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February 21, 2008 - Suburban Journals
Where do socks go when they get lost in the laundry?
That's
a question that Patrick Voss, James "Bud" Gregson, Stephen Dunsford and
Jim Callahan used as the inspiration for a children's show called
"Sockville."
While the inspiration for the show came quickly,
making it into a reality took years."It started in 1999 or 2000 when I
met these guys in Alton who had just done an award winning preview for
a movie that didn't exist," said Voss, a resident of Swansea. "I went
in to talk to them and they said 'oh my gosh, you're the missing piece
of the puzzle. We have this concept for this kid show called
Sockville.' This was James Gregson and Steve Dunsford. James is pretty
much the technical guru and Steve does 3-D animation and conceptual
art. Jim Callahan has a state-of-the-art recording studio in St. Louis
and he did the sound and music for the show. They asked me if I could
make some puppets for the show. And that's how I got involved.
"After
that, we took our concept to a NATPE (National Association of
Television Program Executives) convention in New Orleans. Everybody in
the industry was there," Voss said. "'Sockville' was one of five
concepts we took to the convention and it was the one that got the most
attention. We even thought we had it sold. We came back and produced a
half-hour show that we started sending out. I don't know if it was bad
timing or what, but it kind of got shelved."
Following that
initial disappointment, Voss and his compatriots moved on to other
projects, but they always kept coming back to the "Sockville project,"
which eventually reached the public in the form of an hour-long DVD in
December 2007.
"We aimed to make 'Sockville' entertaining and
educational," said Voss. "We want to help kids learn things about
morals and listening and friendship -- basic things. At the same time
we try to put as much fun in it as we can. It's directed at kids from
pre-school to the age of eight years old; but we also had focus groups
that gave us feedback from kids up to the age of 12 or 14 that loved
the show. Parents love it, too. It's kind of like "Shrek" in that
parents get stuff that the kids don't."
The show can be purchased on-line at www.amazon.com, as well as at www.sockville.com, or at Voss' Web site, robotmonkeylab.com.
"We're
also looking into a deal with Blockbuster or another major video
chain," Voss said. "In addition, we're doing some market research with
area stores to see how it sells."
The DVD features a variety of
skits performed by the sock puppets that reside in "Sockville."
Providing some of the voice talent for the show is Mark Dodson, who did
the voice for the Gremlins in the movie of the same name and who did
the voice for Salacious Crum in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."
"Our
dream is to get something rolling to where we have money coming in to
support a studio," said the 46-year-old Voss, who is a full-time
graphic artist for AT&T. We have so many concepts that we'd like to
get out there."
While Voss may not be a household name, most
people in the St. Louis area have probably seen his work. Through his
own company, Robot Monkey Lab, Voss has been doing special effects,
animation, props, miniatures, displays, sets, graphics, masks and
costuming for local firms for many years.
"During the 80s and
90s, I built zombies and monsters and scenery and tombs," said Voss. "I
actually designed and built several haunted houses from the ground up.
One specific house, Terror Vision, was in downtown St. Louis. Last year
was the first year that I didn't hear it advertised.
"Then I got
into doing props, scenery, signage, video and film production. It's
amazing how much is going on in the St. Louis area. People have no idea
how many productions are going on at any one time."
Voss has a
variety of behind-the-scenes interests, including special effects,
props and scenery. It all goes back to his grade-school days when he
saw the original "Planet of the Apes" movie.
"I looked around
and I couldn't find any ape masks that I liked, so I decided to make my
own, " Voss noted. "The first one was a papier-mache mask that I glued
hair on."
From there he graduated to plaster molds and latex
masks, which he was able to sell to the Tribouts Party and Costume
store in Belleville.
"I was in eighth grade when I first sold a
mask," said Voss. "It was a gorilla mask. I took a few into Tribouts
and a few days later they called me and asked me 'how many of those
masks can you make? We'll take as many as you can give us.' They
couldn't keep them on the shelf. Even though I've moved on to making
all sorts of other things, I still love making gorilla masks."
Voss
said that he and his collaborators were inspired by a variety of
people, but foremost among them was Jim Henson, the creator of "Sesame
Street" and "The Muppets."
"When we started building things for
Sockville, I went to the library and researched Jim Henson and how he
did what he did," Voss said. "It was quite a learning experience."
E-mail: jcampbell@yourjournal.com
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