May 25, 2012

Read on Dear Readers and You Will See…The Cat in the Hat Knows How to Get From Book to TV

First off, you can’t beat an event that comes with SWAG and Cat in the Hat swag to boot!  So thanks in advance for the nifty activity books.  I thought about doing this post all in rhyme.  Then I thought about my sanity.  But see if you can spot the random rhyming throughout!

WiCM’s first TV 360 event of the year was with the creators of PBS hit The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That.  We sat down with Kate Klimo, VP, Director Creative Development at Random House Children’s Entertainment; Kerry Milliron, Random House Children’s Brand Management; Alice Jonaitis, Sr. Editor Books for Young Readers and Lynn Kestin Sessler Sr. Producer of New Media Marketing to find out how a classic children’s book becomes an educational television show.

To get this series started we have to go way back to when the world was graced with the wonderfully talented Ted Geisel aka Dr. Seuss.  The doctor was always interested in making movies and TV shows.  He approached NASA (yes – THE NASA) about writing rhyming non-fiction that would help kids be more science literate.  Though the doctor passed away in 1991 before the books came to fruition Random House launched the series in 1998 helmed by writer Tish Rabe.  Children’s television goddess Linda Simensky approached Random House about doing a Dr. Seuss show for PBS.  Awesome!  Magic.  Done.  Right?  Nope.

Like Schwarzenegger but less threatening

The Dr. Seuss estate had to give the a-okay before a series could be created.  The good news is they said all right and it would only cost a cool mil.  The bad news is they were not willing to grant any merchandising rights. For those of you who produce shows for a living you know that in our world of low budgets and penny-pinching merchandising is key to getting a property off the ground.  It seems that the estate was very upset with how Universal dealt with the Cat in the Hat and Grinch live action movies so they decided to pull the plug on further merchandising.

Now that’s a big plug to pull

What on earth what on earth would they do?

Before it was started the project was through!

Then Random House acted and without fuss or derision

They started a children’s entertainment division!

Now what rhymes with purple again?

That’s right, Random House decided to fund the show in the hopes that they could defray some of the cost with book sales.  They wound up with a co-pro with iTV and Treehouse TV in Canada.  There were certain advantages to having a show based on an already beloved property.  Like, since they already had the books they were able to market the show upfront, 6 months before the official launch.  And it worked!  Book sales doubled when the show launched.  On the web side, they were able to do a rework of seussville.com a month before the show launched and then with the show came the official PBS site (which was a KidScreen award finalist by the way, not too shabby).  And now TCITHKALAT (sounds like a demon on Supernatural, doesn’t it?) is a big hit and the Random House Children’s Division is pitching many more new shows!

Random Aside*:  In sharing materials with us we saw a glimpse of a marketing doc that called the show highly animated.  Was anyone else there thinking this:

Lt. Kaffee: Would you say the show was animated?

                                                    Col. Jessep:  Yes.

Lt. Kaffee:  Highly animated?

                    Col. Jessep:  Is there any other kind?

No?  That’s what I thought.

Main takeaway:  Where there’s a will there’s a way.  All challenges lead to new opportunities. If not for the trials and tribulations of getting the Cat to the small screen, Random House might never have started their entertainment division.

The team believed in the show

and that was the thing they most needed to know.

It’s a joke! I kid.

Personal takeaway:  The show could only get off the ground financially by doing the ever-popular Canadian co-pro.  Dear United States:  How about some tax incentives for your animated programs?  Kids are people, too.

And bring back this show while you’re at it. Remember this? Anyone?

Inappropriate takeaway:   Did you know termites use spit and dirt to build their houses?  Three-bedroom apartment here I come!

Close Enough

*Random Aside is not affiliated with Random House or any of its employers or production partners and is the sole invention of Melinda LaRose’s addled brain.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

May 11, 2012

Saving the World with Erica Branch-Ridley

For the second writers workshop of the new year we sat down with Erica Branch-Ridley, the Assistant Vice President for Platform Innovations at Sesame Workshop.  Sound fancy?  Is fancy.  Erica got her start as a musical theatre major. She worked on 48 Hours (the news show not the Murphy/Nolte powerhouse movie) as Dan Rather’s assistant, worked on a kids show with Maya Angelou at BET and even found time to teach preschool!

