Jamie Shannon is a renowned puppeteer and showrunner who has created an impressive 900 hours of broadcast children's television. His creative journey began while attending film school, where he inspired by the legendary Jim Henson, developed his own troupe of puppets, known as "the Grogs". These quirky characters soon found a home on Canadian cable channel YTV, where they performed daily as live on-air hosts for three years, culminating in a 24-hour channel takeover.
The success of "the Grogs" led Jamie to create the long-running preschool series "Nanalan", which was based on his Nana's backyard. The series aired on Nick Jr, PBS, CBC, and was sold into 30 countries around the world, garnering three nominations and winning two Gemini awards for Best Writing and Best Performance in a Preschool Series.
After the success of "Nanalan", Jamie went on to create the equally successful cult teen puppet series "Mr. Meaty" for Nickelodeon. He not only puppeteered and voiced multiple characters but also wrote and directed for the series. In addition to "Mr. Meaty", Jamie has worked for numerous networks, designing characters for the Disney series "Ooh & Aah", directing the pilot and overseeing the first series of "Big and Small" for the BBC, directing and creating characters for the entire second season of "Giver" for TVO, and creating and providing voices for several characters in YTV's animated series "Weird Years".
As an experienced director and master puppeteer, Jamie has brought to life unique characters for countless projects. He has created music videos for Sia and Kid Rock, short films such as the 2013 Sundance short film "Wakening", the Spike Jonze-produced "Higglety Pigglety Pop", and for Heather Henson's Ibex Films "The Legend of Rasputin". He has also worked on live-action series such as R.L. Stine's "Goosebumps", The Comedy Channel's "Hot Box", and the Sinking Ship's "Odd Squad" on PBS and CBBC, as well as hundreds of commercials and print campaigns.
