Turning your TV Time into Quality Time

September 20, 2007 Issue #9b

Christine L. Pollock, Editor         Ranny Levy, Publisher         Ranny's blog

In This Issue

Dear Friends

KF BestWow! I don't know what just happened, but everything in life seems to have picked up pace since our last issue. It's like the world has been infused with new energy. The kids are balancing school with lingering summer activities, grabbing their last days of swimming and tree climbing. Play rehearsals are starting up, as are music lessons and kids clubs.

Work is no different. We are busily preparing for the KIDS FIRST! Best Awards Ceremony and have a new project, too. KIDS FIRST! is recommending TV shows for TiVo's KidZone. We'll keep you posted with more details as they occur.

If you find this newsletter helpful and interesting, please let your friends know about us and let them know they, too, can sign up on our site.

Happy Fall!

Christine Pollock, Editor

Don't forget to bookmark Ranny's blog for her take on current media events, and give us your own opinions!

Ranny's Addenda

MalloryMallory Lewis, daughter of beloved children's entertainer, Shari Lewis, will be one of our featured guests at our KIDS FIRST! Best Awards on Sunday, October 7 at the Calamigos Ranch in Malibu. Mallory is a hero to parents and grandparents everywhere! Recently, I had the most delightful conversation with Mallory who began her career working with her Mom with whom she won an Emmy when she was only 12. Mallory is the new puppeteer for Lamb Chop and the on-camera personality for the soon-to-be-released, "Phonics 4 Babies - Baby's First Words," a thoughtfully designed DVD that introduces toddlers to a vocabulary of 300 key words and phrases. More

KIDS FIRST! Web Store Features

Open your child's window to the world with quality media educates, inspires and entertains. The KIDS FIRST! Web Store offers you the opportunity to customize your family movie library with confidence through its blend of studio and independent titles. Search by age or interest and find out what child professionals and kids themselves have to say about the titles you choose.

Benji"Benji Off the Leash." This is a story about heroes: Three unlikely, unsuspecting souls who come face-to-face with that moment in their lives when they must stand and be counted. For Sheldon, it's difficult because he doesn't appear to be the brightest guy in the world (although he might be the funniest). For Colby, it's even more difficult because he's only 14-years-old, and up against enormous odds. For Benji, it's almost impossible ... because, after all, he's just a dog, lost and alone, with nothing but a belligerent bird and a stray mutt to help. A band of unlikely comrades brought together by the least likely of the bunch, for a common, courageous purpose. Things will change. Lives will be saved. Because Benji is off the leash! Produced by Margaret Loesch and Joe Camp; Directed and written by Joe Camp; Composer: Anthony DiLorenzo; Actors: Nick Whitaker, Chris Kendrick, Randall Newsome, Duane Stephens, Neal Barth, Nate Bynum, Melinda Haynes, Christy Summerhays. DVD. L. 100 mins. Ages 6-12. Gaiam.

Fun with Dance"Fun With Dance." Take a journey through the wonderful world of dance. This DVD introduces toddlers to movement and dance by showing the movements of puppets, animals, dancers and other children. Designed to watch, learn and have fun. DVD. L. 30 mins. Ages 1-4. Kiddie Village.

 

 

 

New Endorsements

The KIDS FIRST! endorsement is one of the most highly recognized film, DVD, audio and game rating programs. Titles are evaluated by members of our adult and child juries. More New Endorsements can be found on our site

Ratings key below.

DVD - Ages 1-3

** Baby IQ: The World Around Us. Puppet characters Baby "I" and Baby "Q" introduce early learners to the basic concepts: animals, shapes, patters, numbers and the seasons. Features music from the London Symphony Orchestra. KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror Comments: Enjoyable and colorful with lovely music. Content is appropriate in that it presents images of things in the world around us. Quality of the production is excellent as well. It's well-paced; allows for time to see everything but doesn't drag. Good tool for parents to use in interacting with their young children, but watched alone, would lack impact. KIDS FIRST! Kid Juror Comments: Children ages 14 months to 4 years enjoyed watching this. Those who can talk asked to see it again. They enjoyed the characters. Older ones also danced around, clapped their hands and discussed things they saw on screen such as color, shapes and activities. Ages 1-3. The Brainy Baby Company.