Freeze, Rather!

She went back to school herself and took some multimedia classes and eventually wound up at Nick Jr. online where she worked on the notion of convergence, how to make the things online jive with the TV portion.  Erica started writing promos encouraging kids to go online.  This was at a time when networks were afraid that if you drove your viewers online they wouldn’t come back and watch the shows on TV.  Needless to say, the online folks still like some good quality TV time (I know I do).  From Nick Jr. Erica went to TV Land to start a broadband channel and then she found her home at Sesame Workshop.

And that’s how you get to the street

A typical day for Erica includes studying shows and scripts and working with vendors to come up with games and new levels of interactivity.  Her goal is to have the online compliment the on-air and deepen the storytelling for the kids.  Cue the Transmedium!

Meh-heh-heh

Erica then walked us through one of the coolest things I’ve seen online (and I’ve even seen that Honeybadger video):  the Electric Company’s Prankster Planet.

Don’t get me wrong. I want you to read the blog. I really do. But people, seriously, stop reading and go to ww.pbskids.org/electriccompany/pranksterplanet/

They need your help to stop the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life (and as you know I’m a regular laugh riot).  Wait for it.  It’s coming.  They need your help to stop the Word Suckinupanator!  Let me re-write that with hyphens:  The suck-in-up-an-ator.  It’s a problem.  Huge problem. It’s stealing all the words from the planet Earth!  Awesome.

Prankster Planet is a two-minute animation seen at the end of episodes of the Electric Company.  At the end of the animation there is always a cliffhanger and a call to go online and save the day!  The plot of Prankster Planet ping pongs back and forth between on-air and online.  Online you make an avatar of yourself then go through training, learning how to move on the planet’s surface.  You can even watch the 2-minute mission clip again and then it’s off to save the day!  So what happened to Erica and our heroes at the Electric Company when Prankster Planet went up?  Will they succeed in bridging the gap between on-air and online? Tune in next time…

…Pretend it’s next time.  TV ratings went up, online traffic went up.  Prankster Planet was good all around!  In fact, Erica and the team just got a grant to do eight more levels!  So look for more Prankster Planet on a TV and PC near you!

Main takeaway:  On-air folks need not worry that online is going to be the death of television.  A good website enhances the storytelling that’s seen on TV and lets kids go even deeper into the world that they love.  Good storytelling is good storytelling no matter the medium.

Don’t do it television! There’s so much to live for!

Personal takeaway:  “Production is production.”  It’s easy to get freaked out by all these technological innovations (especially considering I can barely post a picture on this WordPress site) but it all comes down to a great, engaging idea.  The technology is there to serve the wonderful creative, creativeness that is in our heads.

Inappropriate takeaway:   Word Suckinupinator has sent me into a Beavis and Butt-head-esq fit of giggling.  You can make the girl grow up but you can’t turn her into a grown-up.  Thank goodness.

Hee hee! Suckinupanator!  Hee hee!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , , ,
April 27, 2012

I Spend an Evening with my BFF Nancy Kanter

Okay, okay, Nancy Kanter isn’t really my new BFF (I wish!) but she was awesome enough to sit down and share her life story with us at the first ever WiCM Red Chair Series.

And yes, there was indeed a red chair.  Two, in fact.

Amy Friedman moderated as Nancy Kanter, Vice President of Disney Junior Worldwide shared the story of her storied career and gave us a sneak peek of the launch of the new 24 hour Disney Junior channel.

What? Did you think I was making this up?

From any early age, Nancy knew she didn’t want a conventional life.  Her dad was a director on Your Show of Shows and worked in advertising and her mom owned a preschool so the makings of a master of kids’ TV was in the works from the start.  But Nancy had other lofty plans:  she wanted to be a translator at the UN.  That is, until she heard that there is a high suicide rate among folks with that profession.  Yikes.

So she decided to go into TV and film.  She started out as an editing intern and worked with D.D. Allen and as an apprentice editor on Dog Day Afternoon.  She continued working as a film editor and then realized she wanted more creative control.

