In The Nook Rapping Presents
Disney Channel

Writer/Director/Editor/Puppeteer/Compositor: Alexander Gradet
Showrunners: Alexander Gradet, Scott Jones
VP, Creative: Jill Hotchkiss // Creative Director: Christina Karaba
Puppet Design: Dylan Hutchins
Motion Design: Christopher Ultimo
Concept: Elek Hendrickson
Talent: Chandler Kinney, Ariel Martin, Anthony Veneziale and Aneesa Folds

… ok, it feels like this could use some context.

In The Nook was an interstitial talk/sketch show produced entirely remotely (with hosts located in Vancouver, Miami and Los Angeles) during the COVID-19 pandemic, producing over 500 deliverables in a year. Our virtual set and DIY vibe allowed us to expand the Disney Channel brand in weirder, more absurd directions (reflecting the unprecedented times as our audience experienced them).

We wanted to do something special for the holidays which led to the creation of the Rapping Presents, voiced by returning ITN guests Anthony Veneziale (2021 Tony award winner) and Aneesa Folds (Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Warriors), both members of improvisational rap group Freestyle Love Supreme.

I rather naïvely assumed I could pick up the centuries-old art form of puppetry on the fly but quickly found out why puppeteers dedicate their entire lives to mastering the art. My solution laid in technology, where I shot hero poses of the two puppets against greenscreen in my home office, then keyframe-animated them to appear to lipsync to Anthony and Aneesa’s bars, creating a deliberately janky celebration of the beauty of Hanukkah (and latterly, of Beastie Boys’ So Whatcha Want video).