DILLY'S WORLD - Short film Series

Hello! To all who is reading, my name is Jackie Smook, the owner of Jackie Smook Company LLC. I am a puppet designer and builder, actor and writer, singer and painter, and the creator of a new TV show, Dilly's World!

I was on Season 21 of American Idol with my puppets, guest star on Chicago Fire, actor in many national commercials and design and build puppets for feature films, shorts and music videos. I am the creator and writer of my one woman shows, The Jackie Smook Program of De-dumbification and Under Your Skin. Both of these shows performed in NYC on-broadway and off-broadway. Both shows were selections in United Solo Theater Festival where we won Best Emerging Artist Award and Critics Choice Award.

Our mission and design is to hire talented and creative people prioritizing female, queer, and non-binary artists and creators to produce creative, artistic, educational content and content that brings joy back to the world. I am passionate about bringing production and film creation to Chicago. As large and vast as the Chicago artist community is, the puppetry and production market is slim leaving many incredible and passionate artists to either relocate or switch careers entirely. My mission is to keep Chicago artists and creatives working.

To kick off the business, I am creating a TV show called Dilly's World inspired by PeeWee's Playhouse, Blues Clues and The Big Comfy Couch. This project will represent many facets of art mediums, including stop motion, animation, sculpting, furniture building, set building and creation, visual arts, education, and of course, puppets. The idea is that each piece, each element of the set is touched by an artist. The mission of this project is to keep children and adults creative. Though this will be geared towards educating children and teens, I want this to be a program for the family, something everyone can do together. There will be creative ways of learning, crafting new projects and even finding ways of communicating with others. It will instill the idea of togetherness and the joy of being weird and silly. The first season of episodes will infuse the ideas of needing to ask for help, not comparing your art or self to others, and even battling common fears and how to cope with them.

During the pandemic, I began investing my time in puppet making. I'm thankful for my ability to get creative which helped me get through the pandemic. It occurred to me that not everyone has this same ability or the resources to be creative. Recently, I lost my dad. He owned his own architecture business and instilled in me the importance of art, business, and doing what you love. We would watch Pee Wee's playhouse and talk about how incredible it was to see someone be silly and also instill joy. With his passing and Paul Rueben's passing, I know I want to honor both of the love and joy they brought.

There are desirable tax incentives for bringing creative projects and production companies to Chicago. With more sound stages being built, including the Fields in Avondale, Trigger Casting, and the new sound stage south of Cinespace, Chicago has the potential of becoming a hub - so, why not develop a female owned and produced company in Chicago!

This project has given many amazing individuals the ability to work as an artist. here are the artists we were able to work with on the filming of Dilly's World. This is also where funding and donations have currently helped artists be paid.

How I plan to use the funding:

Director and Dilly - Jackie Smook

Co-Director/Director of Photography - Jon Plester

Assistant Director and Angus (puppeteer) - Madigan Burke

Producer - Diego Salinas

Asst. Producer - Erika Rose

Music Director/Score and Dave (actor) - Kyle William Stephens

Set Designer/Builder - Chris Tuttle

Prop Designer/Builder - Glamhag

Instrument Designer and builder - Mattheus Leonhard

Head Puppeteer Chimes, Ed, Silver Ball - Frank Cesario

Sound - Liv Mershon

Chair designer/Builder - Michael Hennessy

Space Coordinator/Gaffer - Rudy Scheider

Production Supervisor - Anna Zaffarano

Choreographer Holstein, Bubbles Assist (Arms), Chimes Assist (Arms) - Margo O’Connell

Production Assistant - Dora Hewitt

Animator - Zoe Pham

Stop Motion Animator - Taylor Wells

Script Supervisor/Assistant Editor - Kerry Stevens

1st AC - Aaron Klinger

Voice Actor Maximo (VO) - Michael C Hyatt

Puppeteer Actor Dumont - Rob Chesler

Puppeteer Actor Longhorn - Margot Mitchell

Puppeteer Actor Phyllis - Connar Brown

Puppeteer Actor Bubbles, Guernsey, Capri (VO) - Autumn Eliza Sheffy

Puppeteer Actor Be, Watusi - Fletcher Pierson

Photographer - Sarah Larson

PA - Kellie Wyatt

We rented:

- Playground Social. I am going to be building the set inside.

- Equipment for filming including camera, lighting and boom mics.

We will be pitching this to networks I am in connection with as well as putting up at various film festivals.

We will then present it to educational programs such as PBS and other educational programs.

This funding will be the seed money for this incredible project and the future of my production company.

Jackie Smook

She | Her

http://www.jackiesmook.com

Singer | Actor | Comedian | Writer | Puppet Maker