And that's one to grow on

She produced “Stood Up” an ABC afterschool special (Remember those?), met Arlene Sherman and starting doing shorts for Sesame Street.  When her husband had to move to LA for his work she started at Disney.  At the time the network was struggling with preschool, they had done Bear in the Big Blue House and Rolie Polie Olie but there was no testing with kids and certainly not the extensive preschool presence Disney has today.

Which brings us to the present and the launch of Disney Junior.  They needed to find a way to differentiate Disney Junior from PBS or Nick Jr. and what they really thought about is that Disney already means so much to people.  Disney has been touching people’s hearts through their movies, characters, theme parks, etc. for years and Disney Junior’s shows had to have the same amount of heart. When they did focus group testing and asked kids who Mickey was they found that most kids simply answered “my friend.”

Not you, Hall of Presidents

See? Everyone Loves Disney World!

We then got a sneak peek of a wonderful new lineup that includes some familiar faces from Disney TV and movies (Mickey and the gang, Peter Pan, princesses) as well as new friends.  I don’t want to give anything away, you’re just going to have to tune in to see.

All in all, there is just too much information to report.  The Red Chair Series is one of my favorite WiCM events ever, it was so nice getting to know a bit about Nancy, not just her resume but about her as a person and the path she’s taken to get where she is.  At the conclusion of the event, we retired to the bar next door for drinks and were encouraged to introduce ourselves to Nancy. That really blew me away, that Nancy would take the time to talk with us so openly and honestly and say hello to each one of us personally.

And finally, the question you most wanted to know.  What Disney character does Nancy think she is?  Daisy Duck.  She has good shoes and is a bit of a diva.  See?  I am her BBF.  That’s so something only a BFF would know.

Main Takeaway: There are so many roads to take in life and everything teaches us a lesson and helps us get to where we belong.

I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque

Personal Takeaway: Everyone makes mistakes, you just have to get through them.  Nancy told a wonderful story about when she was taking a rough cut of Dog Day Afternoon to Paramount to be screened by the execs and Al Pacino and a bus ran over the film.  Luckily, the film itself wasn’t damaged. But really, yikes.

What the what?

Inappropriate Takeaway:  Amy told us that she’s taken her red chairs with her throughout her career.  I gotta steal me some office furniture.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , ,
April 13, 2012

I-View, You-View, We all Love to Co-View

For this event, the lovely folks at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center invited us in for some insight into their report The New Co-Viewing:  designing for learning through joint media engagement. Our panelists included producer Heather Tilert, Assistant VP of Platform Innovations at Sesame Workshop Erica Branch-Ridley, Director of the Center of Children and Technology Shelley Pasnick, Director of Education and Research at Sesame Workshop Mindy Brooks and Dr. Lori Takeuchi Director of Research at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center.  The whole shebang was moderated by madam president herself, Sarah Wallendjack.

Before we get into the new co-viewing, what the heck was the old co-viewing you ask?  Well, it’s pretty much what it sounds like.  Older research says that kids who watch TV with parents learn more when they watch together than they do on their own.  Same with radio and books.  The new co-viewing has been expanded to include video games and other joint media engagement, people interacting together with media including both playing and creating media together.  Who knew that when my high school friends and I spent our weekends making up and shooting TV shows including “Deena the Chick Who Thinks She’s a Pirate” that we were participating in joint media engagement?

Yarr! I be creative.

But I digress. My point is (that’s right, I had a point) since my tendency is toward rambling it may be best to check out the report at:  www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/reports/  Ta-da!  There is so much rich information in the report that we’d be here all day if I tried to sum it all up so go check it out for yourselves.  Well, maybe not right now, finish reading my awesome blog entry first but then right after check it out.

After an overview of the report, the panelists were asked to introduce themselves and talk about how co-viewing impacts what they do and how they approach their shows.  Sarah admitted that for the shows they make at Out of the Blue, the main focus is the kids. Of course one hopes that parents watch with their kids but since there is no control over whether or not the show is co-viewed, the shows have to stand alone, assuming that parents aren’t in the room.  Heather mentioned that she always tries to make sure the shows are funny and have appealing music that parents would enjoy.  It’s important to have something in there for the parents without leaving the kids behind, of course.  Erica and Mindy spoke about a new intergenerational game they developed for the Electric Company called the electric racer game.  The game is designed for two players and helps kids improve their reading skills. http://www.pbs.org/parents/electriccompany/electric-racer.html#

If Only I Had a Co-Viewing Partner!

