Meet Sam
THE GUY BEHIND THE BOOPOS.
Sam Carter is an Atlanta puppet builder, fabricator, film artist and the founder and creator of Boopos Blanks.
For more than 20 years, Sam has made a career out of figuring out how to turn strange ideas into real things—from puppets and props to practical effects, film sets and large-scale installations.
Boopos takes that professional building experience and puts the beginning of a character in your hands.
About Sam Carter
20+ YEARS
Professional making & fabrication
ATLANTA FILM ARTIST
Film & television production
PUPPET BUILDER
Professional design & fabrication
CREATOR OF BOOPOS
Built for other makers to make their own
For more than two decades, Sam has built a career as an artistic jack-of-all-trades in Atlanta's film and creative communities, working across practical special effects, fabrication, props, puppetry and set decoration.
His film and television work has taken him behind the scenes of major productions, contributing to the teams responsible for creating the physical worlds, objects and effects audiences ultimately see on screen.
That career has required the same skills that eventually led to Boopos: figuring out how something should work, building it with your hands, solving problems when it doesn't, and making the finished thing feel alive.
BEFORE BOOPOS, THERE WERE A LOT OF WEIRD THINGS TO BUILD.
Stranger Things
As a special effects technician on Netflix’s Stranger Things, Sam Carter helped physically build the eerie world of the Upside Down, fabricating practical effects and miles of the organic tentacles and vines that transformed sets into the show’s otherworldly environment.
Black Panther
Sam joined Marvel’s Black Panther as a fabricator, designing and building sci-fi set pieces for Shuri’s laboratory—including the hero piece he called “The Molecule Lamp.”
His work helped bring the futuristic world of Wakanda to life through practical, handcrafted details built for the screen.
SweetWater Brewing Company
SweetWater Brewing Company commissioned Sam to design and build a large-scale puppet inspired by its iconic Billy Bass fish for live brand activations, festivals, and special events.
Squidbillies
Adult Swim commissioned Sam, Russ Vick, and Chris Brown to create a 15-foot statue of Early Cuyler for the final season of Squidbillies. The team designed, engineered, carved, coated, painted, and installed the massive character sculpture in Ellijay, Georgia.
Doctor Sleep
For Doctor Sleep, Sam helped recreate the haunting world of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining. He was particularly proud of his fabrication work for the iconic bathtub scene in Room 237, helping bring one of horror cinema’s most recognizable spaces back to life through practical craftsmanship.
Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell
As Prop Master for Adult Swim’s Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell, Sam Carter helped bring the show’s wonderfully bizarre world to life through props, fabrication, and practical problem-solving. The series gave Sam another opportunity to combine his film-production experience with what he does best—building unusual things that help tell a story on screen.
The House with a Clock in Its Walls
Sam designed, built, and puppeteered “Banjo Man,” a custom automaton for Eli Roth’s The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Roth called the character “pure nightmare fuel” and ultimately gave Banjo Man a hero death scene in the film.
Nature Calls
Sam was selected by Heather Henson for her Handmade Puppet Dreams series. He wrote, produced, designed, and helped fabricate Nature Calls, an original short combining rod puppetry and animation in a madcap comedic adventure.
Rupert the Dragon Wagon
Sam created Ruppert the Dragon Wagon in collaboration with Muelworx, Roswell Cultural Arts, and Fulton County Arts & Culture. The massive, fire-breathing mobile dragon pushed Sam into large-scale puppetry, combining complex fabrication and operation to create an unforgettable experience for kids.
Where We Wander
Sam partnered with the Roswell Arts Fund and the City of Roswell to create Where We Wander, his largest public art installation to date. Installed at Leita Thompson Memorial Park and the Big Creek Greenway in Roswell, Georgia, the interactive experience combined handmade puppet characters, games, and educational signage to inspire kids to explore the outdoors.
Audi Atlanta
Audi Atlanta commissioned Sam to design and build Something Wicked This Way Comes for the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Scarecrows in the Garden. Inspired by hot-rod artist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Sam’s custom character took first place in the competition.
The Very Airy Library
Brothers Young Productions commissioned Sam to design and fabricate Philo, the show’s only hand-puppet character, for the children’s literacy series The Very Airy Library. Sam developed Philo from original concept art into the colorful, squirrel-like character seen on screen—a playful guardian who helps protect and repair the magical world of the Eternal Library.
