Craig Shemin

Craig Shemin is a former Jim Henson Company staff writer and currently serves as the President of The Jim Henson Legacy. Shemin began his career with Henson as a college intern during the summer of 1987. After he graduated, he was hired in the Public Relations Department, during which time he also worked with the Jim Henson Archives. By 1996, however, he had transitioned to writing, contributing to a wide array of programming, merchandising, and appearances.In TV, Shemin served as writer and consultant (and sometimes lyricist) for the first season of The Wubbulous World of Dr Seuss and received a Writer's Guild of America Award nomination for his work on the show. For the Hallmark Channel, Craig co-wrote all 26 episodes of Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola and contributed to two seasons of Donna's Day. Shemin also co-wrote a single episode of Dog City ("Comedy of Horrors").For Jim Henson's Muppet Stories book series, Shemin wrote three short stories for The Muppet Show characters as illustrated by Richard Walz: "Let Me Help!" and "Forgetful Rowlf" from Off to Storyland, and "Hot Off the Presses" from Cozy Campfire Stories.In the multi-media realm, Shemin scripted two 1996 video games, Muppets Inside and Muppet Treasure Island, as well as MuppetWorld.com's MuppeToon series and the lyrics to the "Muppets Party Cruise Rag." In the publishing realm, he helped Miss Piggy with her 1996 cookbook, In the Kitchen with Miss Piggy, coined the title for One Frog Can Make a Difference, and contributed humorous text and character quotes to The Muppets Big Book of Crafts. He also wrote material for countless Muppet press interviews and appearances, and text for innumerable licensed products, such as the Palisades action figures.In 2001, he hosted the second day of MuppetFest, and with Jim Lewis, co-wrote The Muppet Show Live. He also scripted the concerts Jim Henson's Musical World in 2012 and The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert in 2018. Shemin has hosted numerous Henson-related screenings, panels, and events, as well as prepared video content for said events. He currently serves as a "guest curator" for the Museum of the Moving Image's "Jim Henson's World" screening series.In recent years, Shemin researched and wrote the liner notes for Music, Mayhem and More!, co-wrote the "Muppet Morsels" feature on The Muppet Show Season 1 DVD, and produced the extras on the 2005 Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas DVD, including directing and editing the behind-the-scenes featurette. He also directed a documentary on Muppet photographer John Barrett for The Muppets Say Cheese, a 2005/06 exhibition of Barrett's work at New York's Museum of Television and Radio. He also hosted a feature for the Dinosaurs DVD set. In 2014, Shemin wrote and compiled The Muppets Character Encyclopedia, a 200-page guide to The Muppets characters released by DK Publishing. Shemin later penned Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show, published in 2022. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.