Darn it!  I have been trying to play this game with my alter ego Miranda but apparently you really do need two players to play.  Stupid imaginary friend and her stupid lack of driving skills (grumble grumble).  Anyway, grab a person with a pulse and try it out!  One player drives the car into words and the other play unscrambles the words that get unlocked.  Unscrambling the words makes the car drive even faster!  The game does a great job of making sure that parent and child are both busy so it’s not just a case of the parent telling the child what to do or the parent supervising the child as he/she plays.  It truly is cooperative and as soon as I make some friends, I’m totally trying it out.

So what advice did our illustrious panel have for people who want to reach a co-viewing audience?

Research, research, research.  Test things out with focus groups.  Think about the nature of the platform you’re using and how you can pull in another person on a small screen.  The electric racer game works well because one player uses the keyboard and the other uses the mouse.  You could even do it on a laptop!  Erica mentioned that when she talked to kids, she was surprised to learn how social seemingly antisocial media is.  Kids don’t just want to watch a show, they want to play the show, too.  Dear friends:  When we watch a movie together and halfway through I predict the ending, I’m not being a jerk.  I’m trying to engage you in a JME (joint media experience).  You’re welcome.

Main takeaway:  When designing games or shows to be co-viewed you still have to make sure your property is kid-driven, has multiple planes of engagement (you could talk about and play the show afterward or the app or the game, etc. – uh oh do I hear the Transmedium lurking around again?) and make sure your media is properly scaffolded to be entertaining to everyone who is watching/playing/creating.

Isn't Co-Viewing Swell, Kids?

Personal takeaway:  Engaging in media, even watching TV, is not a passive pastime.  It all depends on what you bring to the table and how you engage with the media itself and the people around you.  (Dr. Who role playing game, here I come!)

Allons-y!

Inappropriate takeaway:  Never mind this writing nonsense, what I really need is to play more video games.

Just imagine that's a girl and there I am. Destroying the Covenant.

Now you are free to go read the report.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , ,
March 10, 2012

Writing Workshop: Elly Kramer Gives Us The Peeps

Our second event of the new year was a writing workshop starring the wonderful and talented Elly Kramer, Director of Production and Development at Nickelodeon Preschool.  Elly shared with us the ins and outs of her responsibilities at Nick Jr. AND the ins and outs of the pitch process.

Not that kind of pitching! Go Sox!

Getting to Know All About the Person Who Holds the Fate of Your Beloved TV Show in Her Hands:  Elly got her Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology and started her career at Nick as a research coordinator on Dora and Blue’s Clues.  She’s been there ever since.  She shoots, she scores the perfect job on the first try! (What is it with all these sports references?)  Nowadays, a lot of Elly’s job consists of liaising (At first I thought I invented this word but no, it’s a word!) between a series’ production team and everyone else at Nick Jr. (licensing, casting, etc.).  Elly’s a true Jill-of-all-trades as she gives input on casting decisions, scripts and basically helps show creators nurture their babies and bring them to life on screen.

This Image Came Up When I Googled "Liaising." Works for me!

Now What You’ve All Been Waiting for:  Another part of Elly’s job is taking pitches from show creators.  I gotta say, having met Elly a bunch of times there is no one you would rather pitch your show to.  Elly exudes a sense of warmth and openness and one gets the impression that she really wants to help you make your idea better.  Don’t get me wrong, that doesn’t mean your show will be picked up but you and your ideas will be treated respectfully.  Sometimes Nick will put together a creative assignment and let creators and other folks on what Elly calls their “Good peeps list” know what they’re interested in for their next slate of development.

Mmmm - Thems good peeps!

The network will solicit mini-bibles, 10 pages or less that include the show overview, character description, episode ideas and curricular focus.  Out of the big batch of submissions they’ll pick the shows they like and ask for 11:00 pilots.  Then they pick out of those pilots and select a few they’d like to produce.  The list of potential shows gets narrower and narrower until you are left with the series that will go to air.

