Tag Archives: furchester

2017, NETFLIX, SPROUT & ALTON TOWERS

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while.  What with Christmas, New Year and work commitments, I’ve not had much time to update you all.

So here we go!

Late in 2016 I flew to Holland to shoot a pilot for a potential new puppet TV show. As coordinator and principle puppeteer I had my work cut out for me, but it all went extremely well and everyone involved seemed happy and energized by the end product. It’s a crazy mix of music, adventure and comedy. I look forward to seeing the final product soon.

2016 ended on a high with the broadcast of The Furchester Christmas Special on BBC 1. The show was received extremely well, as have all the new episodes so far. Thank you all so much for watching.

A new batch of episodes started airing on CBEEBIES on February 6th and runs for a few weeks.

The other big bit of news is that the first 2 seasons of the show are now available on NETFLIX in the UK and USA.

C3wvxDfWMAU3vyi

This gives our friends in the US a better chance to see it than ever! It’s also broadcasting on THE SPROUT CHANNEL in America if you don’t have access to NETFLIX.

C32jiFMWAAAbjcN

As always there are plenty of episodes still available on the BBC IPLAYER.

The last couple of weeks have been full of activity as we create content for the new Furchester attaction at CBEEBIES LAND/ALTON TOWERS. We’ve been shooting new footage for commercials and the attraction itself, as well as recording the audio for a brand new Furchester adventure. It’s all under wraps at the moment, but I’ll let you know more closer to the opening.

C2SV8oIXEAAbME-

C2SV8oJW8AA8Uxq

It’s the beginning of the year (just) and the rest of 2017 looks like it could be very exciting. As usual there is very little I can say about ANYTHING at the moment. I’m about to shoot a series of commercials for JAYWING, which will give me a chance to work with the ever brilliant KIM SCOPES again. I’ve worked with her in the past on NEWZOIDS and the music video CHUNKY for the band FORMAT:B.

Work on GERRY ANDERSON’S FIRESTORM continues, and I hope to have positive news to share about it in the not to distant future.

ef7521bbe5001222947998b68a4c131c_original

As usual there are some other projects hovering in the air, we just have to wait and see where they all land.

I can’t wait to see what 2017 has in store.

Take care!

A

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE OFFICIAL GERRY ANDERSON WEBSITE

THE FIRESTORM TWITTER FEED

THE FIRESTORM FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

 

Read More
NEW FURCHESTER EPISODES!

Hi everyone!

The new episodes of The Furchester Hotel started airing last week on Cbeebies! And what a busy week it was. Visits from Big Bird and sledging penguins! However, one of my favorite moments was this little musical interlude from Furgus and Elmo. It’s all about the flights of fancy you can have on a top bunk! Having had a bunk bed as a child I can confirm that I spent many hours in the top bunk pretending I was in a space ship.

I hope you enjoyed the new shows. More next week on Cbeebies!

Take care.

A

 

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE OFFICIAL GERRY ANDERSON WEBSITE

THE FIRESTORM TWITTER FEED

THE FIRESTORM FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

 

Read More
FURCHESTER NOMINATION & UPDATE

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update before things go quiet for a while. I’m off on holiday for a week, and then I’m traveling to Holland to shoot a pilot for a new kids TV show. I can’t say anything about it at the moment, but the puppetry team saw the puppets for the first time this week and we’re all very excited! It’s going to be a fascinating mix of puppetry and CGI. I’ll reveal more when I can.

The main reason for this post is The Furchester Hotel.

We shot 51 new episodes this year at Media City UK, and I think it’s safe to say that we are all very proud of them. The first batch of new episodes is airing VERY soon. I’ll keep you posted. But the other good news is that The Furchester has been nominated for an award! We’ve been nominated in the “Best Animation And Puppetry” category at the Royal Television Society North West Awards.

Whoop!

ctje4byxyaau6me

We’re up against some great shows, so fingers crossed!

Hopefully the next time I post I’ll have more to tell you about the pilot in Holland, and I’ll have a Gerry Anderson’s Firestorm update!

Take care.

