Big Ideas, Small Budgets: Make Family Comedy Look High Quality

When you’re producing TV shows, sketches, or films for kids and families, you learn pretty quickly: throwing money at a problem isn’t always an option. I’ve spent my career proving that a small budget doesn’t mean you can’t make something that feels big, looks great, and keeps the whole family entertained.

I love this part of the job. For me, working with a tight budget is like a puzzle. I get to ask, “How do I make this feel like a full world — with puppets, monsters, reindeer, or zombies — without spending like a blockbuster?” Not that anyone’s ever offered me a blockbuster budget, or even a modest one, if we’re being honest. Over the years, I’ve learned what to spend on, what to reuse, and how to stretch every dollar (and every joke) as far as it can go.

Here’s how I do it, with real stories from my productions, and a few tips you can steal for your own family-friendly projects.

My Golden Rule for Small Budgets

“Spend your budget where it matters most — but never waste money on something you can repaint, rework, or reuse.”

I believe in charm, clever blocking, and a story kids and parents want to watch together. The rest? Make it work with a little creativity.

Case Study: Kent Cook’s Last-Minute Sketches (and Half a Cow)

GIF of Kent Cook sketch Wreath Wreck showing half of a cow puppet backing into frame and bumping Kent Cook. — Kent Cook and the famous half-a-cow gag from Wreath Wreck — proof a missing puppet head can still get laughs.

One of my favorite recent examples is our six new Kent Cook sketches for the 2024 holiday season. Originally, I had a completely different shoot planned. Two of our main people got sick at the last minute. Instead of letting the weekend go to waste, I shifted gears overnight.

I ran to a local hobby store, grabbed whatever silly props I could find, and let those inspire new ideas. The next day, I wrote eight new Kent Cook sketches. We pre-recorded all the voiceover and shot seven sketches in one day with a crew of just five — scrappy filmmaking at its best.

The best part? I had half of a cow puppet in storage (made by my friend BJ Guyer), just the body and tail, no head. So in the episode “Wreath Wreck,” I wrote a bit where the cow backs into frame, bumps into Kent, and gets pushed out. We never see the head! It was a quick, funny gag that gave us more production value without spending a dime. My kids love this gag!

Check out how that turned out here: Kent Cook Returns for the 2024 I Spot Santa Christmas Season

Case Study: Chip & Bernie’s Zomance — A Family of Zombies and a Camera Crane

GIF from Chip & Bernie’s Zomance showing a camera dolly move during the zombie finale scene. — A smooth camera dolly move from Chip & Bernie’s Zomance — proving you don’t need a big budget to feel cinematic.

When I made my first feature, Chip & Bernie’s Zomance, back in 2015, I knew the budget would be tight. If you watch the credits, you’ll notice almost everyone has the same last name. That’s because my family and my co-star’s family showed up for us. Both behind the scenes and in full zombie makeup. And all they asked for was food!

For the big zombie finale, we packed the screen with people we love. And to make it all look more cinematic, I used two pieces of gear every chance I got: a small camera crane and a dolly. Every time I wasn’t in the frame, I’d run the crane myself. My wife ran the dolly on most shots and was a pro by the end of this film! Even a small camera move can give a low-budget scene that big-budget feeling.

The film went on to win awards and was screened at various festivals. Not because we spent big, but because we spent smart, told a compelling story, and ensured the energy on set translated to the screen.

Case Study: One Set, Three Looks — Smart Reuse for Puppets

GIF of Kent Cook sketch showing Kent struggling with Christmas lights on the foam board North Pole set with carved stone texture and window. — Kent Cook wrestling with Christmas lights on the foam board North Pole set — a simple build with carved stone walls and a window that gave us multiple looks in one day.

Building sets for puppets can get expensive fast, especially when you can’t just shoot in a normal room. Everything has to be scaled for puppets, detailed for close-ups, and flexible enough to feel new every time.

That’s why I build with reuse and transport in mind. My car can only fit walls that are a maximum of 4 feet wide and 6 feet long — so every piece has to break down, store easily, and be adaptable.