Not a good peep yet?

No worries, Nick also has an open pitch submission policy which means they are always open to hearing new ideas!  “There’s never a bad time for a good idea,” Elly told us, attributing the quote to her colleague Teri Weiss.  In fact, Nick couldn’t make it any easier to pitch your show, there’s a website www.nickpitches.com that will walk you through the submission process.    Generally, the network works 3 years out so shows are in development now that won’t hit the air until 2015.

Bad Peeps

 Some common questions asked about pitching/submitting ideas:

Do you need to have a creative team behind you?

Having already established writers, curriculum folks, etc. can certainly help you get in the door but you don’t necessarily need a team behind you. Again, it all comes back to that one good idea.

Do you have to have a digital strategy or talk about transmedia (whatever that is) in your show bible?

Nope. You can talk about how you think your property would work across platforms but it’s not necessary.

"And I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those kids and their meddling mutt!"

Is everything animation nowadays?

While most of the content being made is animation, Nick will hear pitches for live action shows though it’s a bit harder to get a live action show made these days.

My take on the event?  Well, Elly has a pretty wonderful job.  At its core, she’s helping people make their ideas better.  Who wouldn’t want to do that?

Main Takeaway:  There is no bad time for a good idea.  Create and pitch the show you love because it’s going to take a long time, a lot of collaboration and a ton of love to get that puppy off the ground.  Be open to change while still being true to yourself.

That puppy is off the ground!

Personal Takeaway:  Don’t be afraid of development executives, pitching or putting your show or yourself out there.  If an idea doesn’t get out into the sunlight, it’s not going to grow.

Inappropriate Takeaway:  Collaboration makes for better ideas, better ideas make better shows and maybe, just maybe, better shows make better kids and better kids will make better adults that will take better care of me when dementia kicks in.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Tags: , , , ,
March 7, 2012

Word’s the Word (Really that was the best first title I could think of?)

That’s right, it’s me, Melinda – I have arrived.  Now I might not be as witty as Lucas or as tall as Lucas or as manly as Lucas but I’m here gosh darnit and possession is 9/10s of the law (Take that, Lucas! Lawyered!)  and now (Darth Vader voice)  this blog belongs to me.

The dark side has lawyered you, young Skywalker

Our first event of this joyous new year of Melinda blogging and, perhaps not un-coincidentally, the year the world is supposed to come to an end began with “Girl Power!  With Danielle Gillis and Lynn Kestin Sessler.”  In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit upfront that I want to be Word Girl.  I’m already married to a guy we affectionately call Grammar Man…

This book is actually in my apartment

…and Word Girl embodies everything that I want to be.  She’s intelligent, she has super powers, she has a monkey sidekick named Captain Huggy Face and she has met Weird Al Yankovic.

Weird Al Yankovic - Rock God

Danielle walked us through the origin of Word Girl.  The series was created by Dorothea Gillim at WGBH Boston in 2001 for kids age 4-9.  It hit the airwaves in 2006 as shorts and finally in 2007 it took on its current 11:00 format.  Each episode features two target vocabulary words and the writers make sure the words are used in every single scene.  As for the origins of World Girl herself, well she’s from the planet Lexicon of course!  She crash landed on earth where she must maintain her secret identity, fight bad guys and get her homework done just like everyone else.

In a business where there is an acknowledged lack of positive female role models, how does Word Girl do it?  Well for one thing she is a well-rounded character.  The creators made sure Word Girl didn’t fall into any stereotypical girl character traps.  She’s smart without being bossy, whiny or annoying.  She’s just as comfortable beating up bad guys as she is playing Pretty Princess (her favorite show within a show) and she fights the most hilarious cast of villains this side of “Real Housewives of New Jersey” including my personal fav – Lady Redundant Woman.  My fav – Lady Redundant Woman.  (see what I did there?)

You can check out the regular cast of baddies on the Word Girl website (www.pbskids.org/wordgirl) which conveniently brings me to Lynn’s part of the presentation.

Play the Pretty Princess Game - If you Dare!

