The Syfy channel recently announced the cast for its new creature-creation series, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge. Over the course of eight episodes, 10 designers will battle it out for a chance at $100,000 and a job at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.
The contestants, ranging from art students to professional sculptors, are Ben Bayouth, Chaz Vance, Ivonne Escoto, Jake Corrick, Josh Smith, Lex Rudd, Melissa Doss, Robert Bennett, Russ Adams and Tina Roland. Actress Gigi Edgley (Farscape) will host, and Brian Henson, chairman of The Jim Henson Company and the Creature Shop, will serve as lead judge on the series. Creature fabricator Beth Hathaway (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park) and creature designer Kirk R. Thatcher (Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Dinosaurs) round out the judging panel.
According to Syfy, the contestants will be allowed unprecedented access to the Creature Shop and gain hands-on experience. They will be challenged to build and bring to life everything from hand puppets to large-scale theatrical creatures and mechanical characters. Some episodes are inspired by Henson film and television classics The Dark Crystal and Farscape. The judges will look for overall creativity and originality, technical execution and how persuasively the creature designers bring their creations to life. During each episode, the creatures will be featured in a screen test and performed by professional puppeteers.
Three longtime Creature Shop artists will serve as mentors on the show: designer Peter Brookem, mechanization and animatronics master John Criswell, and fabrication and artistic specialist Julie Zobel.
Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge premieres March 25 on Syfy, following a new episode of Face Off. Check local listings for times.
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