''Lessons Learned'' is a 2014

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

written and directed by

Toby Froud Tobias Matthew Froud (born 27 June 1984) is an English-American artist, special effects designer, puppeteer, filmmaker, and performer. He rose to prominence for his role as the baby who was wished away to the goblins in the 1986 Jim Henson film ' ...

. The film's visuals were achieved widely through the use of

puppetry Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – wikt:inanimate, inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. S ...

and

animatronics An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

Cast

William Todd-Jones William Todd-Jones (born 1958) is a Welsh puppeteer, puppet designer, performer, director, movement consultant and writer for film, television and theatre in the UK and abroad. As an environmentalist, Todd-Jones is a longstanding patron of the w ...

as Boy *David Skelly as Digby *Bryonie Arnold as Spider Fate *Brandie Sylfae as Spider Fate *Scott Woodard as King *Mark Lewis as Grandpa

Production

''Lessons Learned'' was written and directed by Toby Froud, son of the fantasy illustrators and puppet makers

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

and Wendy Froud. Toby, who had appeared as the baby Toby Williams in

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

's ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

'', had developed an interest in puppetry from an early age. The film was executive produced by Heather Henson, daughter of the puppeteers Jim and

Jane Henson Jane Ann Henson (née Nebel; June 16, 1934 – April 2, 2013) was an American puppeteer and co-founder of Muppets, Inc. with her husband Jim Henson. Early life Jane Ann Nebel was born and raised in St. Albans, Queens. She met Jim Henson when ...

, who financed the film as part of her Handmade Puppet Dreams series. To raise money for the film, Froud launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign on July 2, 2013, with a goal of $25,000. The campaign closed on August 1, 2013, having successfully raised $53,330.

Release

The film premiered in April 2014. It also played at the

Portland Film Festival Portland Film Festival is a non-profit organization which hosts events and programs in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2013 by Joshua Leake with the help of Jay Cornelius. Their main event called the Portland Film Festival is an annual indep ...

in August 2014.

Awards

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=3518082, title=Lessons Learned
Official film website
2014 short films 2014 films 2014 fantasy films American short films Puppet films Films shot in Oregon Kickstarter-funded films 2010s English-language films English-language short films English-language fantasy films