Jim Henson's Creature Shop Has A New Director of New Business Development!

Jim Henson's Creature Shop has hired industry vet Dawn Turner as Director of New Business Development.

Turner will identify and cultivate new global business opportunities for the iconic Jim Henson's Creature Shop, focusing on promoting the services it can provide clients in film, television, advertising, live theatre and events, and AR and VR. Her efforts will especially focus on the Shop's celebrated practical animatronic and puppet work along with expanding the scope of its work in performed animation utilizing the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, an award-winning proprietary technology that allows puppeteers to perform CG characters in real time, allowing for greater spontaneity and realism.

"Jim Henson's Creature Shop is known the world over for creating some of the best-known characters in entertainment. I want everyone in the industry to know the full scope of our capabilities, not only in the world of practical creature effects but also with digital puppetry and the exciting new opportunities it offers for all kinds of creative endeavors," says Turner. "From delivering more improvised and lifelike character performances and effects in real-time, to shortening the post-production turnaround process and cutting post-production costs, the possibilities of the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio are endless and I intend to make sure the creative community has the opportunity to learn all about this amazing technology."

Before joining Henson, Turner was a producer in business development at Technicolor Creative Services and served as a producer of VFX and animation on a number of creative projects. Some of her credits include Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Nim's Island, Bruce Almighty, Scary Movie 4, The Boondocks, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Shark Tale, Madagascar and many more. Turner also served on the awards committee for the Visual Effects Society for several years and is a member of the Producer's Guild of America, Women in Animation and Women in Film.