Lynn gave us some insight into the web presence of the show.  The site was launched in 2005, one year before the show launched and it had some of the first video game style educational interactive games.  Full disclosure:  I have been playing games on the website for about an hour now.  That’s right, I rescued Pretty Princess and I learned vocabulary: effervescent, serene and haunted!  What have you done today?

And the last part of the presentation was a sneak peak at the new Word Girl special “The Rise of Miss Power” because Word Girl’s already taken on the Butcher and Mr. Big and now she’s going to take on bullying, probably the most hot button kids’ issue of the century.  Don’t ask me how, it was a super secret sneak peek so you’re just going to have to tune in to see.

Main takeaway: Boys will watch a show with a female main character if the show is compelling, funny and has wonderful well-rounded characters.  Besides, who do you think buys She-Hulk comics (besides me)?

It's not easy being green, kicking butt and taking names!

Personal takeaway:  I can be a pretty princess and be a superhero.  We all do it every day.

Inappropriate takeaway:  Does Miss Power remind anyone else of Lady Gaga?  And, therefore, could Miss Gaga be an alien from another planet?  Perhaps one of the “V?”  I mean, I’ve never seen any of them in a room together.

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

March 4, 2012

!Your New WiCM Blogger!

WiCM, dear WiCM,

I’m going to blow up the blog!!!!

For one glorious calendar year you have graciously allowed me to believe that I was all you ever needed. I loved being the self-appointed People’s Champion, but what kind of self-appointed People’s Champion would I be if I didn’t listen to the people who didn’t appoint me? The time has come to hand the creative reigns to another.

With plenty of further ado, I shall quote Prince Humperdink:

“My people, a month from now, our county will have its 500th anniversary. On that sundown, I shall marry a lady who was once a commoner like yourselves…but perhaps you will not find her common now. Would you like to meet her?”

Members, Karl, I present to you your new WiCM blogger:

~Melinda LaRose~

Many of us can attest to Melinda’s prodigious talent and uncommonly goofy touch. She’s used her skills to build a storied writing career, formerly at Little Airplane and now on her own. Beyond being the sole person to respond to the Craigslist ad I posted to find the new blogger, Melinda brings several distinctions to the role:

  • Co-winner of the technically noncompetitive scavenger hunt at last year’s Brooklyn Children’s Museum event
  • Had the grapes to update a solid surname to one that makes her sound like a stylish outlaw
  • Has bowled a perfect game, though still sees room for improvement
  • Can eat 50 eggs in one hour, speaks over 7 languages (6 romance, German, a smattering of Icelandic), at any point is more than likely the strongest person in the room (see pic below)

Please give a warm welcome to the new People’s Champion, the artful bandit who’s about to make off with the blog–and our hearts–Melinda LaRose. I think Prince Humperdink said it best:

“My father’s final words were ‘Love her as I loved her and there will be joy.’ I present to you your queen, Queen Melindacup.”

Let’s all warmly welcome WiCM’s new blogger!!!!

Thanks to everyone for making the 2011 blog season so great. I’d like to direct extra special appreciation to:

  • Sarah Wallendjack, who came up with this whole fancypants “blog” idea
  • Michelle Kaskel, whose graphic has consistently been the funniest joke on said blog
  • Joanne Ruelos, who did her best to prevent things from getting too weird, bless her heart

And thanks to you, readers. I’ve had a lot of fun providing you with the occasional shot of nonsense. I’ll still be stopping by here and there with a guest post whenever the blog gets too informative. Until then, I hope to see you all at an upcoming event!

With sincere gratitude,

~Lucas

Take it away, LaRose…

Good writing today, Lucas, sleep well.  I’ll probably kill you in the morning.  

I TRIPLE dog dare you to write an events blog for WiCM.

Yikes.  Hi everyone (shy wave), I guess uh, I’m the new blogger.  Lucas’ shoes are going to be hard to fill (literally and figuratively – I’m only 5’3”) and I think it’s only apropos (that’s right, big words in the blog this year) that I start the blog by giving the loudest shout out ever to Lucas!  He took this position on a punch-fueled dare and did an amazing job keeping us all informed while at the same time keeping us laughing hysterically.  I believe the first words out of my mouth when asked to do the blog were, “Uh, I dunno if I can go to EVERY event.”  Lucas not only went to every event [*former blogger note: every event but one] but he was always eager and excited to be there.  He went to every event [*but one] with panache!  Lucas Mills, I salute you!

