{"id":251,"date":"2012-04-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-05T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/being-elmo\/"},"modified":"2022-03-15T14:59:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T21:59:56","slug":"being-elmo","status":"publish","type":"films","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/being-elmo\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every day, millions tune in to Sesame Street<\/em> to see one of the world\u2019s most adored and recognizable characters \u2014 a furry red three-and-a-half year-old monster named Elmo. Yet, with all of Elmo\u2019s fame, the man behind the icon is able to walk down the street without being recognized.<\/p>\n

Meet Kevin Clash.<\/p>\n

As a teenager growing up in Baltimore in the 1970s, Kevin had very different aspirations from his classmates \u2014 he wanted to be a puppeteer. More specifically, he wanted to be part of Jim Henson\u2019s team, the creative force responsible for delivering the magic of Sesame Street on a daily basis. With a supportive family behind him, Kevin made his dreams come true.<\/p>\n

Combining amazing archival footage with material from the present day, filmmaker Constance Marks explores Kevin’s story in vivid detail and chronicles the meteoric rise of Jim Henson in the process. Narrated by Whoopi Goldberg and including interviews with Frank Oz, Rosie O\u2019Donnell, Cheryl Henson, Joan Ganz Cooney and others, this insightful and personal documentary offers up a rare, behind-the-scenes look at Sesame Street<\/em> and the Jim Henson legacy.<\/p>\n

\n

The Filmmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

Constance Marks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Producer and Director Constance Marks is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker who began her filmmaking career over 30 years ago as an assistant editor for the renowned cinema verit\u00e9 pioneers, David and Albert Maysles. Her previous films include Return to Appalachia, Let\u2019s Fall in Love: A Singles Weekend at the Concord Hotel<\/i>, and Green Chimneys<\/i>. For Being Elmo<\/i>, Marks teamed with Producer Corinne LaPook, Director of Photography\/Producer James J. Miller, co-director\/editor\/writer Philip Shane, editor\/writer Justin Weinstein, and composer Joel Goodman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every day, millions tune in to Sesame Street<\/i> to see one of the world’s most adored and recognizable characters — a furry red monster named Elmo. Meet Kevin Clash, the man behind the icon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"topic":[1216,1252],"class_list":["post-251","films","type-films","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","topic-arts-and-culture","topic-visual-arts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBeing Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey | Muppeteer Kevin Clash | Independent Lens | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey tells the story of Elmo's creator Kevin Clash, whose childhood dream was to work with his idol, Jim Henson.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/independentlens\/documentaries\/being-elmo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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