Banned in Boise
For the independent film Banned in Boise, Sam designed and built a stunt-safe chainsaw for on-screen action. Made to look convincing on camera while allowing performers to work safely, the prop is a great example of Sam’s practical-effects approach—build it for the story, make it look real, and make it work on set.
Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters
Sam served as prop master on Bobcat Goldthwait’s Misfits & Monsters, creating memorable specialty props—including stunt-safe gardening shears used by Seth Green for a particularly gruesome tongue-cutting scene.
IF YOU CAN DREAM IT, SAM HAS PROBABLY TRIED TO BUILD IT.Sam's professional fabrication work lives under Muelworx, his Atlanta-based creative fabrication business.
Through Muelworx, Sam works across puppets, props, set pieces, character design, public art, brand installations and one-of-a-kind fabrication projects for film, television, agencies, events and other creative clients.
THEN CAME BOO + POSE
The name Boopos comes from Sam’s two favorite makers: his children.
“Boo” and “Pose” are Sam's nicknames for them—and eventually those names found their way onto an idea he'd been developing as a professional puppet builder.
Building a puppet completely from scratch can mean solving a lot of structural and mechanical problems before you ever get to the fun part: figuring out who the character is.
Sam wanted to create a better starting point.
So he developed a series of professionally designed blank puppet forms that give makers a working foundation while leaving the character completely open.
Squash. Stretch. Betty. Buddy. Snoot.
They're intentionally blank.
Because Sam isn't supposed to decide who your puppet becomes.
You are.
“I want to give people the tools to take the character that's in their head and turn it into something they can actually hold in their hands.”
Sam Carter, Founder, Boopos Blank PuppetsPROFESSIONAL CRAFTSMANSHIP.
YOUR CHARACTER.
Boopos are designed by someone who actually builds puppets.
Sam brings years of professional fabrication, puppet building and practical problem-solving to the blank itself—then deliberately stops before deciding what the character should be.
That's your part.
PROFESSIONALLY DESIGNED
Created from Sam's professional puppet-building and fabrication experience.
BUILT TO BE CUSTOMIZED
Start with a blank and add the materials, features, personality and character you imagine.
NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED
You don't have to be a professional puppet builder to start making something you're proud of.
MADE BY A MAKER.
*
MADE BY A MAKER. *
From fabricating puppets, props, and set pieces to writing, producing and directing projects of his own, Sam is always looking to add new skill sets and take on new and challenging projects.
LEARN FROM SAM.Twenty years of building things produces a few tricks.
In Tales from the Puppet Shop, Sam shares puppet-building techniques, lessons from the shop, creative problem-solving and the occasional thing he learned by doing it wrong first.
WANT TO BUILD WITH SAM?
BUILD A BOOPO
Start with Squash, Stretch, Betty, Buddy, Snoot—or Head Only—and make the character yours.
CUSTOM BUILD
Have an idea that doesn't fit one of the existing Boopos? Sam reviews a limited number of custom blank puppet requests.
BUILD WITH SAM
Join Sam at a hands-on puppet-building workshop or bring a Boopos workshop to your organization or team.
WHAT MAKERS SAY.
“Saw your post on Instagram and it triggered something in me and I had to get it. Always loved puppetry but never had the courage or support to pursue it. I am 50, forcibly retired too young and it’s now or never. I chose now! Thank you for making this thing.”
SAM BUILT THE BLANK.
YOU BUILD THE CHARACTER.
Betty, a Boopos Blank puppet made with a smaller jaw for creative customization. Start with a professionally made blank and design, decorate and transform it into your own original puppet character.
Boopos Blanks are professionally made blank puppets that customers customize into their own characters.
Professionally designed puppet blank • Working jaw • Made in Georgia
Buddy, a Boopos Blank puppet built to become whatever you imagine. Customize this professionally made blank to create your own unique puppet character.
Boopos Blanks are professionally made blank puppets that customers customize into their own characters.
Professionally designed puppet blank • Working jaw • Made in Georgia
Snoot is a professionally designed Boopos Blank that's an especially fun starting point for animals, creatures and characters that need a little more face.
Boopos Blanks are professionally made blank puppets that customers customize into their own characters.
Professionally designed puppet blank • Working jaw • Made in Georgia