Ever since Nashville Education, Community, and Arts Television — a.k.a. NECAT Network — came under the umbrella of Nashville Public Library in 2022, studio manager Cameron McCasland has been thinking about how to broadcast library programming, particularly the beloved puppet shows of Wishing Chair Productions. So, McCasland teamed up with Bret G. Wilson and the WCP team to translate stage magic to television, producing a screen version of Goldilocks and an hour-long companion documentary chronicling the collaboration.

The project began with the beloved puppets created by Tom Tichenor, which have animated Nashville Public Library story hours for multiple generations. Inspired by Tichenor’s marionettes of Goldilocks and a trio of bears, Wilson and the WCP team designed a storyline, original music and hand-painted backdrops to tell the porridge-centric tale of a mischievous girl who intrudes on a family and learns a moral of respect along the way.

Layering in-person creativity of puppetry and stagecraft with the flexibility of technical engineering and recording, Wishing Chair and NECAT expanded the show beyond what marionettes could traditionally convey on stage. The resulting videos earned two Emmy nominations and set the stage, so to speak, for an ongoing relationship between NECAT and Wishing Chair.

“We never want to deter anyone from coming to a show,” McCasland says, adding that a live performance with an audience delivers a very different energy and experience from a recording on screen. “But it gives more access.” Goldilocks and the behind-the-scenes doc will air daily on Comcast’s NECAT channels 9 and 10 through 2026 and will remain on the YouTube channels of both NECAT and NPL indefinitely.

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Meanwhile, NECAT’s production facilities are available to Nashvillians who want to produce original content to air on the network. “We give people room to grow their own shows,” McCasland says. “It’s a unique space for free speech in America.”

Located at 120 White Bridge Rd., on the campus of Nashville State Community College, NECAT offers annual memberships of $50 to $100, along with introductory training classes and volunteer opportunities, to prepare members to create programming in the studio.

Learn more at necatnetwork.org.