For the creator of the Emmy and Annie Award-winning stop-motion preschool series whose titular character cooks up delightful, herbivorous ‘weshipees’ and bite-sized meals alongside a lineup of top celebrity guest stars and his enthusiastic robot buddy, the end of their Nickelodeon show has meant a new set of challenges… and opportunities.
When released a video in June of the famously precious green Chef receiving a call from Nickelodeon, then bursting into tears after receiving news of his show’s cancelation, Ozlem ‘Ozi’ Akturk was shocked by the fan response.
The video has garnered almost 2 million views from sympathetic viewers.“This video went viral, and it was insane,” says Akturk during a presentation at SCAD AnimationFest, an annual three-day animation celebration hosted by Atlanta’s branch of the Savannah College of Art and Design.
“The whole world picked this up.We had so many articles and interviews for this, and I think Nickelodeon hated us for that.But we didn’t want to give up.
But because of the response to this video, more brand marketing finances came in for us to produce more content for Progressive, AG1, and other things that kept our lights on.” When Akturk replayed the video for SCAD students during her presentation, there were audible, sympathetic tears from attendees. “Sorry guys,” Akturk shares.“But it’s how we felt.” Nickelodeon’s cancellation of – an Annie and Emmy Award-winning stop-motion series featuring a 6.5-inch-tall felt chef, living in a tree, who is focused on plant-based cooking, playing the banjo and watching– has been a bitter sweet experience for Akturk and her co-creator Rachel Larsen.While the Nickelodeon kids show helped bring in cash flow for the creatives and launch Chef’s already established character into the fandom stratosphere, the TV restrictions were barriers Akturk and the team were glad to be rid of. “On the creative side, getting canceled was a relief,” shares Akturk in an interview with AWN following her presentation.
“But on the financial side there was fear about what we were going to do.We did have some money left and decided to use that to pump out animations with the hope that we could later try crowdfunding and use our social media just to keep going and keep the story alive.We are talking to studios, and we are trying to be a bit more thoughtful with those talks.
We don't want to go through the same thing again.” Akturk and Larsen launched Tiny Chef Productions four years before premiered on Nickelodeon in 2022.When Akturk and Larsen began their YouTube and social media journey with in 2019, it was not intended specifically for kids.It was for everyone who liked cooking, stop-motion, and comedy. In fact, much of Akturk’s cinematography inspiration for stemmed from David Lynch’s .
It’s partly what led to creating a character that isn’t meant to resemble anything specific outside of being green and adorable and whose babble also can’t always be understood.“What I like about David Lynch is that he does what he loves to do without any restriction,” says Akturk.“And we try to do that for as well.
Not just with surrealism like David does, but with his honesty, too.” Hence the heartbreaking cancellation video.It doesn’t get much more honest than a good-hearted, tiny green chef crying into his apron on his bed. “Normally no one speaks about when they get canceled, but we just felt like we needed to put it out there,” says Akturk.“From the beginning, we wanted to do the things which bring us joy.
And, thankfully, the audience related to it as well.” has always been a passion project.While sometimes logistics and preschool TV restrictions overshadowed the fun of making during its three seasons on Nickelodeon, Akturk never forgot what she learned on , her first professional stop-motion production: “Working in stop-motion is like being part of a family,” she says.And is like Akturk and Larsen’s child.
After the cancelation, her and Larsen got back full custody of Chef. “When you do a TV show for kids, you need to comply to rules,” notes Akturk.“But on our social media, we are free spirits.When I worked on , it was amazing to see how much detail went into these sets and these miniatures.
But what was most impressive was seeing how many talented people put their hearts into it to create an amazing, beautiful movie.There was so much love put into what everyone was doing.And now, there’s no limit to the love we can put into.
We just do whatever we like to do in a way which is still friendly.But we are not restricted, which is great.That's where we flourish the most and come up with crazy ideas.
You need to let your children be free.” That even goes for animated, stop-motion puppet children. Akturk says the only restrictions she and Larsen still have are budget, time, and limited resources regarding tiny food, tiny cups, tiny utensils, and Tiny Chef himself. “The biggest challenge for was always how often we’d break stuff,” shares Akturk.“Everything is just so tiny.We broke Chef’s glasses so many times that it became a joke.
Our Chef puppet has wire arms that would also break after so much use.We have a designated puppet surgeon but still have 10 backup puppets for our social media.On the Nickelodeon show, there were 20 or 30 Chef puppets.” She adds, “Lighting was also something we struggled with and continue to struggle with.
Creating practical lights on tiny sets and getting into all the nooks without making it look like a spotlight is hard.” One of the first sets Akturk and Rachel made was in a small shed the women were using, packed to the brim with production equipment and debris from building Chef’s home.“When we started, it was just me and Rachel,” remembers Akturk.“I did camera lighting.
And Rachel was skilled at animation and set building.Bit by bit, we built a team of people who all love Chef as much as we do and are willing to put in that kind of work and play and improvise.And I think you can see it in our social media posts, how much love there is.
Everyone enjoys it.” Akturk has worked on big stop-motion sets before, from to .And Nickelodeon’s also upped the ante on their initially indie production.But though large sets have plenty of resources, Akturk likes how much more freely ideas flow on a smaller set. “We like our small studio where there is enough space for people to share ideas,” says Akturk.
“We still have scripts and direction, but the animators can put their spin on things. With their small production team, Larsen and Akturk have taken Chef around the world and landed him roles in Superbowl commercials, which was one of their goals.The team is shooting more live-action plates that put Tiny Chef out into the human world, such as his Europe trip last year and his interview with Maggie Baird.They are also experimenting with virtual production.
And the creators have even more ideas for Chef moving forward, from having him cook alongside famous chefs and, maybe, sign on to continue with another studio, if the partnership is a good fit. “We also wanted to do so many spin offs, but we are still waiting on some contractual things,” says Akturk.“We have many fun ideas, like even doing a movie.But we need funding.
So, we're trying to speak to other partners while making sure that we don’t become restricted again.” She adds, “We don’t want to put our ideas in a box again.Chef’s world is a weird world, and we’d like to explore more of it.Hopefully, we can connect with people who feel the same way we do.” Victoria Davis is a full-time, freelance journalist and part-time Otaku with an affinity for all things anime.
She's reported on numerous stories from activist news to entertainment.Find more about her work at victoriadavisdepiction.com.
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