PRESS RELEASE
Sandy Becker’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ To Be Re-Imagined using his original puppets from the lost 1961 production.
Almost 50 years after it’s original airing, and now lost to the ages (as were many early TV productions from the 1950’s and 60’s), Flexitoon – one of the premiere puppet production companies in the country – has signed up to ‘re-imagine’ the original production of Sandy Becker’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ with production costs backed by members of the crowd-funding Web site kickstarter.com.
Sandy Becker was a television announcer, actor, comedian and puppeteer who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City, the best known was The Sandy Becker Morning Show, which ran from 1955 to 1968 on Channel 5 WABD-TV and WNEW-TV. Becker believed that one of the highlights of his career was his December 23, 1961 interpretation of A CHRISTMAS CAROL, performed by his resident troupe of puppets, with GEEBA GEEBA as Scrooge. Unearthing a copy of this lost classic remains the holy grail for many fans and collectors.
“To millions of Baby Boomers who grew up in the Metro NY area, the name SANDY BECKER is magic!” said Flexitoon Partner Craig Marin. Marin, who was profoundly influenced by Becker as a child later become his protege, and friend. When Sandy Becker passed away, he bequeathed his puppets to Marin, with the mandate to "re-imagine" the ‘Sandy Becker Christmas Carol’ as a gift to "his kids." Those plans which have been on hold since Becker’s death in 1996, have been reignited with the prospect of funding by a traditionally unlikely source - his fans.
Through the urging of Sandy Becker fan Jeff Pickens, who proudly lists himself as “one of Sandy’s kids” and came up with the idea of using Kickstarter as a funding source, Marin was convinced that a modest, but sufficient of budget of $30,000 could be raised by tapping into the hearts (and wallets), of other grown up “Sandy’s kids”.
The project is now live (http://bit.ly/c3HeYf ) on Kickstarter.com and features an original Flexitoon video explaining the project with Flexitoon characters Harried Harry and Lucky Jack that’s designed to unabashedly pry pledges ranging from $10 to $500 from enthusiastic backers.
About Flexitoon
FLEXITOON is a company that for thirty years has specialized in television, film and stage, creating and performing award-wining puppets, marionettes, and programming for Nickelodeon ("Pinwheel"), PBS ("Shining Time Station"), FOX ("DJ Kat Show") and Showtime ("KIDS-TV"). Their "Talking Stain" for TIDE was voted the # 1 Funniest Office Commercial in the World, and the #3 Super Bowl commercial of all time. For more information please visit: www.flexitoon.com
Media Contact:
Craig Marin
Partner
Flexitoon
212-877-2757
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