The global puppetry scene has always occupied a fascinating, slightly surreal corner of pop culture. From the counter-culture subversion of The Muppets in the 77s to the modern puppet content taking over social media.
This art form has never truly been just for kids. It is a world driven by a rare breed of creators (part sculptors, part actors, and part engineers) who possess the uncanny ability to turn fabric and foam into vessels of pure human emotion.
Enter Zack Buchman, the Founder and Creative Director of Furry Puppet Studio in Brooklyn, a design studio that makes remarkably expressive custom puppets. Buchman moved to New York City at just 20 years old with nothing but an outsider’s perspective and a relentless drive.
“Actually, I never ended up going to college,” he says about his background.
“But I think that it ended up giving me this outsider perspective and an unusual outlook. Which is why our work is so different,” he continues.
Today, he stands at the helm of a big and growing design studio, crafting remarkably expressive custom puppets for everyone from tech giants like Apple to musical icons like Missy Elliott.
Driven by Expression: A Lifelong Obsession with the Face
For Buchman, making puppets isn’t a career choice. It is an inescapable calling.
“Making a decision to be a prisoner of your own soul and your own artistic drive, you cannot take a break from it. You dream about what you do,” he explains.
The passion has been growing since his childhood, when he dreamed of owning “a machine that makes toys” and spent his time sticking eyes onto random household objects just to see what kind of expressions he could create.
His design philosophy is heavily inspired by the minimalist aesthetics of early video games, like LucasArts’ retro adventure titles. He saw how designers managed to compress massive amounts of personality and energy into just a few blocky pixels.
That limitation taught him a profound lesson that shapes his work today: the power of keeping things simple to capture the raw essence of a character.
From a Starbucks Launch to a Global Client List
He launched Furry Puppet’s website fifteen years ago from a Starbucks in New York City. Since then, the studio has made puppets for dozens of TV shows, commercials, and music videos.
Their client list is wide-ranging, and includes companies like Apple and Casper, and musicians such as Missy Elliot and American Authors.
In the early days, he tried designing and making things entirely for other people, but he quickly realized he hated working under others. Yet, there was a catch: puppetry was the only thing he felt he was actually good at.
To survive, he had to make a tough, ego-free realization: “I was just not good enough on my own and I recognized it,” he admits.
He began hiring other brilliant minds to complement his weaknesses. Today, his studio is a collaborative haven featuring top-tier talent like mechanical expert Tom Newby and costume designer Polly Smith (who famously co-invented the sports bra).
By dropping the solo-artist ego, Buchman transformed a one-man hustle into a globally commissioned studio whose work now spans dozens of TV shows, commercials, and high-profile music videos.
The Pandemic Pivot to Plushies
What makes Buchman truly unique in today’s creative landscape is his ability to subvert traditional ideas of cuteness. During the pandemic, he launched a viral webcomic called Blobby and Friends, featuring an inherently miserable-looking blobfish.
Its massive popularity birthed a spin-off company named Uncute, which manufactures plushies of “uncute” animals.
Aside from being a massive hit, this venture created a brilliant, self-sustaining feedback loop for his main passion. The financial success of Uncute allowed Furry Puppet Studio to become highly selective about which commercial puppet projects they take on.
Furthermore, establishing direct manufacturing relationships with factories overseas accidentally gave his puppet studio unprecedented access to a massive, premium variety of raw materials.
By commercializing “uncute,” Buchman has unlocked another achievement in his artistis journey. It is total creative freedom.