What’s in store for us this year, fellow WiCMers (wikkens, WiCMinos?)? We’ve already had a bunch of great events including meeting a genuine superhero, co-viewing at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and chatting with Elly Kramer and Nancy Kanter, two of the best K-last name ladies in the business.  Stay tuned next week for the first installment!  And Lucas please feel free to come back and guest blog whenever you like.

LaRose. Melinda LaRose.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

March 1, 2012

????

Who will be the new WiCM blogger? Can you even stand the mounting tension? I think I’m going to burst with anticipation.

Dear WiCM, all will be revealed soon.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

February 27, 2012

2011 Wrap-up, Part II

WiCM!

I’m coming at you with Part II of the 2011 WiCM Event Wrap-up. These are my reports of a couple of very fine events. Enjoy! And get excited for next entry’s announcement of the new WiCM blogger!

But first, the news:

WiCM Hears a Who! Audio Books and The Bippolo Seed

Hahaha, this is what I got when I image-searched “Random House”

Date: 11-8-12

Location: Random House

Summary:

There’s a new Seuss book! Dr. Seuss’s The Bippolo Seed and Other Lost Stories is available in print and as an audio book. The good folks at Random House gave us an insider’s look at the process of putting this audio book together. They also detailed the challenges of producing an audio version of a visual medium.

Did someone say TRANSMEDIA????

DUDE. GO. AWAY. You’re worse than the Cat in the Hat.

.

Und vaht about me, Metadata?

Man, you were just a bad idea. On your way. Shoo.

Seuss! I love this guy.

Auf wiedersehen!


My take:

I LOVE Seuss. One of my proudest moments in law school was when I was told I had the same Myers Briggs profile as the good Doctor:

Law School Career Counselor: Isn’t law your fascination?

Me: Not as much as animation.

Law School Career Counselor: But don’t you like your legal classes?

Me: I’d ruther write stories for the masses.

Parting gift:

WiCM members also got free copies of the Bippolo Seed audio book—perhaps my favorite swag of the entire year. What an awesome event.

Writers’ Group: An Evening with The Backyardigans Creator Janice Burgess

Date: 12-20-12

Location: What-a-lodeon? Nick-e-lodeon

Summary:

I wanted to include a picture of The Backyardigans, but I forgot to ask for permission, so here you go. Compromise: a value one might learn by watching The Backyardigans.

With various credits on hits such as Ghostwriter; Gulla, Gulla Island; Blue’s Clues; Little Bill; Littleburg; Bubble Guppies (woot!); and Winx Club, Janice Burgess has done a lot in and a lot for this industry. She’s a star, pure and simple. And this event was one of those rare opportunities to listen to a star discuss how hit shows are developed and made. Over the course of the informal evening, Janice dropped a lot of wisdom on us. Beyond sharing her general insight into the industry, she gave us a detailed look at the development and production of The Backyardigans, her first show creation.

A few highlights:

As a creator, your job is to make the best show you can. Hire the best people you can to do the things you’re not good at. Inspirationally speaking, you really have to care about what you’re saying. Practically speaking, you really have to know your outlet. She spoke a bit about the various big networks, but she offered an insider’s perspective on what makes a Nickelodeon show (a kid-first approach and an off-beat sensibility).

Janice also talked us through the pitch process. She reminded any would-be creator to do her homework and really know the air. But above all, believe in yourself, be patient, be resilient, and be flexible. If your idea is rejected, figure out why. The Backyardigans was resurrected after an initial death in development. Rejection is all part of the game, and Janice succeeded because she believed in what she had created.

It was a real treat to sit down with someone so talented and so accomplished. I really enjoyed this event. It’s hard to measure the inspirational impact a conversation with someone like Janice can have, but I saw a lot of motivated smiles in that room.