A

 

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE OFFICIAL GERRY ANDERSON WEBSITE

THE FIRESTORM TWITTER FEED

THE FIRESTORM FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

 

Read More
PERFORMANCE REEL

Hi everyone!

Again it’s been a while. The Furchester shoot has ended after 60 days and over 600 hours of studio time. We’re all very proud of the 51 episodes we shot and can’t wait for them to be released into the wild! As far as I know the new episodes will start airing on CBEEBIES around October/November time. I’ll let you know more as and when the information becomes available.

I’m particularly proud of the special Christmas episode.

Since I’ve been back I’ve been catching up with over 4 months of paperwork (boo!) and finishing my tax return (double boo!). However, it’s not all been receipts and invoices. I’m prepping for a short pilot I’m shooting in Holland later next month. It’s still early days, lot’s of time looking at scripts and storyboards, figuring out how many puppeteers we’ll need and how certain shots can be accomplished with the minimum of fuss. Building the foundations for a successful shoot.

The trailer for the pilot minisode of Gerry Anderson’s Firestorm has been released to the Kickstarter backers and, it has to be said, the response has been phenomenal. If this is the reaction we get from the trailer I can’t wait for people to see the full minisode. The trailer will be released to the public soon. More information as and when.

ef7521bbe5001222947998b68a4c131c_original

And finally I’ve completed my performance reel! It’s taken a while to get to grips with it but here it is! It’s longer than my Sizzle Reel which was designed to give you an idea of the projects I’ve been involved with. This reel concentrates on a few key scenes that (hopefully) show off my performance skills. I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to share.

That’s all for now!

A

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE OFFICIAL GERRY ANDERSON WEBSITE

THE FIRESTORM TWITTER FEED

THE FIRESTORM FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

 

Read More
NEW HEADSHOTS

Hi everyone!

It’s been a while since an update and I apologise. I’m knee deep in production on seasons 3 and 4 of The Furchester Hotel. This will keep me pretty much tied up until late August.

I’m writing a piece about the first block of shooting on the new series and I’ll post that up here as soon as it’s finished.

I’m on a dark week this week so took advantage of the time off to get some new headshots done. Normally I find this experience to be akin to pulling teeth, however, Nicholas Dawkes did a fabulous job. The atmosphere was calm, relaxed and he guided me through the whole process with confidence and humour.

image

I’m VERY happy with the results.

Why not check out more of Nic’s work at www.nicholasdawkesphotography.co.uk.

As well as The Furchester I’m also in prep for a pilot tv show shooting in Holland in September. Can’t say much at the moment, but I’ll keep you posted!

A

 

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE OFFICIAL GERRY ANDERSON WEBSITE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL  (only available in the USA)

Read More
THE LOST JACKET

Hi all!

It’s been a busy week. I’ve spent the last few days shooting a music video that will premiere on YouTube later this month. I’ll post more details about that closer to the release date.

In Furchester news this Monday (12th October) sees the start of a run of new episodes.

In the first episode Phoebe and Elmo help a jacket find her owner while Furgus and the owner are looking for the jacket.

Tune in at 7:45am on Cbeebies to find out what happens.

There will be new episodes at the same time every weekday for the next few weeks.

Don’t forget that all the new eps will be available on the BBC iPlayer after transmission.

 

A

 

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL WEBSITE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL  (only available in the USA)

Read More
  • slider image
FURCHESTER DVD VOL 1

Hello all!

Well, that was a long summer wasn’t it! Apologies for the lack of posts but it’s been a very full few months, mostly because of the kids being home for the holidays and various travels. However, I’m back now and catching up!

Over the last few months we’ve had the Cbeebies Big Day Out with The Furchester Hotel (I’ll post more about that another time) the launch of the Furchester Hotel Magazine, and as of yesterday the new Furchester Hotel DVD is available. I’m also very pleased to say that my Twitter feed hit well over 1000 followers!

Plenty to be getting on with!

The DVD contains 6 episodes of the TV show for your little ones to enjoy and is available at most major outlets. You can also find out about what’s going on at The Furchester Hotel Facebook page!

Over the next few weeks I’ll updating more often and adding more content.

Cheers for now!

