Resident Brings Elmo to Irvington in Award-Winning Film about Puppeteer

What makes Elmo so special that children aged 3 to adults aged 103 watch him and smile?

"Elmo represents love and goodness; people respond to that," said Corinne LaPook, producer of the award-winning documentary Being Elmo: A Puppetteer's Journey. "It's so wonderful to have something in this world that's pure good, pure innocence."

Being Elmo will make its Rivertowns debut this Friday, Jan. 6 at the Town Hall Theater at 8 p.m. But the movie has already earned critical acclaim at such festivals as: Sundance, The Nantucket Film Festival, The Aspen Film Festival and the Traverse City Film Festival—winning prestigious awards at each.

The movie has even played at Lincoln Center.

After a 10-year hiatus from the entertainment industry—LaPook took off time to raise her sons Sam and Jesse Pasternack, who also want to go into film-making—LaPook got a call from an old friend enticing her to jump back in with the film about Kevin Clash, the man behind Elmo.

LaPook first met Constance Marks, the film's creator and producer, in an eighth-grade film class. Marks' husband James Miller, Being Elmo's producer and director of photography, was a camera man for Sesame Street. Back when their daughter Sophia was little, Clash made an Elmo video for her.

"Connie [Constance] was blown away by Kevin's [Clash] kindness; she was so touched. She had a 4-hour lunch with him—which led to her wanting to make a film about him and his character, Elmo."

Puppeteers often don't get the credit they deserve. The better the puppeteer, the more he or she is in the shadows.

"But Kevin is so much more than the voice of Elmo," LaPook said. "He's the persona, the character, the movements. He really is Elmo."

Though LaPook didn't personally know Clash before getting involved with the project four years ago—Marks and Miller have been working on it for seven years—she's always been a Muppets fan and has had huge respect for Jim Henson.

"We wanted to shine light on the puppeteers; they really create the magic," LaPook said.

Before moving to Irvington, LaPook worked for CBS, MTV, and was the director of the American Film Institute New York office.

"I think working for MTV was the most exciting," she said. "We were forging new ground on a new medium. It was an exciting time."

So after MTV, what was so alluring about Elmo?

"This was an amazing opportunity to tell Kevin's story," LaPook said. "It's about pursuing a dream and making it come to life. Kevin was actually really good at sports, but what he really wanted to do was sew and make puppets."

With bullying in schools such a hot topic, LaPook thought this documentary was an engaging way to address the issue of teaching kids not to be dissuaded from their dreams—even if they're off the beaten track.

Another Irvington connection to the movie is that resident Ellen Lewis-Gideon is the Vice President of Corporate Communications for Sesame Workshop.

"Ellen gave us terrific access to Kevin and Sesame Workshop," LaPook said. Lewis-Gideon will also be at the Town Hall Theater Friday for the film's debut here.

Following the screening at 8, there will be a Q&A with LaPook, Constance Marks, and Tau Bennett, a 12-year-old aspiring puppeteer being mentored by Clash.

Tickets to the film cost $8 and can be purchased here. It is recommended for adults and children ages 8 and up.

Also, this screening is in conjunction with an Irvington business initiative called "Paint the Town Red." Learn more about that

Print out your "Fuzzy Red Coupon" for the event here.