KIDS FIRST! News

KIDS FIRST!’s partnership with Grand magazine – the first magazine for Boomer grandparents – has proved a natural fit. “One of the No. 1 things grandparents are looking for is things to do with [their] grandkids,” says the magazine’s editor and founder Christine Crosby, noting that participating in an activity with their grandkids ranks right up there with safety and security. Sharing experiences is what builds a bond, Crosby emphasizes, and the strength of KIDS FIRST! is its focus on “what’s going to give the child a positive entertainment experience.” With time at a premium, she points out, “Having someone who prescreens makes it better, so we don’t waste our time.”

Begun as a local magazine for grandparents in the St. Petersburg, Fla., area, Grand now has 100,000 readers through direct subscription and another 300,00-plus through disctribution of partner organizations, reaching grandparents all over the world. The idea of a magazine for grandparents was so unique when it launched in 2004 that the business article about it in a St. Petersburg paper was picked up by national services, and Crosby recalls her office was deluged with calls from people all over the country asking, “How do I get your magazine?” Babies R Us came in as a distribution partner, and the magazine went national with its second issue.

To reach even more readers, Grand initiated a “Grand Partners for Grandparents” program to connect with large-membership organizations that had an appropriate demographic. “We offered visibility in our digital edition and asked them to send the link to their members in their electronic newsletter and on their website,” Crosby says. Generations United, with its 800,000 members, is one of the many organizations Grand now partners with – and that KIDS FIRST, through its partnership with Grand, now reaches with its reviews of children’s entertainment.

The magazine evolved from a book series Crosby had been asked to do for the Florida Kinship Center at the University of South Florida on children being raised by their grandparents. Crosby, who had previously launched other family-related magazines, realized there was an unmet need for a magazine for grandparents. And a very hip audience it is, she notes. The audience has stayed with Grand as it transitioned from print to online-only, and Crosby is thrilled with the format as it allows the magazine to offer multi-media content that includes audio entertainment, videos and animation. The publication has also expanded to a radio show and an iPad app.

In all, Grand remains a content-driven publication, and KIDS FIRST! has been a valued partner since 2008 in its mission to serve grandparents. Says Crosby, “It was a perfect hook-up with Ranny, with [KIDS FIRST!’s] focus on children, and positive entertainment and edu-tainment for them.” 

Summer programming at the University of Hawaii at Manoa includes what Ann Brandman, who is in charge of the university’s community programming, calls “a rare treat”: a film festival for kids. (Screening this year on Sundays, June 3, 10 and 24 and July 8 and 15 at 3 p.m. in the UH Manoa Art Auditorium.) And Brandman credits KIDS FIRST! for bringing it together.

It was an Internet search that first introduced her to KIDS FIRST! Looking specifically for children’s programming, she says she came upon KIDS FIRST! in 2007 and thought, “This looks great. Could it really be this great?” 

The thrill of that discovery is still evident as she enthusiastically describes, “It was all there – the media literacy; broad participation [that includes] filmmakers, distributors, juries, films, the kids themselves and child advocates; and the notion of having criteria so the materials are appropriate [for kids of given age groups]. It was all there in one great package.”

Each year, Brandman develops a program balanced among age groups; animation and live action; features, shorts and foreign films. “Kids don’t get much of a chance to experience foreign films,” she says, noting that “we’re an island in the middle of the Pacific” and that she feels it’s important to expose kids to other cultures and see how the lives of kids in other countries are similar and different from their own.

Brandman is particularly excited about two feature films screening at this year’s festival: Miss Minoes, which she describes as an adorable film from a great distributor (Music Box Films), and Quill: The Life of A Guide Dog, shown in Japanese with subtitles. “In Hawaii, we have a lot of Japanese visitors and [a large] Japanese community, so I’m really pleased to be able to show such a heartwarming Japanese film.”

KIDS FIRST! has also been a marketer’s dream come true, Brandman has found, as we provide images and film clips for use in putting together the media releases. “It makes all the difference in the world when you supply [the media] with the material,” she explains. High-resolution images accompany the press releases she sends; select clips accompany her pitches to TV. Brandman gets the word out also by sending flyers to schools as well as notifying those on the University’s mailing list and getting the KIDS FIRST! film festival listed in the local events calendars.

And kids, she points out, always make for a good story – so this year, she has been making sure the local media know that one of Hawaii’s own, 15-year-old Blake Hawes, is a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic. Brandman’s appreciation of the KIDS FIRST! youth film critic program also reflects her background as a museum curator and her interest in improving kids’ media literacy. “Kids are so in the thick of [media onslaught], anything that can help them be critical consumers of information [is valuable]. That’s another part of KIDS FIRST! that’s so important.”