A

ANDREW JAMES SPOONER TWITTER FEED

CBEEBIES WEBSITE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL WEBSITE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE FACEBOOK PAGE

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL TWITTER FEED

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL MAGAZINE TWITTER FEED

THE BBC IPLAYER (for the latest Furchester episodes)

THE FURCHESTER HOTEL YOUTUBE CHANNEL  (only available in the USA)

Read More
NEW “INTERVIEWS” SECTION

Hello all!

The site has been a little quiet over the last few weeks as I’ve been concentrating on my Twitter account. 920 followers and rising! If you’re one of them thank you so much for your support.

I’ve not been ignoring the website though. If you take a close look at the tabs along the top you will see things have changed slightly. My CV is now a sub section under the “about” banner, which, in my head at least, makes more sense. In it’s place on the main page is a new tab entitled “interviews”.

Over the last year I have been asked to do a number of interviews due to the launch and success of The Furchester Hotel. I decided that these should be placed in a section of their own, rather than being buried in another. At the moment there are 2 interviews available but I will gradually add more over time.

The first is a chat I had with the guys at The Box Set Pod. This was the first long form interview I had ever done, I was EXTREMELY nervous. Luckily the guys were great and made me feel very relaxed. Also my love of TV and geek culture helped me along nicely. I even managed to talk about my love of John Carpenter movies, especially “Big Trouble In Little China.” Not many interviews let you do that!

The second is a great chat that I had with J.D. Hansel of the Muppet Hub website for his podcast “Eleven Point Collar.” I really enjoyed this one as I was a little more relaxed. There’s a little bit of crossover with The Box Set Pod at the start, but then we branch out into more specific chats about The Furchester, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets Most Wanted, Newzoids and much more.

So here they are! I hope you find them entertaining and informative.

You can follow The Box Set Pod and J.D. Hansel on Twitter at @theboxsetpod and @jd11pc

Both The Box Set Pod and Eleven Point Collar are available on iTunes.

Go on!

Subscribe!

 

A

(UPDATE) Oops! I forgot something. On the right hand side of the screen you will see 4 little widgets. They are direct links to my Twitter, LinkedIn, Vimeo and SoundCloud pages.

 

Read More
  • slider image
THE FURCHESTER FOOD GAME

The Furchester Food Game has now gone live on the CBeebies website!

I had a blast recording the voice over for this in a rather chaotic and exhausting 3 hour session. It’s strange when you get to that point where the line “oh look at that great pile of cakes!” can reduce you to tears of laughter.

I love doing voice over work.

Don’t forget that there are still episodes of The Furchester available on the BBC iplayer. If you are in the USA you can get episodes on iTunes or on the Furchester YouTube channel. Links below!

 

A

 

Cbeebies Website

Furchester Hotel Website

BBC iplayer (for the latest Furchester episodes)

US Furchester YouTube Page (only available in the USA)

Read More
THE MUPPET MINDSET ARTICLE

There is a lovely little article, about my good self, that’s popped up on The Muppet Mindset website.

For those of you who don’t already know, The Muppet Mindset is one of the top Muppet/Henson sites around. It’s an absolute treasure trove of information. It’s also run by a really nice bunch of people and has a great feel to it.

The author is Jarrod Fairclough, and it’s the first part in a series of articles on lesser known Muppeteers.

Until recently I never considered myself a “Muppeteer”, I was a puppeteer that was occasionally lucky enough to work for the Henson company.

I guess Furgus has changed all that.

It was actually my wife that pointed it out after I had finished the first block of filming on The Furchester Hotel.

“Does this mean your a Muppeteer now?” she asked.

It actually stumped me for a moment because I hadn’t really thought about it.

“Nah.” I replied.

“But it’s a completely new character, he’s Elmo’s uncle!”

“Well…. I guess!”

It’s not a title I would ever use on myself. You’ll never see me handing out business cards with “Muppeteer” on them. However, when people call me it, I can’t deny that I get a little shiver down my spine.

What an honour.

The little kid who grew up in the Kent countryside done ok.

Thanks to Jarrod for writing it, and thanks to all of you that have sent me such positive feedback after reading it.

 

A

 

 

Read More
1 2 3 6