doors to in-person performances. In addition to generous founding support from Cheryl and Heather Henson and fundraising events sponsored by IBEX Puppetry, the Puppet Tears Podcast is currently running a special “Cheers to Puppeteers” series in support of the fund, with performers like Dave Goelz (Gonzo, Boober Fraggle), Matt Vogel (Kermit the Frog, Big Bird) and Phillip Huber (Being John Malkovich, Oz the Great and Powerful) and so many more helping the cause. If you’d wish to donate or get more information, you can visit www.puppeteers.org/relief

In an effort to both inspire and challenge folks to move past possible inhibitions around creating puppet films, I created the 48hr Puppet Film Project for the LA Guild of Puppetry. We asked filmmakers to conceive of, film, edit, and export a puppet film in just 48hrs using our randomly drawn theme, action, and item. Each filmmaker not only has a chance to win awards, but also (and most importantly for me) receives feedback from our wonderful volunteer judges, who have included folks like Kirk Thatcher (Muppets Now, Dinosaurs), Heather Henson (IBEX Puppetry, Handmade Puppet Dreams), Bill Watterson (Dave Made a Maze), Sam Koji Hale (Yamasong: March of the Hollows, Alien X-Mas), and many more.

A successful local event for the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a real need for challenge, creativity, and well, distraction from the news. It also brought a need for us to go online, and doing so opened us up in a way that nobody expected. Films were submitted not only from across the US but from around the world, with nearly 140 newly-created puppet films all made in just 48 hours!

Beyond this year’s successful 48hr Puppet Film Project itself, the event inspired the Bristol 48hr Puppet Film Challenge last month, as well as Handmade Puppet Dreams’ Quarantine Film Micro- Commissions, giving small budgets and opportunities for independent artists to explore their craft and breathe life into their dreams. These thirteen artists will be working with myself and Sam Koji Hale as they build and create in a safe environment.

As a cinematographer and director, I have continued to stay busy. I have filmed a number of independent feature films, short films, music videos, branded content, and more. I feel fortunate to have more-often-that-not worked with directors and creative teams who are not only dedicated to creative and compelling visual storytelling but who are also dedicated to having diverse perspectives and creating set environments that nurture creativity and respect.

I continue learning, expanding, and exploring with each and every project I work on. I genuinely feel that if I don’t add one new piece of knowledge to my understanding of filmmaking on any given set, I failed to maximize its potential. I always work best in and encourage diverse, accepting, and collaborative sets that allow each department to work together to create the creative whole. I feel like I’ve been fortunate to find my way to many productions like this, as so much of the industry can be quite the opposite.

Has it been a smooth road?
Coming from a family in poverty, I’ve struggled my entire life to overcome the inherent financial roadblocks that exist in the US and especially within the entertainment industry. What you can afford is sometimes deemed as your “worth,” and while I have other privileges, I have been turned down for more than one job because of which. Being able to do a project for free, having a “starter package” of professional personal equipment, or even just industry connections, was not something I was able to utilize a I built and continue to build a career and business.

Puppetry itself is also a niche medium. Many think of it as a genre, but it’s not – it’s a medium that is able to encompass a wide variety of styles and stories. Yet in the US especially, many view puppetry as children’s entertainment and so it can be difficult to both pitch and get eyes on films utilizing puppetry arts for a wider range of audiences outside of franchises like Star Wars or Jurassic Park.

As somebody who grew up around a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities, entering the “wide white world” of Hollywood left me feeling uneasy. I genuinely feel like something is voices and perspectives may be unjustly and intentionally excluded.

It took some time, but I slowly learned to embrace my love of the puppetry arts as a means of artistic cinematic expression, as well as my want and ability to find work with more inclusive, collaborative, meaningful film and media collaborators. While nether inherently brings income like a pop or corporate production, which I do also lend my talents to, this has allowed me to both stay afloat and feel good while I create meaningful working relationships with other talented people in the hopes of understanding, progressing, and ultimately making a difference in this world.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The creation of Griffin Eye Productions was prompted after gaining funding from Heather Henson (daughter of famed puppet folk Jane and Jim Henson) for my upcoming short western, The Man With No Face. At this point, the majority of work within Griffin Eye Productions is still my own freelancing talents in various positions, especially with the limitations of the pandemic, through creating Griffin Eye Productions allows me to use my knowledge and network of artists to help bring life to projects that require more of a curated team than merely myself as an individual.

The goal for both myself and Griffin Eye Productions is to engage in dynamic collaborations with diverse artists, storytellers, and filmmakers in a way that brings beauty and creativity to any project. I feel that obstacles are just opportunities for creativity, and so I work to maximize what can be created within any budgetary limitations and support those artistic voices.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Having lived all around the US, I quickly understood why Los Angeles became a hub for filmmaking. The climate allows for more comfortable, continual work throughout the year – there are no snow days few rainy days. With that, a rich community of filmmakers, creators, and artists has formed which allows for easier access to resources and talent when creating content.

My recommendation for anybody starting out in Los Angeles to find your community. Filmmaking is a collaborative art, and you can’t collaborate without connections and a network. Having a solid community can help one build their network, discover possibilities, and ultimately collaborate with each other in one way or another.

There are many organizations and festivals that can offer support and connection in the film community, including the American Society of Cinematographers. For those interested in puppetry arts, the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry helped give me many community-based resources to do what I do today and understanding that importance firsthand is one of the reasons I volunteer as their Vice President of the board.

One thing in terms of improvement… While I feel like Los Angeles is much farther along than many smaller US towns in terms of equality and opportunity, I have seen and been witness to a number of productions that, either directly or through non-action, continue to encourage or allow both toxic behavior and discrimination. The requirement it creates for a person to adapt to possible unjust or toxic environment just to keep a job or be re-hired if they were hired in the first place is something that is long overdue for change. I feel that dismissing this based on the idea that Los Angeles may be better or more diverse than another place is no excuse to stop continually working and asking for a more just and safe environment for all involved. My hope is to have an increased opportunity to not only support through my own talents, but also engage as an audience member in the myriad of stories that can exist if diverse and previously muted voices are allowed to collaborate, lead, and create.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.alexugriffin.com
• Email: alex.u.griffin@gmail.com
• Instagram: @alexugriffin

Image Credit:
Ruth N. Weiss, Sam Koji Hale, Jean Barker, Alex U. Griffin, Francesca Hoerlein

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