The Making of Pinocchio: In Conversation with Lisa Henson and Georgina Hayns

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro reinvents Carlo Collodi's classic tale of the wooden marionette who is magically brought to life in order to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto. This whimsical, stop-motion film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson follows the mischievous and disobedient adventures of Pinocchio in his pursuit of a place in the world.

Join WFTV for a conversation with two of the key female creatives behind Netflix’s Pinocchio, Lisa Henson (Producer) and Georgina Hayns (Creative and Technical Director of Character Fabrication).

They will be discussing their journeys into the industry as well as offering behind the scenes insight to the making of Pinocchio from idea to screen and spotlighting the craft of puppetry making; from creating the puppets and the stop motion animation process to working together with co-directors Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson to achieve their creative vision for the film.

Event Schedule:

17:55: Please join the webinar waiting room

18:00: Event begins, talk with Lisa Henson and Georgina Hayns

18:45: Audience Q&A

19:00: Finish

Speakers

As CEO of The Jim Henson Company, Lisa Henson oversees all television and feature film production, from early development through post-production. She is currently in production on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio for Netflix and the feature film The Portable Door. Most recently, she served as executive producer for the new Apple TV+ series Harriet the Spy and the reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. Lisa’s many television credits include the Emmy®-winning series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the popular Word Party, both for Netflix, as well as the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS series Sid the Science Kid, Dinosaur Train, and Splash and Bubbles. Lisa’s feature credits include Sony Pictures Animation’s The Star, and Disney’s Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, as well as MirrorMask, The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz, Good Boy!, and Henson Alternative’s The Happytime Murders.

Prior to her current position, Lisa was President of Columbia Pictures where she oversaw a string of critical and commercial successes including Little Women (1994), Immortal Beloved, and Ang Lee’s Oscar®-winning Sense and Sensibility. Before joining Columbia Pictures, Lisa served as an executive at Warner Bros. for ten years. Lisa graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Folklore and Mythology from Harvard University, where she was the first female president of The Harvard Lampoon.

Georgina Hayns has served as a puppet creator and creative director for over 20 years. Her career began in the UK, working for Cosgrove Hall Films, with puppet-makers Mackinnon & Saunders. She worked on projects including the BBC Television's Noddy, HIT Entertainment’s Bob the Builder, Lipton® Brisk® Tea and Puffs Tissues. She also worked on animated feature films, Mars Attacks and Corpse Bride and shorts including the Academy Award®-nominated Periwig Maker. She was the Creative Puppet Fabrication Supervisor at Laika for over 10 years, supervising the puppet builds on the Oscar-nominated films Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and The Missing Link. She is currently the Creative and Technical Director of Character Fabrication for Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson's Pinocchio. Georgina serves as a consultant on various projects, including the upcoming Spotted Fawn Productions film Wheetago War. Georgina is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

How will the online event work?

This event will be live streamed via Zoom.us. Viewing details will be sent via your confirmation.

Attending participants will not be visible to others and will be muted throughout the session. After the talk, there will be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions by using the Q&A feature.

This event is for existing WFTV members only.

If you are not a member and would like to join, membership costs just £100 + VAT/yr , please click here or email admin@wftv.org.uk

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