Megan Navarro
DRIPPING SPRINGS — In a live-action show, created by a Dripping Springs family for other families to enjoy, there is a world handcrafted by creativity and imagination, featuring a creature named Gus who goes on adventures with his trusty sidekick, Karrot, and mentor, Lucy.
The initial idea for the show, called Gus Plus Us, sparked when Nick Caster would use this character voice that he had in his head to make his sister laugh. He later met his wife, Christina, in a worship band and they would always do music together; after they got married in 2006, Nick’s mom asked for Christmas ideas and he knew he wanted a puppet to make this voice come to life.
“I found this custom puppet maker. I was like, ‘I think my character voice will match that puppet’s face and we'll call him Gus.’ I started dreaming up these short videos I was gonna make. I kept telling Christina at the time, ‘I am going to make this little kid’s show for YouTube’ and she would laugh. So, at the time, Christina was in a kids show that toured military bases, they made DVDs and it was kind of the Wiggles concept,” Nick explained. “I kept telling her about this kid’s show idea I had, and she was like, ‘Boy, you're crazy.’ Then, her kid’s show ended and I was like, ‘What do you want to do?’ She’s like, ‘I want to have kids.’”
Nick began writing the idea as the two were building their production company — Caster Studios — and he knew that the show would be even better if Christina was in it, but she was focused on having their own children. After Nick explained that they could make the show exactly how they wanted to, the extended journey toward Gus Plus Us began.
It was approximately 2013 when they filmed the first concept with the puppets in their garage in San Diego, California, with their daughter being the inspiration to get it off the ground. They wrote a Christmas song and shot the concept, but the idea was shelved until about 2015, when Christina was pregnant with their son and they knew they needed to act fast on filming a pilot.
They also shelved it again, putting it to the side because they were deciding to move to Dripping Springs, to raise their two kids — who are now 13 and 10 years old — in 2016 after visiting the area back in the '80s and '90s and feeling drawn to call it home.
“We were shooting little things here and there in our garage, dreaming up this pilot to release. We actually never released it. We kind of shelved it and were adapting to Dripping and making connections with families and friends and going to church here and getting connected. In 2018, our company decided to buy property and build a studio. Our dream was to build a studio to shoot the show,” Nick said. “Then, we built the building in 2019 and, during that time, we were producing as our company, Caster Studios, produces music videos and commercials, so we were producing country music videos here and there in [Dripping Springs] during that time with country artists and stuff, while we were trying to build the studio.”
It was in 2020 when the film industry got hit hard and the Caster’s were trying to rent their studio out, since they did not have any jobs with people from New York, Nashville and Los Angeles who would come to Texas to shoot.
The slow business paved the way for the perfect time for them to film season one of Gus Plus Us: “Let's bring the crew in who's willing and do it as safe as possible and let's shoot season one of this dream project that we've been dreaming about. So, in 2021, that's when we filmed our first season,” Nick said.
Gus Plus Us’ episodes feature original songs and allow viewers to join Gus, Karrot and Lucy — played by Christina — on an adventure that resembles a life-sized pop-up book. The idea for the show is to be simple and hand-crafted.
“The show was supposed to be built around cardboard and wood. We wanted to sort of feel like we touched every piece of it,” Nick said.
“It’s sort of like a pop-up book and really artsy and kids could go home and make some of the pieces,” Christina added.
The first season was created with handmade props, crafted by a crew of only eight people, some of whom were family members, including kids who painted the cardboard sets, and they have continued to be a part of the magic. This even includes Nick and Christina’s daughter, who wrote the first episode of the season one, along with other team members who come together to write out lessons and themed episodes.
Since the release of the first season, the show started to organically grow while they tried to get the word out there about it. They even partnered with a platform — called Bentkey — that was looking for original content for kids and the crew has now increased to 40 members.
Being able to create something that they are passionate about, while also bringing everyone in the family joy, is a big component of the show, Christina shared.
“Both of us are really drawn to that space and we also have this desire to create a show that children could watch with their families because we are passionate about just inspiring families and bringing them joy,” she explained. “When we said we wanted to create a show for kids, we wanted it to be the kind of quality that a parent would want to sit and watch with their child. I think we're both just naturally drawn to this specific age group, with the playfulness and the simplicity of it. It lends itself to our personalities, too.”
Looking to the future, season three of the show has already been filmed and is expected to be released during the summer of 2026. Additionally, season four is in development, with the team creating concepts and figuring out what adventures Gus, Karrot and Lucy are going to go on next.
Gus Plus Us is geared toward children who are between the ages of 2 and 6 years old; however, the show also has fans who are younger or older than that. There is a podcast that the characters host, where they talk about different topics and kids have the opportunity to call in, as well.
To learn more, and find out where to watch the show or listen to the podcast, visit www.gusplusus.com.