DVD - Ages 8-12

** Patrick Henry: Quest for Freedom. The story behind Patrick Henry's celebrated speech "Give me liberty." Voice of Boomer the narrating eagle by Holmes Osborne. KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror Comments: Appealing and educational. Good family entertainment and educational resource. "I like the way Boomer makes explanations throughout the program." Good content that teaches historical lessons to children in a fun fashion. Boomer, the animated eagle host, is very engaging. The lip synch is off and the accents change throughout the presentation but these are things that can be overlooked. Uses simple, two-dimensional animation which is well done, works for this story but isn't glitzy. KIDS FIRST! Kid Juror Comments: Enjoyed it. The content gives children insight into the life of Patrick Henry who is presented as a role model of someone who stands up for his convictions. The early biographical information gives kids an opportunity to see him as a person who started out as a child, like them, who grew up to do amazing things and explains why he is of historical importance. Ages: 8-13. American Animation Studio.

DVD - Ages 12-18

Animusic*** Animusic 1. Instruments spring to life and perform a series of original compositions, produced with incredibly detailed computer animation. KIDS FIRST! Adult Juror Comments: Amazing! Excellent production. Great animation, electronic music and fantastical presentation. Upbeat music that appeals to a broad audience. Different ages will respond to the presentation differently but each will enjoy. You can see the incredible amount of work that went into creating this production and the effort shows in the complexity of the final product. People will truly be astounded when they take all that into consideration. Together, it creates an entertaining, intriguing and unique experience. KIDS FIRST! Kid Juror Comments: Loved it! "Awesome" and "wow" are the words kids used to describe it. One boy owns his own copy at home and was thrilled to see it again. They like that it was computer generated music and images. They definitely said they would watch it again. They often commented about the real instruments that were most like the ones in the DVD. One six-year-old kept up a running commentary about how each song was created on the computer. There were a lot of open jaws at first, then they just settled back and enjoyed it - tapping their feet and clapping their hands along with the beat. Older children who are making movies themselves appreciated the intense amount of work involved in creating this. Bravo! Ages 12-18. Animusic.


Selections from the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival

The KIDS FIRST! Film Festival is a showcase for new and classic children's films from studios, independent producers and youth producers worldwide that exemplify qualify media for children. The Festival travels year round and is hosted locally by more than 100 different venues including established film festivals, art and children's museums, nonprofit film centers, libraries, schools and local organizations. Venues include: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Newport Beach Film Festival, Avalon Theater in Washington D.C., Belcourt Theater, Brooklyn Children's Museum, Denver Film Society and Starz Denver International Film Festival, Film Center at the Cinema Cafe. To find out what is being played in a venue near you, visit this link . For a complete list of all Festival titles currently being shown, visit here.

Casper & WendyCasper Meets Wendy Family Fun Edition. L. 94 mins.
It's love at first fright when Casper Meets Wendy in this all-new, live-action adventure featuring an all-star cast, amazing special effects and spook-tacular fun for the whole family. When evil warlock Desmond Spellman (George Hamilton) vows to destroy Wendy the Good Little Witch (Hilary Duff), she and her witless witch aunts (Cathy Moriarty, Shelley Duvall, Teri Garr) hide out at Sunny Brite Resort, where the vacationing Ghostly Trio has been busy scaring up mega-mischief and making Casper's afterlife miserable! Even though Casper and Wendy are told that ghosts and witches just don't get along, when these two kindred spirits meet, it's the beginning of a boo-tiful friendship! But Desmond is closing in...and time is running out. Now Casper and Wendy must prevent a supernatural showdown between their feuding families in order to defeat Desmond's dastardly plan! Features the voice talent Of Hilary Duff, Shelley Duval and Teri Garr. Ages 5-8. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.


FragglerockFragglerock, Season 3. L. 175 mins.
The adventures of the various inhabitants of an underground civilization. Premiering in January 1983, this wonderfully inventive program was designed to entertain while also encourage an understanding and embracing of diversity. Through the fun adventures of the Fraggle gang: Red, Gobo, Wembley, Boober, Mokey and Uncle Traveling Matt, the show captured the hearts of children and adults alike while featuring a unique mix of music that ranged a number of genres, from folk, blues and gospel to country and rock. Ages 5-12. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.


Phonics 4 BabiesPhonics 4 Babies: Baby's First Words. L. 60 mins.
Join Mallory Lewis as she introduces children to the first 300 key words and phrases which will be a springboard for all speech. Ages 2-5. Starz Home Entertainment.

 

 


New and Renewing Members

Easy To Dream Entertainment is a production banner dedicated to making first rate family entertainment.

Two Little Hands Productions produces Signing Time! children's sign language videos.

Member News

Mallory LewisMallory Lewis is New Puppeteer for Lamb Chop and More
The daughter of beloved children's entertainer, Shari Lewis, won an Emmy when she was only 12. Mallory is the new puppeteer for Lamb Chop and the on-camera personality for "Phonics 4 Babies - Baby's First Words," (streeting 9/26), a thoughtfully designed DVD that introduces toddlers to a vocabulary of 300 key words and phrases.

Congratulations to Dan Masucci and Family
The director of Letting Go is now a father to a new baby boy!

Ralph S MouseA Mouse in School!
What happens when you take a mouse to school? Find out in one of Beverly Cleary’s most popular stories featured on Ralph S. Mouse...and More Exciting Animal Adventure Stories, the latest release from the Scholastic Video Collection. Available September 25.

 

 


Media News and Contests

"What's the Big Idea?"
The Jim Henson Company has partnered with LA PBS station KCET to produce a brand-new animated series that will debut on PBS Kids in 2008. What's the Big Idea? promotes science readiness to preschoolers in an animated sketch-comedy format. The show is designed to run through the Henson Digital Performance Studio to give it a unique CGI puppetry feel. Read About It.

Warner Rushes to the Web
Warner Brothers introduces 24 Web productions and decides to finance the projects themselves without waiting for advertisers. Read More.

Family and Parenting News

Think it ink itThink It Ink It!
Dr. Alice Wilder, co-creator of "Blue's Clues" announces a new learning adventure for children from the ages of 4 to 12 years old! At Think It Ink It, they think children are born authors, writers, and storytellers and wanted to give them the opportunity to practice and demonstrate their creative writing skills. Check Them Out.

The Treasury of 100 Storybook Classics Soon Released
Available in stores September 25, this set offers carefully and colorfully animated stories adapted from some of the best-loved, best-selling children’s books of all time. The collection features works by some of the most acclaimed children's authors and illustrators, including: Maurice Sendak, Ezra Jack Keats, H.A. Rey, Kevin Henkes, Doreen Cronin and Robert McCloskey, just to name a few. Scholastic site.

PBS Kids Sprout Re-Launches its Website
The site will now feature preschooler generated content, as well as parent blogs, new games, and characters pages and so on. In the My Refrigerator area of the site, which is password protected, families can take part in an art sharing online community, where parents to upload their kid's favorite photos and artwork and more.

Feature Article

KIDS FIRST! Best Awards Nominees

Alex ScottAnd the KIDS FIRST! Best of the Fest Award goes to … I’ll let you know next month, after the October 7th awards ceremony in California. Right now the race is tight. Hundreds of titles have been narrowed down to 143 nominees for 26 different categories. The winners are chosen by KIDS FIRST! senior jurors, Film Festival Directors from our Venue Partners, board members and staff. Based on what I have viewed, it’s a tough decision. What makes these titles stand out among the thousands of titles out there? I randomly selected nominees to find out. From shorts, documentaries, independents and studio titles and from producers ranging from 10-years-old to seasoned adults, answers started flying in.

Everyone seems to agree that it begins with the storyline. Will you go a serious route like Larry Mendte did in “Alex Scott: A Stand for Hope?” Alex had such a compelling message that other children are alive today, thanks to her. Or will you go along the lines of a fun, happy premise like Sue Corcoran did in “She’s a Dog?” Once the premise is established, it’s time to think about how you want to present your film on the big screen.

“Red vs. Green” producer, 14-year-old Keiko Giacona taught herself flash animation and stuck with it despite frustrating limitations of the computer program. Peter Gundling, the 10-year-old producer of “Super Kitten and The Great Cheese Robbery” used clay models for his action-comedy, placing the characters on stools for filming then using Photoshop to take away the stools.

Each nominee faced hardship during filming, sometimes in an humorously unexpected manner like a scene in “Food Boy,” written by Marc Mangum. They had a scene, which they filmed in a high school, with mustard exploding out of the main character’s hand. The bathroom ended out covered with real mustard, and the smell was extremely intense--a much bigger cleanup job than they originally intended.  

Through hardships and smooth times, producers all agreed that they grew personally and professionally in the process. Corcoran points out, “’The creative process is a skill that you develop over time and with practice.” “The Very Brave Elephant and His Friends” creators  enjoyed the acting talent. “There were so many great kids to work with! I think everyone involved in the project was delighted to work with the kids, and overjoyed at their natural abilities, involvement and talent.” In the“Girl Stars,” the Going to School Fund producers discovered in the filming process that if you listen to children, you can speak to them. It was more important to include what young girl reveals in the workshops in their movies, then say, putting an image of a beautiful sunset. “Hitler’s Courts” producer Joshua Greene says, “I'm always amazed by what I'd call ‘trusting the process,’ that is, not knowing where a film is going to go until you're in it up to your neck.”

Once a film is made, where do you promote it? (KIDS FIRST, of course!) Allison Orr, producer of “Spring Rider” wanted "Spring Rider" to be a short film that kids would enjoy and respond to, so she loved the fact that KIDS FIRST! had a kid jury view the submissions. Let’s continue to work together to get your fun messages and powerful stories out to the world together. As Joan Caspi, the writer of  “The Day My Towers Fell” sums up, “I would hope that filmmakers continue to search for the best in all of us and use their craft to inspire.  We need positive messages now more than ever.   

Looking at the list of nominees, I realize we can’t go wrong. There is an incredible amount of talent in this group. Families are fortunate to have your skills and dedication enhancing their lives with your media. Kudos!

** Many of these titles have clips on the KIDS FIRST! website..

Crafts and Activities

Coloring is Cool!

Materials: Crayons, a printer and your computer

Gor our younger viewers, color some of your favorite characters from Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies and the Teletubbies.

For other craft/activity ideas, go to our craft index.

Events

September 28-30 - Malibu, CA. Malibu Celebration of film. They will open the Festival with an authentic Western BBQ Dinner and Outdoor Film Screening at scenic Calamigos Ranch. Stars and Filmmakers will be on hand for a Panel Discussion hosted by the Motion Picture and Television Fund. More Information.

October 5-7 - Los Angeles, CA and Malibu, CA. KIDS FIRST! Best Day and Awards Ceremony. Save the date! Read More About It.

October 7 - 11 - Mesa, AZ. The 29th National Media Market will be held at the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa. 50 producers and distributors will showcase new educational programming and related technology. Discounts and special pricing pay for most of the cost of attendance. Information here or contact Ursula Schwarz at (520) 743-7735.

October 19-21. The film "10 Questions for the Dalai Lama" has inspired a national weekend of Unity and Peace. This weekend of individual events is designed to bring communities together in a celebration of understanding, unity, tolerance, peace, and oneness. More Information.

November 7-19 - Chicago, IL. NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo. More than 20,000 early childhood professionals from around the world attend the NAEYC Annual Conference & Expo to discuss the everyday issues of our work with young children and families. Read More.

April 3-5, 2008 - Boston, MA. CCFC's 6th Summit. Consuming Kids: The Sexualization of Children and Other Commercial Calamities. More Information.

Special Offers

KIDS FIRST! Cares
Through the combined efforts of Corporations for Character, KIDS FIRST! , and your generous donation, we can fulfill our mission to provide positive, encouraging movies into each of more than one million children's hospital beds. This effort will provide entertainment for children while they are confined in a hospital. To support KIDS FIRST! Cares, go to www.kidsfirstcares.org. All credit card transactions are secure.

Support the Coalition

Search thousands of great travel deals at KIDS FIRST! TravelBecome a Member - If you've found our e-zine and web site helpful, please consider becoming a member of KIDS FIRST! By doing so, your contribution helps help underwrite the various projects of this organization. The Coalition relies on the generous support of its members and donors to support its programs. An individual/family membership is only $25/year. An organizational membership is $100/year. An independent producer membership is $200. To join, visit our site or contact our office at 505.989.8076. KIDS FIRST! Travel Site - Support KIDS FIRST! by booking your travel on our travel website. Prices compare with those of Travelocity and KIDS FIRST! earns a commission on any travel booked here. What a great way to support a nonprofit without having to write a check. Become an Affiliate of the KIDS FIRST! Web Store - By linking with our online store which sells films from our independent producers, you can earn a commission off of each sale.

VISIT OUR MEMBERS' SITES

Support our members. Visit their sites by visiting our members' page.

ABOUT CQCM AND KIDS FIRST!

The Coalition for Quality Children's Media is a national, nonprofit organization founded in 1991 whose mission is to teach children critical viewing skills and to increase the visibility and availability of quality children's media. More.

Our Ratings:

*** = Titles receiving the highest scores are given a three-star rating.
** = Titles that meet or exceed the criteria receive a two-star rating.
* = Titles that meet the baseline criteria but require some extra consideration on the part of the viewer receive a one-star rating.