A good story can be well-told different ways. Wicked made a big splash giving an alternative understanding of Dorothy’s and Oz’s Wicked Witch of the West. Japanese Noh theater includes plays in which an action is retold from the point of view of each character. In Universal Pictures’ release Snow White and the Huntsman – which KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Anthony Aranda (age 10) says is “awesome” – director Rupert Sanders and writers Evan Daugherty, John Lee Hancock and Hossein Amini revisit the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. For more than seven decades the story has had the Walt Disney stamp of a fun children’s animation (Disney released the classic animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937), but its previous roots are in the stories collected by the Brothers Grimm, which hold a more sinister atmosphere than today’s “fairy tale” versions. Snow White and the Huntsman recreates that strong atmosphere of evil vs. good with all the fury that today’s audiences are used to in tales of magic and the supernatural.

Snow White and the Huntsman
Reviewed by Anthony Aranda
(See his full review on video.)

Snow and White and the Huntsman is an awesome new movie. I think this movie is great because it has lots of action and a little romance.

This move is all about Snow White, who had a happy life until her mother died and then the king found a new wife who turns out to be an evil queen. She locks Snow White away and the kingdom is very unhappy.

The main characters are Snow White (played by Kristen Stewart), the seven dwarfs, The Huntsman (played by Chris Hemsworth), the king, and the evil queen (Ravenna, played by Charlize Theron). My favorite characters are Snow White and The Huntsman because Snow White does not want to be killed so she stands up for herself and The Huntsman tries to save her. My favorite part in the movie is when Snow White and The Huntsman are in the village and he leaves and a little while later there are flaming arrows that come at the wood buildings so the houses start to burn down. This scene has a lot of action and suspense.

I would recommend this movie for ages 10 and up because I’m 10 and I loved this movie. I think that younger children might not like it because it is kind of violent and would scare them. This movie comes out in theaters on June 1st.

Photos: Snow White and the Huntsman poster (top), Anthony Aranda (bottom)

Indies and even student-produced films take their bows alongside major studio releases as KIDS FIRST! honors the films of 2011 that achieved the double goal of excellence in filmmaking and value in social messaging. Among the KIDS FIRST! Best Awards winners announced today are Paramount Home Entertaiment’s Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules and Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer (first, second and third place, respectively, in the 8-12 age group), and Walt Disney Company’s Prom, Front Porch Entertainment’s Who Is Simon Miller? and NBC’s Game Time: Tackling the Past (first, second and third place, respectively, in the 12-18 age group).

All films that screen at KIDS FIRST! film festivals are eligible for the KIDS FIRST! Best Awards. Entries are pared down to to the top 300, from which the final winners are, ultimately, selected by our senior jury, comprised of child development specialists, media professionals and film programmers. Visit kidsfirst.org/filmfestival/2011/Best2011Winners to see the complete list of this year’s winners. Shorts, foreign films, documentaries, student productions in different age categories and TV shows are among the other programming that is honored by KIDS FIRST! for its quality and value as not only entertainment for children but offering pro-social benefits as well. The more than 30 categories may include some special awards that vary from year to year. Check out the winners of previous years and see what the filmmakers say about the award.

While KIDS FIRST! is pleased to honor these filmmakers for providing quality entertainment, the filmmakers regularly turn credit back to KIDS FIRST!: “I believe it is crucial that quality programming be available for today’s children and the support and encouragement you give producers to provide such programming is invaluable. I thank you so much for your help!” says Pamela Pedder, screenwriter of I CAN Fairytales’ Dinosaur Adventure series.

Those of us able to remember strategy games of the pre-Internet era might recall the two-person contest “Battleship.” Following in the steps of the hugely successful franchise created from an amusement park ride (Pirates of the Caribbean), Erich and Jon Hoeber crafted a screenplay whose roots lie in a child’s game. While kids can be wowed by the movie’s special effects, adults might find additional entertainment in catching the hints throughout Battleship that hark to the game. Director Peter Berg, who also helmed Hancock, can be seen in front of the cameras for a small, unnamed part as JPJ 2nd Gunner. With just a word of caution about the movie’s violence, KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Anthony Aranda (age 9) gives it enthusiastic approval and says, “I think kids age 10 and up would love this movie … because it has so much action.”

Battleship
Reviewed by Anthony Aranda
(See his full review on video.)

This movie was awesome. I love it because it has a ton of action, lots of funny parts, and suspense.

The main characters in the movie are Alex Hopper (played by Taylor Kitsch), Sam (Brooklyn Decker), Cora (Rihanna) and Yugi (Tadanobu Asano). My favorite character is Alex Hopper because he is really funny and brave. He wants revenge on the aliens attacking them because they hurt his brother.

This movie is about Alex Hopper, who joins the Navy because he needs to get his life together. Yugi, the captain in the Navy, doesn’t really like Alex because he thinks Alex won’t be any help to them. Alex goes out on a destroyer to look for other boats and they come across a large mass in the water. That’s where they find the aliens and then start fighting for their lives. 

My favorite part in the movie is when Alex Hopper tries to get a burrito for a girl he likes named Sam. The kitchen is closed, so he goes through a lot of trouble to get her this burrito. It’s really funny because he falls down a few times and then gets chased by police who tazer him. It is hilarious!

I would recommend this movie for ages 10 and up because there is violence in the movie and is rated PG-13. I think kids 10 and up would love this movie, though, because it has so much action.

Photos: Battleship poster (top), Anthony Aranda (bottom)