And that’s the conclusion of the 2011 wrap-up. Tune in next time for the big reveal:

~MYSTERY WICM BLOGGER OF 2012!!!!~

T-minus one entry (must we really part ways?)…

Lucas

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

February 18, 2012

2011 Wrap-up, Part I

Lovely WiCM, meter maaaaaiiiid…

Here’s that serial wrap-up I promised. Each of these events certainly deserves its own post…but I sort of ran out of 2011. I’m breaking it up into Part 1 (which will come first) and Part II (which will come second, after Part I). And away we go!

Writers’ Group: The Plot Thickens ~ Writing Mysteries For Kids, with Leslie Margolis

Date: 9-20-11
Location: NYU/Tisch
Professor Percy Pettipots: I say, the real mystery is who’s been writing so many of these Nancy Drew books!

Countess Alexandra Tepplewhistle: If not Carolyn Keene, then who?

Inspector Bernard McSwigglebum: Why, the culprit is none other than…Leslie Margolis!

Read this.

Baron Wolfgang von Schnurz: I knew it.

Summary:

Leslie Margolis, author of “Girl’s Best Friend: A Maggie Brooklyn Mystery” and many other titles, hosted a very interactive Writers’ Group. Leslie taught WiCM members how to create a compelling kids’ mystery. She did this by listing and explaining the Nine Elements of a Good Mystery Story that is Mysterious and Good (just remember NEGMSMG):

  1. A crime/a mystery to solve
  2. A detective (whichever character is there to solve the crime/mystery)
  3. A reason for the detective to get involved
  4. Suspects
  5. Motives for each suspect
  6. Clues
  7. Suspense/tension
  8. Twists/surprises
  9. Resolution

Leslie then showed us how these pieces work when she directed us, as a group, to compose our own mystery.

My response:

I love any event that breaks down the elements of story, and this event was no exception. Leslie’s talk was really illustrative. And it was sort of amazing how the story we created just came together.

Side lesson:

Be disciplined. Leslie writes a book a year. Keep at it, gumshoe.

 

Career 101: Maximizing Your Personal Brand with Austin Smith

Date: 10-27-11

Location: Nickelodeon

Summary:

Austin Smith, Global Director of Talent Management at Publicis Healthcare Communications Group, talked to a room full of WiCM members about building our personal brands. Austin broke the idea of personal brand down to value (what our strengths are), image (how people see us), and people (our communication skills, particularly how we communicate our strengths to other people—tricky!). He took us through some very practical exercises that immediately helped many of us become aware of how we could better envision and present ourselves.

Personal Appeal:

While personal branding is a very important topic for all of us, I was really looking forward to this event. As some of you know, I accidentally went to law school and worked in a legal department for a while. Whoopsie-daisy! Building a creative career from that kind of past is going to require a pretty carefully constructed LinkedIn page.

My takeaway:

Attendees asked a lot of very good questions, and some seemed disappointed with the lack of clear black and white responses. But personal branding is, by nature, personal. I think the big takeaway was that it can be really hard to credit one’s own strengths, but you bettah recognize. If you don’t know what you’re good at, it’ll be hard for others to see it as well.

A Night at the Museum: The Snowy Day and the Art of Ezra Jack Keats

Date: 11-3-12

Location: The Jewish Museum

Summary:

This event was a tour of artist and writer Ezra Jack Keats’ career, along with many articles documenting the public’s response to his work. His groundbreaking children’s book, The Snowy Day, featured Peter, a black child, as the main character. Coming after a tradition of offensively cartoonish portrayals of black children in kids’ media, Peter was a breath of fresh air. I’d encourage you to check out this book if you haven’t already seen it. It’s beautiful and personal and Keats’ characters come to life with very little dialogue.

Most Entertaining Tangent That Came to Mind:
There’s a technique called marbling paper. It made me wonder what else I could marble. I’m looking at you, jean shorts.

My takeaway:

Believe in your craft. Keats had to overcome quite a bit of self-doubt to produce the beautiful and important work we enjoyed on this visit.

And that’ll do for Part I of the Wrap-up. Stay tuned for Part II. After that: a changing of the guard! Ah! I’m so excited! Who’s the new blogger going to be?

~Lucas

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries  |  
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.