Read Make Art Make Money: Lessons From Jim Henson on Fueling Your Creative Career for Free Online

had taken the show and taken this set of
people and said you guys are gonna do this, and I’ve always been really
grateful for it.” [62] Not everyone wants to be an artist, and that’s okay. It’s not an easy
lifestyle.
    SIDEBAR
ON FREELANCERS
    One of the drawbacks to working as an artist is the
unpredictability of the freelance lifestyle. In the early days, Henson hired
Don Sahlin and Jerry Juhl on salary. But as he built up his repertory company
of puppeteers, many of them worked freelance, as members of a union, the American
Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
    Karen Prell:
    Except for when I started out on Sesame Street ,
I was always a freelance performer, so I wasn’t constantly on staff or
anything. [63]
    Steve Whitmire:
    We’re freelancers [with Disney], we’re still
freelancers, just as we were with Henson. And that’s nice. [64]
    With freelance jobs, work is done on a per-project basis.
There is a start and end date. Because of the union, there were acceptable
rates of pay set, and sometimes residuals. One reason Whitmire said “That’s
nice” is likely because trusted performers like him can negotiate their pay at
the start of a project and choose to sign on or not. Freelancers tend to have
more freedom in their lives, but the downside of flexibility is what it lacks—stability.
    Jerry Nelson was hired to take over Rowlf the
Dog’s right hand when Frank Oz went to Europe. It was a great opportunity, but
when Oz came back, Nelson was out of a job. Nelson told an interviewer:
    Well, Frank came back in ’66, and up till ’66 we did
a lot of work, and then it kinda tailed off, and Jim said, ‘Well, I don’t have
enough work for all of us, and you’re the last one to have joined, so I’m going
to have to let you go.’ [65]
    Freelancing has its ups and downs. Terry Angus,
a puppeteer for Fraggle Rock , didn’t go to Henson’s funeral because when
the show ended, “I was very much unemployed, had been for quite a while, and
didn’t have much money.” [66] On the other hand, Caroll Spinney could eventually renegotiate his contract up
to what it is today—reportedly $314,000 a year, [67] in part because of the nature of freelancing.
    Jerry Nelson appreciated the freelance system
when he wanted to take time off from The Muppet Show to spend more time
with his daughter. She would later pass away in 1982 from cystic fibrosis.
Nelson explained:
    I went to Jim and I said, “You know … I want to
go on, I want to work on the show, but I really think I have to spend this time
with Christine.” And he said, “All right.” As a consequence, I had to give up
characters like Statler, whom I had done in Sex and Violence and one
other show … [68]
    Nelson was able to have freedom when he needed it. But he
had to give up something. He sacrificed a character and the money he would have
earned. Some people can sacrifice money for time. Others can’t. Hiring people
freelance is not an easy thing to do because you have to let go of them. We
know that Henson hated to lose people. Joan Ganz Cooney said:
    He could never fire anybody, couldn’t accept any plan
for downsizing that was drawn up by one of his advisers. Jim feared he couldn’t
face people afterwards, so he just kept them on. [69]
    Perhaps freelance hires were, in a way, easier on Henson, a
way to let someone go without firing them. Still, as jubilant as the journal is
when it says “Jerry joins us,” Henson is equally sad to see people go:
    2/–/1965 Carroll and Muppets parted
    1/1/1968 Jerry Juhl leaves us
    10/–/1976 Bonnie leaves us
    Parting is clearly sweet sorrow to Henson in what
might be to another boss mere personnel change. But though freelancing makes
this situation habitual, it also makes it easy for people to return. Henson
used an exclamation mark to note:
    11/1/1981 Diana B. rejoins HA!
    Collaborations formed with freelancers—while not
constant—can be enduring. Many of Henson’s freelancers returned to him over