Art
Astoria Avocado
BY ANGELA MATUA
Avo, a lonely avocado roam-ing
parts of Astoria, is look-ing
for something to fill
its pit.
That’s the premise of a three-minute
short film, “The Pits,” which uses pup-pets
to tell a story. David Bizzaro, a
New York City-based puppeteer, wrote,
edited and created the puppets for
the film.
“Puppetry is an art form that can
connect with adults and children
without feeling muted or dulled for
the younger audience,” Bizzaro said.
“‘The Pits’ was created for everyone
in the world to enjoy no matter how
young, old, or what language they
speak.”
The short film was shot live, and
Avo can be seen walking down 39th
Avenue in Astoria trying to fill its pit
with everything from a bottle cap to a
leaf. It does not include any dialogue
but uses music from Emmy Award-winning
composer Brian Aumueller
to narrate Avo’s journey.
18 MAY 2018 I LIC COURIER I www.qns.com
Photos by Allison Hayhurst
“The Pits” has been available to
screen on Vimeo since April 23.
Director Mike Hayhurst, who also
founded Evening Squire Productions
and co-produced the film, said that
the theme in “The Pits” was universal.
“The great thing about ‘The Pits’
is the universality of such a small
story,” he said. “We’ve all known
those moments in life where you
search in all the wrong places to
find fulfillment, to find what it is
you’re missing.”
The film was accepted into more
than 30 film festivals and premiered at
the New York International Children’s
Film Festival, an Oscar-qualifying
event.
Bizzaro, who also owns The Biz-zaro
Company, has built puppets for
The Jim Henson Company and cur-rently
works as a puppet wrangler on
“Sesame Street.” He has also created
music videos for The Flaming Lips
and recently received a Made in NY
fellowship, which has allowed him to
begin developing another short film,
“Sheep Cake.”
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