Author Arthur Conan Doyle’s crime-solving characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, have spawned a variety of versions, ranging from television shows to motion pictures. However, Fogtown, which was produced in Portland, gives the pair a unique twist by portraying them as puppets.
Austin Hillebrecht and Sean Parker were the creators and directors of Fogtown, which was originally intended to be a TV show. The pilot episode, Mystery of the Moth Napper, was finished by the filmmakers and debuted in theaters in August at PAM CUT’s Tomorrow Theater, which is run by the Center for an Untold Tomorrow at the Portland Art Museum in Southeast Portland.
With the release of the pilot episode online, the effort to expand Fogtown’s audience and get support for the project is still ongoing.
The main characters include the enigmatic and secretive landlady/pub owner Mrs. Hud (voiced by Tricia Brioux), the enigmatic and feared Moth Napper (voiced by Stephen Russell), Inspector LeFraude (voiced by Rizwan Manji), who is described as macho but animal-loving, and the inquisitive Sherblock (voiced by Chris Yamez) and his friend Blockson (voiced by Hillebrecht).
The creators told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2022 that Fogtown was inspired in part by their fascination with the Sherlock TV series, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman.
According to Parker, we’ve always tended to lean toward parody in our work. We kind of got the urge to create our own version of Sherlock, giving it a humorous, sometimes ridiculous, but entertaining, and imaginative twist.
Hillebrecht added, “I don’t think anyone has done Sherlock as a finger puppet, even though a number of actors have played Arthur Conan Doyle’s master detective.”
The scene with Sherblock and Blockson from “Fogtown.”Image source: Hapstance Films
Parker claims in a statement that Fogtown combines traditional puppetry with state-of-the-art virtual technology. Like The Mandalorian, but on a much smaller DIY scale, we’re bringing the ageless craft of puppet-based storytelling into the present day by filming handmade characters against live 3D environments.
In an attempt to attract interest from streaming networks and gaming companies like Hulu, Netflix, Apple TV+, or HBO, a crowdfunding campaign raised $51,100 to create a proposal for the proposed half-hour Fogtown series. Fogtown is the first project to receive monetary support from PAM CUT.
Parker and Hillebrecht have used crowd-funding to raise money for the four years they have been working on Fogtown. Now that the pilot is out online, Parker and Hillebrecht are seeking collaborators to help them produce additional episodes and explore concepts for video games that are connected to Fogtown.
Stories by
Kristi Turnquist
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