Wingo’s World is the result of a lifelong love of puppeteering. During the pandemic I founded a small business called Puppet Telegrams. People could order personalized greetings from Wingo (and other puppet characters) for their friends and loved ones. After that, I started experimenting with various short form comedy videos featuring the puppets. (See “My Puppet Roommates” on the instagram page). Soon after, I launched “Talk To The Hand”, which featured Wingo the Bat hosting austin musicians for one-on-one interviews and a live performance at a recording studio Bonesaw and I own and operate. (Again, see instagram page).
And then it hit me; what I really wanted to make was a scripted show featuring Wingo the Bat. The episode on this web page is a proof of concept, not an “Episode 1”. Here’s what I’m thinking for either a movie or an episodic series:
Wingo’s World
Director-Writer-Puppeteer: Hoag Kepner
Proof of Concept Episode: 10 min | Comedy · Music · Puppet | Austin-set
Festival Listing: 2025 Austin Film Festival – Juried Festival Selection - Produced Digital Series
He’s Austin’s top record producer. Ego the size of Texas. Heart of gold. Oh — and he’s a bat puppet.
The Fairy-Tale Anatomy of Wingo’s World
Wingo’s World uses the absurd (a bat record producer) to get at very human ideas about ambition, identity, and authenticity. If we lay it out through the fairy tale / hero’s journey lens, it looks something like this:
1. The Ordinary World
Wingo lives beneath the Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, surrounded by the colony that raised him. It’s noisy, warm, and the familiar, comforting smell of urine and guano brings him security and a sense of belonging. His late parents’ lessons echo in his mind: “Dream big, and never let yourself be undervalued”.
2. The Call to Adventure
Every night underneath the Bat Bridge, Wingo listens to the sounds of Austin’s vibrant live music scene wafting over the river that bisects the city. At this point, he’s heard everything and his big bat ears are so finely tuned, he begins dreaming about working with these bands and artists to produce records. Then, one day, a human artist—walking home from downtown with his guitar slung over his shoulder—gives him a shot. It’s the invitation into a bigger world, and it’s intoxicating to Wingo.
3. Refusal / Fear
Word spreads that there is a bat living under the Congress Avenue Bridge who owns no equipment, but who has a “golden ear”. If you hire him to produce your recording project at whatever studio you choose, he will take you your sound to the next level. But as the stakes become higher and expectations of him get more intense, Wingo's insecurities flare up. He has imposter syndrome, and subconsciously lives defensively because he fears he will never belong. And his parents’ voices remind him that you must always stick up for yourself, especially when you’re not “one of them”.
4. Meeting the Mentor
An aging studio owner in Austin takes Wingo, well—“under his wing”. This studio guy sees something special in Wingo. When he falls ill, he tells Wingo he wants to leave his studio to him when he passes. Instead of exciting Wingo, it terrifies him. He’s been offered exactly what he’s always wanted, so why does he feel like this? The mentor teaches him to use the energy behind the feeling and convert it into something useful. Wingo must now literally "cross a bridge” and enter a new world. Out from his cave, and into the great wide open. Before he passes away, he tells Wingo to remember that it’s a two-way-street: Don’t undervalue others if you don’t want to be undervalued yourself.
5. Crossing the Threshold
He leaves the comfort of the bridge and dives headfirst into Austin’s human music scene — a jungle of egos, guitars, and parties. Here, Wingo begins to thrive. But at the same time, “The bat with the golden ear” starts to earn a reputation for being demanding and just a biiiit hard to work with. But the results of his work speak for themselves. He really is the best.
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies
He wins over quirky artists, clashes with perfectionist divas, and misreads human social cues in ways that are both disastrous and hilarious. The same impulses that make him brilliant also make him “kind of a piece of work”. [This is where the proof of concept episode of Wingo’s World places us].
7. The Approach to the Inmost Cave
A huge opportunity arrives: a superstar (from *gasp!* L.A.) wants him to produce their record. It’s everything Wingo’s dreamed of. But instead of remembering the lessons of humility and connection he learned from his mentor, he becomes obsessed with proving himself.
8. The Ordeal
He blows the opportunity. He pushes the artist too hard, and tries to make the record about him instead of them. The sessions implode. Wingo’s reputation tanks. He’s back under the bridge, alone.
9. Reward (Death and Rebirth)
A small indie artist — a gay man making his magnum opus — asks for help. No money, no fame, just music. Against all his instincts, Wingo says yes. Through this artist, he rediscovers what producing is for — helping someone find their voice.
10. The Road Back
He slowly rebuilds, learning to listen again — not just with his ears, but with his heart. These sessions become his redemption.
11. Resurrection
The final mix plays. It’s transcendent. The world may not notice, but Wingo has become the truest version of himself — not the bat who wanted to be human-famous, but the artist who knows his worth and doesn’t need constant affirmation from the outside world.
12. Return with the Elixir
He brings his wisdom back to the colony, and is himself inspired to produce an album for his original community. He records them — a “Bat Symphony” — bridging worlds at last. He’s home again, but changed.
Structurally, this arc provides a long-term spine for the series:
• Season 1: Wingo rises in the Austin scene.
• Season 2: Fame, ego, downfall.
• Season 3: Redemption through helping someone else.
It’s funny, heartfelt, and mythic all at once — like BoJack Horseman meets The Muppet Show with a touch of A Star Is Born.