Take the six new Kent Cook sketches for 2024. I didn’t have much time to build big sets, so I built two small foam board panels. Then carved them to look like stone, and painted them with texture so they’d read well on camera. I also made a North Pole door and cut a window into one wall so we could shoot different angles and get more variety from the same setup.

Reuse, But Look Original

GIF of Sam and Murphy I Spot Santa set showing Gordy the nervous pumpkin peeking through the North Pole window between decorated walls. — Gordy the nervous pumpkin peeking through the North Pole set window — just one look at how a simple wall and window can make a puppet world come alive.

For the 2024 season of I Spot Santa, I needed a separate North Pole look for the Sam and Murphy sketches too. I built two sturdy 4×6 wood walls, and my wife — who’s brilliant at these clever fixes — suggested wrapping them in Christmas wallpaper. We added a window between the panels, dressed it with cozy curtains, and placed a North Pole backdrop behind it. It looked charming and shot beautifully, especially in close-ups when Gordy the nervous pumpkin peeked through for his scene.

Behind the scenes of Pasquale Murena’s modular puppet sets reused across Kent Cook, Sam and Murphy, and a new dragon’s lair project. — A peek behind the scenes at my reusable walls in action — from Kent Cook’s newsroom to Sam and Murphy’s North Pole to a dragon’s lair coming soon.

But those same wood walls weren’t done yet. I reused them again for another project coming in 2025. This time, I stripped off the Christmas wallpaper, rewrapped the panels with stone and cave textures, and painted in extra shadows and color for depth. I added a cage filled with piles of gold and treasure to turn the whole space into a dragon’s lair. I even brought back the small carved foam stone walls I’d made for the Kent Cook shoots as exterior castle walls. If you look at the photo above you can see us filming through the foam walls and into the set. One set of wallpaper wrapped walls, one set of foam panels — three totally different looks, all fitting in the back of my car.

Case Study: Mixing Practical and Post — The Flying Cork

Another trick for working smart on a small budget is knowing when to solve a gag practically and when to use post-production. In one sketch, I needed a cork to fly around a room in a wild, cartoony way. Doing that practically would’ve taken hours. Doing the final moment in post would’ve looked stiff.

So I did both. The cork’s mid-air chaos is VFX. The final “thunk” hitting the puppet is real. Combining the two saved me time on set and gave the gag a satisfying payoff you can feel.

Case Study: The Christmas Tree That Keeps Giving

GIF of Chip and Bernie counting down to Christmas for I Spot Santa with a familiar Christmas tree reused in the background. — Chip and Bernie countdown with a Christmas tree you’ve probably seen before — proof that clever prop reuse keeps costs down without losing holiday cheer.

Props can quietly eat up your budget if you’re not careful. I reuse mine all the time, and nobody notices. Now I have some props that I have used for decades, and I love them!

For example: you’ll see the same Christmas tree in dozens of sketches. Sometimes it’s covered in candy canes, sometimes it’s strung with popcorn, sometimes it’s the background for a snowman meltdown. New lights, new ornaments, new story — same tree. Same goes for puppets: small background monsters pop up over and over with new hair, fur, or costumes.

Quick Tips for Small-Budget Family Productions

Build sets you can repaint, rewrap, and reuse.
Keep pieces small enough to store and transport easily.
Use miniatures, forced perspective, and smart blocking to make a world feel bigger.
Know when to combine practical effects with VFX.
Reuse props — the audience won’t notice if the story is fresh.
Spend your budget where it really shows: the hero prop, the big moment, the signature shot.

See It All in Action

Want to see how these tricks look on screen? Visit I Spot Santa, where you’ll find Kent Cook, Sam, and Murphy, and plenty of puppets, monsters, and most importantly, Christmas magic. All made with a small budget and a lot of imagination.

Final Thoughts

Got your own tricks for stretching a small budget? I’d love to hear them. I never stop learning from other creative problem-solvers. And if you’re looking for a family-friendly comedy writer, producer, or director who knows how to make every dollar count (without losing the fun), let’s talk about your next project.

Big Ideas, Small Budgets: How I Make Family-Friendly Comedy Look Bigger Than It Is