KIDS FIRST! News

What a wonderful role model for our young entertainment reporters! This week Katherine S. and Tiana S. spoke with Halle Stanford, a ten-time Emmy®-nominated television producer, who leads the Company’s development and production of all television, home entertainment, and digital media in animated and live-action formats establishing the company’s creative culture across all territories.

Stanford is currently executive producing the Netflix series The Dark Crystal:  Age of Resistance as well as The Dinosaur Train Movie for Universal Entertainment and PBS KIDS®. Her recent children’s programming executive producer credits include: the Netflix Original Word Party; the groundbreaking marine biology series Splash and Bubbles for PBS KIDS®; the NBCUniversal Kids/CBC animated series Dot., based on Randi Zuckerberg’s popular book; and the NBCUniversal/Hulu Original preschool show Doozers, inspired by the wildly popular characters from the classic series Fraggle Rock.  Stanford’s award-winning credits also include the Emmy®-nominated Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train, which currently air on PBS KIDS® in the U.S. and in multiple markets around the world, the live-action puppet series Me and My Monsters for the CBBC and Network Ten in Australia, the Lifetime live-action holiday special Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow, as well as the Emmy®-nominated Sprout preschool series Pajanimals. 

Stanford joined The Jim Henson Company in 1993 and worked on beloved Muppet projects like Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets Tonight, and Bear in the Big Blue House, as well as the Sci-f cult classic Farscape. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degrees in Film and Theater from Wesleyan University, is a Cub Scout Leader, a proud mom to two sons (ages 8 and 21!) and is on an endless quest to enrich the lives of children around the globe. More at: https://g.co/kgs/7LwAmd

Interviewed by

Katherine S. and Tiana S.

From everyone at KIDS FIRST! we want to send you our love and support. These are challenging times as we deal with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. We want you to know that our KIDS FIRST! Film Critics have continued doing what they do best, which is reviewing films and interviewing the talent behind them. Of course, there are no live event during this time, so we are reviewing films via online screeners and interviewing via Zoom. We’ve also added a webinar component to many of our interviews, adding a Q&A from our audience after the original interview. It’s been sort of cool to do that and more kids get to participate. This is a reminder that if you want to join our team, visit our website (www.kidsfirst.org) and click on the banner “Join Us.”

Today, we have an amazing conversation to share with you with the uber talented CEO of Fathom Events, Ray Nutt.  The eloquent Nathalia J. interviews Mr. Nutt and is joined by Katherine S., Tiana S. and Joshitha B. for the Q&A.

How familiar are you with Fathom Events?  It is one of the largest distributors of content to movie theaters in North America. Ray Nutt brings more than three decades of experience in the entertainment business as former SVP at Regal Entertainment Group, former EVP at United Artists Entertainment and more.  Jump on in and enjoy this interview and webinar. Find out how cinemas are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, when and how they will re-open and what you might expect. And learn how Mr. Nutt has developed the H.O.P.E. campaign for Fathom Events to guide his team and customers through this challenging time.

Recently KIDS FIRST! reporter Rohan F. had the opportunity to visit with Thomas “Tom” Kalinske, an American businessman, best known as having worked for Mattel 1972-87, reviving the Barbie & Hot Wheels Brands, launching Masters of the Universe, then being promoted to CEO of Mattel from 1985 to 1987. Next he was CEO of Matchbox, and then recruited to become president and CEO of Sega of America, Inc. from 1990 to 1996. Next up – CEO and COB of Leapfrog 1997-2006.

Tom’s aggressive marketing decisions during his time at Sega, such as price drops, anti-Nintendo attack ads, and the famous “Sega Scream” TV campaign, are often cited as key elements in the success of the Genesis video game console. He is currently the Executive Chairman of Global Education Learning, a company dedicated to children’s education in China.

For his work at Mattel, Universal Matchbox, Sega, and Leapfrog,  Kalinske was a 1997 inductee into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame. He has received the NYC Boy Scout’s Good Scout Award, the Starlight Foundation Man of Year Award, the University of Wisconsin Business Partners “Distinguished Fellow” Award, and the Video Software Dealers Man of Year Award.

Learn what Tom’s experience means to you and why he is a perfect role model for kids worldwide.

Interview by Rohan F., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic

Gerry O. recently had the opportunity to interview Cynthia Hsiung with an audience of our KIDS FIRST! reporters who were able to ask her questions afterwards. With the new constraints of the Coronavirus, KIDS FIRST! has taken the opportunity to convert online interviews into learning experiences for our youth reporters. This is the first webinar we’ve conducted, so take a look and feel free to share with your network.

Cynthia Hsiung is an award winning Director, Writer, Producer and Development Executive who has developed and produced TV shows, documentaries, films and online content for MTV, VH1, Fox Kids Network, HBO and Warner Bros. She was part of the original programming development team that developed MTV’s The Real World and Road Rules; HBO’s Breasts, the documentary; and VH1’s channel-defining Behind the Music series. Still in her 20s, she was Carson Daly’s first MTV producer/director for his television VJ debut. Moving from New York to LA, she became the Director of Development for Spygaze Pictures developing feature film movies of the week. She was then brought on by Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert to be the series Producer for the highly-rated 50 episode live-action series “Young Hercules” starring Ryan Gosling for Fox Kids Network. “Young Hercules” was nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Writers Guild award.

In 2010, Ms. Hsiung wrote, directed, and executive produced the feature film, “Shades of Love”. The modern love story was based on a true story. The film won five awards including Best Director of a Feature Film and Best Narrative Writing for Cynthia Hsiung. Ms. Hsiung has continued to write for film and television. Additionally in 2015 she worked on a music documentary series for Edward Norton regarding the affordable housing crisis.

In 2019, Ms. Hsiung returned to the Writers Room as one of the Executive Producers for a series for China’s Alibaba. The scripted one-hour dramatic series will be announced in 2020. She is also an Instructor for UCLA Extension Writers Program teaching courses in Writing and Showrunning. She is currently writing a mini-series on the 2019 Coronavirus.

By Gerry O., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 17
Author’s Page – Amazon
World According to G

We recently sat down with Master Puppeteer Michael McCormick to learn more about his work on Jim Henson’s films and more.

Michael McCormick has broad experience with design and fabrication in FX makeup, creatures, puppets and special props. Since 1960, he has been a professional sculptor and puppeteer and a member of both SAG and IATSE.

McCormick was performing his Punch and Judy puppet show on the Santa Fe Plaza in 1980 when Roger Miller (country music legend) stopped to chat. “He told me, ‘You ever shown your stuff to Jim Henson?’ ” McCormick said. “I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘You want to?’ The New Mexico native packed his puppets and flew to London. “Jim Henson hired me, because I loved my own work,” he said. Henson hired him to work on a new project called The Dark Crystal. Though it wasn’t a huge hit at the time, it has become one of the biggest hits of children’s cinema from the 1980s. McCormick was the head of the unit that created the puppets that were the bad guys, the evil Skeksis. From there, he went on to work on classics such as Labyrinth, created puppets for Return of the Jed and did special effects for other TV shows and movies. “But it was “Return of the Jedi” that stands out, he said. He created Salacious Crumb, Jabba The Hutt’s jester, for the film.

Though he retired in Ireland – or tried to – he returned to the States, taught at New Mexico State University and gives an occasional lecture. McCormick has always been a studio artist and shows his work in the United States and Europe. McCormick credits his parents for his love of the absurd and puppetry. His father came to Los Alamos in the 1940s to work on the Manhattan Project, and he encouraged McCormick to experiment and build things.

Interview by Benjamin P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic