KIDS FIRST! News

Kevin Watkins, of the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival selection “Hose” tells the story behind his story in which a garden hose in search of adventure discovers that the grass isn’t greener on the other side. In fact, there isn’t any grass on the other side.

CP: Where did you get the idea for this film? What’s the story behind it?

KW: I came up with the idea for “Hose” over 10 years ago. I had just been promoted to ‘Creative Director’ at an advertising agency I was working at in South Africa. At the end of the first week I realized that I had started a transition from a creative person to a manager. I was suddenly dealing with minutia like parking allocations and approving expense accounts. The recognition that I was not going to be happy was pretty swift. So I started pondering what else I could do. There were aspects of the job that I enjoyed more than others, in particular making commercials. I had just completed a campaign involving stop-frame animation and was intrigued by the magic of film – a series of still images presented sequentially creating the illusion of movement and time. The idea that between each of those frames a great deal of time and effort could go into making each frame was, and still is, fascinating to me. I really wanted to create something more meaningful than 30 second commercials. Something that had emotional resonance. But I had no idea what that would be.

As I was thinking about all this, my sister was watering the garden. As I was watching, the garden hose struck me as being ‘sad’. I started thinking about the characteristics of a hose – like when you turn on the tap and the back-pressure causes a hose to move on its own. I pondered the world of a hose – what happens when everyone is away at work? What would the hose think if it explored the inside of the house for instance? I dismissed the idea initially, but it stuck with me. More and more ideas started to generate, almost automatically. Eventually I decided to write a script and from there we get to where we are today…

CP: What is your background? What got you into filmmaking and what has been your favorite project so far?

KW: When I was 18, I wanted to get into filmmaking, but my parents discouraged me – very few people were making a living in South Africa shooting films. So I went to art school and then took a job in as an Art Director. I did quite well, winning awards all around the world, getting written up in the press etc., but I yearned to create something that had more depth. In 1999, I was brought to the USA by a large multi-national advertising agency. That was the beginning of the end.

New York has a wealth of adult educational opportunities, which I took full advantage of – learning more about all the disciplines of filmmaking; editing, writing etc. As with a lot of New Yorkers, 9/11 had a huge impact on me – I decided to get out of advertising. Using some of the skills I had learned, I developed and sold a series of viral ads for RCA. With the money, I set up a production company. Slowly but surely, I started to escape the dark, murky world of advertising (aIthough I still freelance occasionally– it’s better than bartending, but not much!) “Hose” has been the most challenging and the most fun I have had so far. During the course of shooting I spent an entire summer outdoors, creating this crazy film. I was super fit, tanned and grinning from ear-to-ear most of the time. The fun of it was to be a child again.

CP: How did you go about making ‘Hose’ and how long did it take?

KW: When I first came up with the idea for “Hose” (1999) it was practically impossible to make the film as I envisioned it – stop-frame animation shot outdoors. I had also written the film as a feature. As strange as this might seem I had never been exposed to short films. Growing up in apartheid South Africa, with sanctions and international isolation, I had no concept of a film outside of a full-length picture. It wasn’t until I came to the USA and discovered Atom Films, iFilm etc. that I realized that you could make short films. (I am now an avid collector and fan of the form.)

At the time I also had a group of friends, all in advertising, brought over from the same ad agency in South Africa (a by-product of the dot.com boom) who were just as miserable as I was. We started a support group called ‘Anglers and Writers’ (after the bar in Soho) with the intention of encouraging each other to work on projects outside of advertising. This forced me to continue to re-write the script and get it down to a manageable length. After making a couple of short films that had some success, I was looking for the next project when a friend of mine who had read ‘Hose’, suggested I figure out a way to make it.

Interestingly, in the 10 years since the initial idea, technology had progressed a great deal and it was not only possible, but I could do most of it myself and at high definition resolution, using a digital still camera.

Looking out my window at home one afternoon, I wondered if I could take the construct of the film (which by that stage was set in a suburban home) and adapt it for the scenes in front of me. One of the most important lessons I learned doing all those New School courses was to use what you have available to you. I’m also a big believer in the theory that a problem is not a problem, but an opportunity to do something better. The idea of scaling down the film and making it work in these secret gardens that exist behind the vinyl-siding homes was much better than what I originally conceived. From there it was ‘simply’ all about figuring out how to make the film and finding people to help. Three years later we’re finally done!

CP: Please give me an “insider scoop” anecdote from the filmmaking process.

KW: The incredibly talented animators who helped me create the film love to remind me of an email I sent them shortly after we started. In it I outlined, in detail, how long I thought the film would take and when the film would be completed. With pencil, paper and a calculator I had worked out that the film would be done within 6 months, easily. For some reason none of them believed me and kept that email. Three years later they are still enjoying the folly of my ambition that afternoon.

CP: What lessons have you learned from filmmaking that you’d like to pass along to other producers?

KW: Double the time you think it will take.

Make it short. Less than 10 minutes is ideal. Get it to under 5 minutes if you can.

Show it to as many people as you can before you lock picture.

Make it funny.

Do a really, really tight animatic if you’re doing animation.

CP: What does it mean to you to have your film highlighted in the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival?

KW: Well, it’s a great opportunity to ‘share the pain’! I have two babies in my life – ‘Hose’ and Nadja Iris Watkins (currently 9 months). As a new father I want my daughter to be exposed to wonderful, imaginative and inspiring content. Organizations like this dovetail perfectly with that objective.

Additionally I welcome the attention that the film is getting. The more exposure we can generate, the better. Making a film is really hard. Getting it out there is probably even harder. A forum like this benefits all filmmakers, particularly those of us interested in making great shows that will hopefully inspire the next generation.

Producer Ove Sander treats audiences with a heartfelt story that is sure to bring a smile to the faces of anyone who watches it. The short-film “Paul’s Grandpa” is the story of a small boy who wants to have a grandpa and he makes his wish come true.In this article, Sanders gives us his thoughts on the film and what it means to him to be part of the KIDS FIRST! Film Festival:I came up with this idea because I have been fascinated by the power of imagination and fantasy that kids use when they play and the way they interact with us adults. Sometimes we manage to play along but sometimes we cannot or do not want to share their vision. I believe that this imagination can make a lot of things happen. That’s what the film is about.Currently, I am working as a filmmaker – specializing in camerawork. Before I started studying film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne, Germany, I had worked as a freelance camera-assistant on various projects. By working for very experienced DOPs during that time, I learned what it means to tell stories and emotions through images. “Paul’s Grandpa” has been the first fiction that I have both directed and also worked as DOP on. That’s why this project is so important to me.People usually say that working with children and animals is most challenging – well, for “Paul’s Grandpa,” the “grandpa” was especially unpredictable because it was very fragile. We had a total of three different “grandpas” that were used in the different scenes. The head was especially difficult to work with when we did close-ups. We had four operators using remote controls to control small motors inside the character. For all the scenes with the “grandpa” and Paul the timing of the movements was critical. All scenes were shot in real-time, and no computer generated images were used.The film reaches a wide audience. Recently we were awarded “best short” by a children’s jury at a festival – they especially liked that no computer animation was used in our film – we were all very proud about that. In this film I think that I have learned that a simple and clear story is most important for the film – especially in a short film. It has little dialogue and story is told clearly with powerful images. I believe that the way that we did the film tricks, not using aiming at perfect illusion but rather using simple but charming techniques, leaves more room for the audience’s imagination and can be more authentic.I was very excited to be able to have “Pauls Grandpa” as part of KIDS FIRST! Film Festival. As part of a traveling festival, the film has the opportunity to reach audiences in different parts of the country. I am especially proud that the last children’s film that I worked on as a DOP (Tanzmause – Dancing Darlings) has already been part of the festival and was nominated Best Short in 2006. It’s great to be back.You can see a clip of “Paul’s Grandpa (aka Paul’s Opa) online at http://www.kidsfirst.org/detail/207400.html.

Jennifer Sherman has supervised as well as animated on productions such as “Jacob Two Two,” “Max and Ruby,” “Yummi-Land,” “Futz” and “Peep and the Big Wide World” for 9 Story Entertainment since March 2003.Since graduating from Sheridan College in 1988, she has been involved in the animation industry in Toronto on many levels. Jennifer has animated on a number of television commercials, televisions series, and also worked on a feature film for companies such as Lightbox Studios, The Animation House, Calibre and Nelvana. The transition from classical animation to digital computer animation was a natural progression for Jennifer in 2002.CP: Looking at your background, it seems that you have covered a multitude of styles in animation. What do you feel is your strongest area and what do you enjoy doing the most?JS: What I feel is my strongest area is character driven scenes. I love it when a character makes you feel the way they feel and have you believe in them. There’s something powerful in a subtle head turn or gesture that makes you forget it’s not real. When I watch really well done animation, I love to get lost in the character and the story.CP: What brought you to 9 Story Entertainment?JS: A colleague of mine recommended I apply for a position as an animator. At the time I had no idea how Flash animation was done but he said, “Animation is animation no matter what the format is, it’s simply a different tool.” True enough.CP: Jacob Two Two is very different from Peep and the Big Wide World, which you also worked on. What steps do you take to capture the magic of Jacob?JS: Jacob is geared to a bit older audience than Peep so this allows us to explore a broader range of issues that older kids deal with. There are so many different personalities in the show that each character brings a familiarity with it. Growing up even today, I’m sure lots of kids have to deal with a group of bullies, an annoying older sibling, geeky friends or a science teacher that’s just plain weird. It’s a show that is rewarding to be able to really act out all these different characters. The voice actors really help drive the characters in this show. As an animator you are given the sound track and a roughly timed storyboard to work with. When the sound track is inspiring the animators, imagination can take over and this can really add to the scene.CP: Please give me an interesting anecdote of something behind the scenes in the Jacob Two Two production.JS: There were times when I was attempting to explain how a scene should play out and I would find myself acting out the line for the animator to “get” what I was meaning. It’s pretty goofy to see a grown woman acting out something Greedy Guts would say and do like sobbing at the thought of having his doughnuts taken away.Jacob’s character is a really nice reminder that it’s okay to mess up and not always be perfect at everything you do. The important thing is that he’s always willing to try. That’s something I believe we can all relate to.CP: In your opinion, how has Jacob Two Two benefited from its affiliation with qubo?JS: It’s great that qubo has been able to take a quality show like Jacob Two Two and bring it to a new and larger audience to experience and enjoy.CP: Is there anything you would like to add?JS: I believe all animators are actors inside with the ability to be anyone or anything they create. The only limitation in animation is your imagination, so stretch those imagination muscles kids and dream big!

Author Martin Baynton and animator Richard Taylor take us behind the scene’s in qubo’s hit series “Jane and the Dragon.”

Watching “Jane and the Dragon” on qubo with my kids has been one of my favorite Saturday morning activities for the last year or two. Not only is the storyline captivating, but I love the breaking of stereotypes as Jane trains to become a knight in her medieval world. She and her comrades deal with issues kids today relate to such as honesty and friendship. And, to my mothering heart’s delight, negative behaviors in the show are discussed at the end of the show with suggestions of how one should have acted in that situation.

“Jane and the Dragon” is a CGI animated series based on the much-loved books by Martin Baynton. In addition to the fabulous storyline, viewers are treated to stunning animation filled with rich color and texture. The visuals are so breath-taking that it isn’t much of a shock to discover that it was done by Weta, the company that also worked on the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “The Chronicles of Narnia.”

CP: Martin, please give a brief summary of your background, including how you went from Electroencephalography to writing children’s books.MB: My parents always encouraged me to write and to draw from an early age. I remember that all my best marks at school were for my story writing and anything to do with art. At secondary school I also discovered the joy of science, and so I had a very balanced education, but in the end my love of storytelling won out, and I left my job at Barts Hospital in London only a year after qualifying. I have never regretted the decision as it meant I could work from home and be a full time writer and a full time dad with the privilege of being able to spend every day with my two children as they grew up.CP: Where did you get the idea for “Jane and the Dragon” and how did it evolve into a TV  show?MB: The idea for the original books was because I wanted to write a story about a girl who wanted to follow her dreams despite the expectations of her family and friends. And then a young girl told me how she hated fairy stories because the girls were wimps; they waited around for a prince to come to their rescue with a wedding ring. So the idea for Jane sprang from those two themes originally. And to my great delight the books have remained in print for twenty years so I would talk about Jane to two generations of readers, mums and their daughter. Often that talk would be about making Jane as a cool TV show. I have to be honest and say I’m not a big fan of much of kids TV, like many parents I had to search to find things I would want my own children to see, so when I finally decided to bite the bullet and step into the role of TV producer and adapt Jane, I wanted to make a show that would meet all my own aspirations for what great drama could and should be for children. That’s when I went down to visit Richard at weta after being blown away by the extraordinary work he had done making the first of the “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy. We both had exactly the same ideas about making children’s TV, it was a wonderful experience from the first day to be surrounded by a team with so much commitment to quality and to storytelling.CP: Richard, please give a brief summary of your background including how you got into animation.RT: I come from a small rural community in New Zealand. I always wanted to make things with my hands, creating and inventing fantasy worlds. My wife Tania and I established a film and TV effects facility in New Zealand with two friends and we began servicing the creative industries with our technical and creative services. We have established a company called Weta, in Wellington, New Zealand and we have been integrally involved in a number of major feature films including – “The Lord of the Rings,” “King Kong”, and “The Chronicles of Narnia.” For our work Weta has received 6 Oscars and 5 Baftas.I have always had a great passion for children’s television, probably stemming from my childhood days watching shows such as the “Thunderbirds,” “Captain Scarlet” and “Space 1999.” Therefore, when we finished creating LOTR we felt the time was right to realize this dream and begin building our own Children’s Television Production facility at Weta. Our fortuitous meeting with Martin, the skills of our producer Andrew Smith and our creative partnership have further reinforced our desire to make the best animated children’s television we can.CP: One aspect that really stands out in your show is the deep colors and beautiful, rich texture in the animation. Please talk a bit about the animation and how you do it.RT: We wanted to help raise the bar, that’s the honest truth of it. Children should be able to watch a world that is every bit as rich, and colorful and beautiful as the best that is on offer in adult TV. Our designers started by analyzing the way Martin had illustrated his original books. We wanted a picture book style and aesthetic that would feel as if the book had opened and the characters had come to like. It meant creating a whole new way of producing CGI animation, which tends to have a rather flat and plastic look much of the time. The result is a tribute to our CG supervisor Trevor Brymer and the wonderful design and modeling team we have here who approached this with the same delight and enthusiasm as they would for a major feature film.CP: Please share an amusing/interesting anecdote from the filmmaking process.RT: We had a wonderful group of designers working on Jane, many of them being the same exceptionally talented people that had designed “Lord of the Rings.” In fact these people ultimately completed more pieces of design for “Jane and the Dragon” than we did for the whole of the three film trilogy of LOTR. Regardless though, we were struggling with some of the subtle design sensibilities of the Jane world and especially the female characters. That was, until we had the great fortune of hiring an immensely talented woman called Rebecca Tisch who at the age of 17 joined our team and became instrumental in capturing the unique and quirky characters that inhabit Jane’s world. We where so enamored by Rebecca’s contribution that we dedicated a character to her, and Pepper the cook is modeled after this wonderfully talented young New Zealander.CP: What is one of the greatest lessons you have learned in story writing and filmmaking that you would like to pass along to other producers and writers?RT/MB: The heart of it all is story. You can’t save a bad story with pretty pictures or clever effects. Audiences young or old want to engage with the characters and the journey those characters are on. If the characters aren’t engaging or sympathetic everything else is just empty packaging.CP: What, in your opinion, is the unique edge that makes “Jane and the Dragon” a series that kids and their parents should watch over others?RT/MB: I think it’s the fact that there is a full half hour of real storytelling with layers of complexity that mirror the real world. Jane and her friends face the same real challenges that all young people face, and there are no simple right or wrong answers. Jane always does her best with the best of intentions and sometimes her enthusiasm lacks mature judgment and she gets herself and others into hot water. But she always learns and she always does her best. I think that is the key to Jane and the reason that we get such wonderful emails from teachers, grandparent and the kids themselves – it’s because Jane is a true “warts and all” heroine with a big heart.CP: Is there anything you would like to add that hasn’t been addressed about “Jane and the Dragon?”RT/MB: One of the things we set out to do and are very proud to have achieved is that whole families chose to watch Jane together. With so many TVs in some homes, and so much choice there is a trend away from sharing time as a whole family. We are thrilled at the number of emails from families who tell us that Jane is a show they all look forward to watching together. It’s like sharing a book with your children, they love to know that something they enjoy is not just approved of, but is enjoyed by Mum and Dad, and that they can talk about it together as a family with the same common references. Do you remember when Jane did such and such? Sharing time and sharing stories is a way of sharing common truths and common values across the whole family. We are all immensely proud of how Jane is achieving that.

Filming is a different sort of ride for race-car champion Norman Hunter. Inspired by his three children, Hunter stepped behind the camera. It’s paying off, too. Hunter’s film, “Her Best Move,” made its debut on screens such as the KIDS FIRST! film festival, and now is picked up for distribution by some major companies and will soon be seen around the world.He shares some of his ride with us below. For more information, check out the film’s website.CP: Could you please give me an idea of why you chose to write a story like this and tell me how it came about?NH: I was shopping my “racing” script in Hollywood (I was a racing driver out of college) and the head of a studio told me that the film was too ambitious for a first-time director and that I should write something I could direct. I was coaching my kids in soccer and a story came to me as the seasons progressed. I always find myself drifting off into the imaginary world – probably because of all the books I read as a kid.CP: Why did you have soccer as a focal sport as opposed to other sports or interests?NH: I played soccer in high school – and I think there is a reason it is know as “the beautiful game.” Although you might not know it by how it is sometimes played today – just you-tube Maradona to see some terrific soccer. And it seems to be the universal family sport as kids grow up, equally accessible to both genders. With 2 daughters and a son, I am way into equal opportunities for girls/women.CP: We are starting to see more intact families in film, while in the past, they tended to be more split. Your film merges the past and present by having a split and reconciliation. Why did you decided to approach it that way?NH: Having been married for almost 25 years, I know enough about the pressures of life to realize that the “perfect” marriage isn’t necessarily the “Leave It To Beaver” model – that people need space and that a relationship can have a natural ebb and flow that doesn’t threaten to destroy it. I actually failed to communicate properly why Gil was spending so much time at work – he had a major fear of failing in his job and resorted to living at his office, but, as is often the case in low-budget (and first-time) films, it got a little lost in the shuffle.CP: Please give me an anecdote from filming that inspired you or made you laugh.NH: Daryl Sabara is enormously talented – like the rest of our cast – and while filming the Cold Stone scenes, his spontaneous ad-libbed lines cracked me up so much I actually fell out of my director’s chair. Unfortunately, most of the stuff was too out-of-character to make the final cut, but it stayed in a long time, it was so good.Another time, Scott Patterson’s character “Gil” was watching a little kids’ soccer game and reflecting on his history with his daughter. You might not know if from watching Gilmore Girls, but Scott has some really deep acting chops. After a particular take, brilliantly nuanced by Scott, I asked for another to really get the character’s state of mind. Scott happily complied, but by his look I know he thought we had already nailed it. Looking at the dailies, my second take was much too obvious – Scott’s original take brought all the emotion you could want from that scene. He is such a talented guy – I learned a lot about acting & performance from him.CP: What projects are you working on now?NH: I have a slate of 8 films – I am just finishing a re-write of my script “In A Heartbeat” , a romance/drama/sports/comedy about a racing driver, a widow and her 10 year old daughter. I also have a girls volleyball movie, a couple of music-themed stories – more sports and flying!CP: Why did you send your film in to the KIDS FIRST! film festival?CP: I long for the days when movies were funny-clever, not funny-raunchy. I also like stories that have heart and some sort of message, particularly those that can be enjoyed by all age groups. Think of Remember The Titans, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Sleepless In Seattle, Mrs. Doubtfire, A League of Their Own, etc, not to mention the classics of the forties. Kids First seems to recognize that films can be entertaining and meaningful while not relying on vulgarity or violence – it just takes imagination!CP: How has KIDS FIRST! helped you?NH: We’ve played in over 30 film festivals, with Kids First instrumental in placing a number of those. It’s nice having the Kids First! “seal of approval” – it’s a way for people to understand what kind of film it is.CP: Is there anything you would like to add?NH: Thanks for providing both the opportunity and the sensibilities that the American public wants. While NOTHING substitutes for good parenting, I think movies can provide role models for kids that we can applaud, so that is my goal.