May 28, 2020

The Segregation Chronicles: How Guru's New "Sesame Street" Robot Series Went Into Production Mid-Lockdown

In the latest installment of our series examining the coronavirus crisis from an industry perspective, we spoke with Frank Falcone. He is president and creative director of Toronto's Guru Studio, which has produced numerous children's Guru is currently in production on the HBO Max series "Mecha Builders," which will feature Sesame Street characters "in the style of animated robots."

Sesame Street is a half-century old franchise, and when Guru Studio partnered with Sesame Workshop to produce "Mecha Builders," Frank Falcone's first priority was to dive into its legacy, he told Cartoon Brew. [There were] various plans to go to New York, tour the sets and workshops, and draw inspiration from Sesame Workshop's physical props, puppets, sets, and deep archives," Falcone says. But all of that came to an abrupt end at the beginning of March." Following Ontario guidelines, the studio promptly switched to a completely remote setup.

While animation studios around the world have managed to continue producing shows during this crisis, Guru has been placed in the awkward position of going into production on "Mecha Builders" while everyone else is at home.

"Starting a new production from a remote location presents challenges that no one has faced before," says Falcone.

"At the beginning, when ideas and design thinking are very important, the gesture phase, we have developed new ways to communicate really big ideas."

He gives an example of how remote working has actually facilitated the visual development process: "We especially like programs that allow us to draw on the same virtual surface or whiteboard. In a room, people are less inclined to stand and draw in front of others, but when everyone is safely at home, they seem braver and more confident in "live public drawing"!... This relieves pressure and allows more ideas to flow freely without judgment"

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In the coming weeks and months, Guru plans to bring another 80 people on board as crew members for the show, in addition to the 300+ staff already working on other series. Some will join from within the studio, while others will be hired from outside. Falcone anticipates that the studio's workflow will have to be further adapted to accommodate this awkward situation. Then again, adaptation is "something we often do with other series that are not affected by pandemics!" he added.