Have you ever had the thought, “Maybe I haven’t grown up yet?” For some, such a thought can be worrisome. However, it can be an acceptable characteristic in the minds of others: especially in the world of production.

Just ask Bill Diamond, the founder of Bill Diamond Productions, which is a creative production company where “anything you can dream or want to do for film, television, stage, or live events can be created in any type of medium possible.” And you can explore Bill’s world by clicking here.

Even the way Mr. Diamond describes his own company is happy-go-lucky and errs on the side of youthful mentality. So once again, how can the “kid” in us still remain lively as we pursue a successful career?

This is where Bill envisioned “anything you can dream of in any type of medium possible.”

When Mr. Diamond was asked how it all started, he replied, “Well, the first thing was that I never grew up, and I didn’t know what I wanted to be when I grew up because I had so many interests.” He believes that his success and happiness is rooted in his myriad passions. From puppetry, to drawing, to television, to film, to acting, to photography, to lighting, to makeup, to special effects, Mr. Diamond planned to use his skills to undertake any assignment at any given moment.

“I always wanted to create my own place so I could do something different all the time,” said Mr. Diamond. “One day I could be a makeup artist, the next day I could write a script, the next day I could direct a film, and then put all of those elements together and bring talented people to the table to create almost anything.”

But more importantly, Mr. Diamond rationalized that being familiar with so many different tasks was advantageous for becoming a cultivated director/producer/creator. Learning all of the jobs beneath the more managerial and commanding positions would give Mr. Diamond the ability to properly direct each person in their respective job function. Sure, they could be better at doing the job than Mr. Diamond, but he needed a clear understanding of what they needed to do.

“I feel that if there are directors out there and they’re not well-rounded and they don’t understand the people working for them, i.e. the director of photography, audio, lighting, and costume personnel, etc., and don’t understand how all of that works, then how can they direct them competently?” Bill questioned.

But wait. You’re telling me that Mr. Diamond isn’t ‘grown up’ even with these enlightening perspectives? Yes, somewhat.

Bill’s ability to understand the niceties of running a successful creative business doesn’t mean his youthful imagination isn’t his driving force. Just ask Gorgo, a 300-year-old gargoyle; one of Bill’s inspired puppet-characters that is manipulated and voiced by Bill.

Gorgo running the show. Literally.

“I’ve been in the business for a long time,” said Gorgo. “You may think Bill is in charge, but he really isn’t. We just put his name on the front door to make him happy so he would clean the hallway or something.”

Gorgo is one of the monsters from Bill Diamond Productions’ Monster TV Network, which is an ongoing web show. The puppet monster characters run the entire program, with Boras Frankenstein (another monster character) as the head of the network. Bill created the Monster TV Network out of his “love for monsters” and because he wanted to create an avenue for young people to have a fun way of becoming familiar with actors, makeup artists, effects specialists, and other talented individuals making a living in the entertainment industry. Each monster has their own show or segment, there’s a monster news show, and various interviews are conducted with the monsters to give the viewers a comprehensive overview of what’s going on in the monster world. It takes a lot of work to keep everyone informed about the Monster World. So how is it all managed?

As for the monsters, Gorgo explains, “Well, you just tell everybody they won’t get dinner. With the monsters, you either electrify them or say ‘Do you wanna go out for Halloween?’ or ‘You wanna see a movie later?’ It really kind of works well.”

For the artists and production staff, there’s a process of bringing an idea to fruition and maintaining its delivery. That’s where Mr. Diamond and his team let their imaginations come to life while applying their skills, most notably with the Monster TV Network.

If there’s a certain project that Bill Diamond Productions wants to undertake, Bill begins with some thumbnail drawings of what he wants to see (that’s where his love of drawing comes in). “A lot of times it starts with a character,” said Mr. Diamond. “From there we kind of work out the theme, what the world would be, how it would work, and what medium we want to see it in.”

Here’s Mr. Diamond with some of his buddies from MonsterTV.

Once the idea is mapped out with the drawings and a setting is decided on, the process gets more hands-on. Bill and his team begin creating miniatures to see what the environment will look like. In the case of Monster TV Network, the environment was made up of castles. The production team essentially works on constructing a whole new world.

“How is it lit? How is it visually told? How fun could it be? We start assembling what we want to build,” said Bill. The environment could be comprised of a variety of layouts: miniature models, a stage setting, a full-sized set, a digital world being used on a green screen, etc. Like Bill had originally said, “Anything you can dream of.”

When the artists and designers finalize the creation of the characters and the setting, it’s now time to tell the story. Character development takes place, along with the script writing and the overall structure of the story. After that is completed and all of the elements can be put together, the filming begins and the project is eventually taken into post-production where it is perfected and ready for delivery.

Ah, delivery. So now after all this work everyone can finally rest; everyone except for Bill. He believes that just because you have one job doesn’t mean you’re limited to the one task you’ve finished.

“A lot of times this is what the schools don’t teach us,” he expressed. “Do it all. Experiment with all of it. Keep reinventing yourself. Realize that anything is possible.” Mr. Diamond has had such dissenting views with school ever since his early years. At the age of 15 he auditioned for a part in the school play and was told he “couldn’t do it,” which elicited an alarming response from Mr. Diamond. “Don’t ever tell me I can’t do something,” he said. So at age 15, he went ahead and started his own production company and never looked back.