OUR TEAM
HEATHER B. HENSON
Artistic Director
Heather Henson is a contemporary artist who values ways of life that are in balance with nature, native value systems, artistic expression, community, and family. She is particularly interested in the creative spirit of artistic expression in puppetry and other crafts. Her work promotes healing and harmony for people and the planet.
She resides in the woods of the Northwest Corner of Connecticut. From there she manages the NYC-based Green Feather Foundation, a private operating foundation that produces Handmade Puppet Dreams. Green Feather Foundation also provides programmatic support through the The Puppet Slam Network, a community of over forty independent venues presenting evenings of short form puppetry for adults.
Henson has created many puppet theater works that promote healing for the planet and the relationship between people and the nature. She founded IBEX Puppetry in 2000, a multi-platform production company bringing imaginative stories to a variety of audiences worldwide. Her productions through IBEX create transformative experiences involving puppetry, song, dance, kiting, and special effects that help us remember our deep connection with the natural world.
Her latest production Ajijaak on Turtle Island honors the journey of animals as well as narratives of indigenous peoples. Her hope is to promote healing and harmony through her productions. All of her shows demonstrate a reciprocal connection between the planet and its inhabitants.
Henson has a love for healing and health that is evident in all of her work and efforts. Traditional ways of knowledge and lifestyles are of interest to Henson as a way to reverse some of the loss of connection between humans and the nature that surrounds them. By supporting native-led land based programs, Henson strives to create a sustainable, healthy, and beautiful world for generations to come.
Henson is president of The Jane Henson Foundation and chairman of the Jim Henson Legacy, which celebrates her father’s work. Through these organizations, she supports creativity in the puppetry arts and programming to share her fathers work with the public.
Alex U. Griffin
Producer
A multi-hyphenate bridging the filmmaking world and the puppetry world, Alex U. Griffin is Producer for Heather Henson's Handmade Puppet Dreams film series, a freelance cinematographer/editor/director/puppeteer, creator/producer of the 48hr Puppet Film Project, and Vice President of both the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry and Puppeteers of America.
As a cinematographer and director, Alex has worked on a number of puppet projects big and small, often working both behind and in front of the camera. His specialty is films with practical effects and puppetry, though works well with humans as well!
Alex has participated in the O'Neill Theater Center's National Puppetry Conference for seven years, studying with Marty Robinson (Sesame Street), Tyler Bunch (The Muppets), Ronnie Burkett (The Daisy Theater) and many more. In 2014, he was invited to be an Emerging Artist at the conference, directing his own short table-top toy theater piece, Northern Lights.
As a photographer, Alex has been behind-the-scenes and event photographer for many productions, events, and people. His photographs have been seen in Playbill, Puppet Life, The Iowa Source, The Puppetry Journal, and he has been an official photographer for the National Puppetry Festival since 2013.
Alex cares deeply for the puppet community, the art and craft that it represents.
ANGELICA ROBINSON
Line Producer, HPD Collections
Angelica Robinson is an award-winning, Daytime Emmy nominated Creative Producer committed to creating engaging content that embraces diverse images of the multicultural human experience. After 15 years at major studios including NBC Universal, ITV Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Ms. Robinson formed Tell Me A Story Productions, which develops and produces premium content for Film, Television and digital media, highlighting the African American experience and multicultural edutainment at the center of each story.
Robinson currently has a slate of projects in development and is the Line Producer of Collections for Heather Henson’s Handmade Puppet Dreams.