SYNOPSIS

The official music video for “Kissin and Cussin” by Milk Made from their album Dream Cheese.

Gill and Stephanie are just two puppets in a human world who find their way to each other and foster a beautiful romance.

A music video

AVAILABLE ONLINE

The idea of Milk Made’s “Kissin and Cussin” music video was conceptualized by creative Rene Sanchez and Milk Made singer Liv Swant-Johnson. They thought it would be fun to make the band’s first music video with puppets, so they pitched the idea to Chris Shields and he got the ball rolling. Chris came up with the story and vision for the music video and gave Rene a long wishlist of puppets and props to make.

While Rene was hard at work crafting puppets, Chris and co-producer McKenna Munden drove around Missoula shooting footage of iconic local spots and sights to use as backdrops for the music video scenes. When the puppets were finished, Chris recruited a former collaborator of his, Clint Connors, to help bring them to life. This four person crew shot the music video between July and August of 2026 in front of a green screen. Chris directed the puppets through each scene, shot the video, and strategically lit the puppets in every scene to match how they would have been lit in the actual settings. They also invited the Milk Made band members to sing and play alongside their puppet counterparts until Chris had all the required footage.

In post, Chris embedded the puppets in the real life scenarios, told a silly narrative with a fun, creative twist, and made a challenging product outside of his normal wheelhouse. The video was shot and edited in a 5:3 aspect ratio and detailed with a film grain look to emulate the appearance of old Jim Henson media. Sesame Street and The Muppet Show were big inspirations for Chris and Rene. Also in post, McKenna hand drew every animation and credit featured in the video to add a little spice.

PRE PRODUCTION

The planning phase where the foundation of the film is built. This includes script development, budgeting, casting, location scouting, scheduling, building the team, etc.

PRODUCTION

Cast and crew assemble on set to bring what has been planned to life.

POST PRODUCTION

The film is assembled, refined and colored. Footage is cut, sound design and mix, music added, color corrected transforming raw footage into the final product.

FESTIVAL CIRCUIT

The film makes is submitted and screened at film festivals across the country and beyond. Festivals bring opportunity for industry recognition, awards and press coverage.

WE ARE HERE

PUBLIC RELEASE

The film is now available to a wider audience which can include streaming platforms, digital rentals and more.

Film Festivals

We are pleased to announce that Kissin and Cussin has been selected for each of the following festivals.

The Listening Room Film Festival

OFFICIAL 2026 SELECTION

The 5th Annual Listening Room Film Festival will be held the first two weekends in December (12/4, 5, 6 & 11, 12, 13) at the Henry Turner Jr.’s Listening Room in Baton Rouge, LA!

December 2026