Turning your TV Time into Quality Time
December 11, 2009 Issue #12
Christine L. Pollock, Editor Ranny Levy, Publisher
By subscription only!
Christine L. Pollock, Editor |
Ranny Levy, Publisher Granny Ranny's Addenda |
Entertainment Insider News
The temperature plummeted into single digits, but spirits soared in Santa Fe on the weekend of December 5, 2009. Producers, animators, screenplay writers, educators and others involved in film-making gathered together to attend the KIDS FIRST! Best awards to highlight the best of the best and chat about the industry.
Nominees from places as far-reaching as England and the east coast toured through the KIDS FIRST! office on Friday before settling in for an evening of fantastic food and conversation as they sat down to sample New Mexican fare. Saturday morning broke crisp and clear, a beautiful backdrop for the awards celebration at the Museum of New Mexico: Palace of the Governors. KIDS FIRST! trustee, Nancy Kenney, hosted the awards ceremony and announced winners while attendees viewed film clips from the nominees and met the newest KIDS FIRST! board member, actor Brittany Curran ("Legally Blondes," "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," "Men of a Certain Age").
During an open house after the awards ceremony, KIDS FIRST! film profesionals mingled with KIDS FIRST! staff, including the founder and president of KIDS FIRST!, Ranny Levy; senior vice president of marketing, Ann Church; and jury coordinator, Lauren Longworth. Then everyone headed over to a special luncheon catered by the Santa Fe School of Cooking. This was a great time for relaxation and celebration where filmmakers and screenwriters talked about their past projects and upcoming ones. The stories behind the stories demonstrated how these creators rose to the top. They perservered by overcoming incredible obstacles thrown in their path. "The Drama Kids" team hiked up a glacier with their crew and equipment to get a perfect shot. Composer Matthew Craig pushed through to finalize "The Magic Woods: The Magic Butterfly " after an accident which caused blindness and deafness in one eye and ear. Other creators had similar stories, which proved their dedication to making quality films for children.
The awards weekend concluded with a standing-room-only panel focusing on "How to Get Your Independent Film Into Distribution." KIDS FIRST! awards winner, Chris Kientz joined Ann Church, Sheri Bryant and Margaret Tritch, president of Maitland Primrose Group on the panel to discuss the inner workings behind DVD and film distribution, licensing, digital distribution and virtual worlds.
A general concensus from award winners Carma Dillon ( "Saardu: The Adventure Begins") and R. Schweiger and Julian Cohen ("Space Race") was that it was an honor to win an award from KIDS FIRST! because it validates their ideas, concepts and beliefs in films appropriate for children. They pointed out that it was a big deal. Award winner Dana Wax ("Lila Lymphocyte Saves the Day") said that receiving an award showed that she was on the right track. She also said that sometimes when you leave school you feel alone. Receiving the award shows that "someone is in your corner right our of school." Dillon summed it up, "This is like the Oscars to me - to get an award focused on what's appropriate for children."
For a complete list of the KIDS FIRST! Best award winners, go to our website, and check out pictures from our awards weekend. Double click the pictures for hi-resolution images.
Continue checking the KIDS FIRST! News Blog and future newsletters for detailed interviews with our winners.
Plugged in Parents/Educators
It’s the holiday season! Grab some egg nog and some popcorn and check out some of our favorite KIDS FIRST! flicks.
Christmas Story. This is the feature debut by Finnish director, Juha Wuolijoki, who creates a wonderfully believably story about the unique journey of the young boy who becomes Santa Claus. Raised by an entire village after he loses his family he is passed from one family to the next every Christmas day. KIDS FIRST! Child Juror Comments: "I would watch it over again, probably during the holiday season with my family." "My friends would enjoy it as well. Nicholas was left without a family and because not one family could take on the responsibility of raising a child, the entire village helped raise Nicholas. "I liked the photography."
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Wubbzy's Christmas Adventure. Holiday time in Wuzzleburg is great fun when you are surrounded by your best buddies. Join Wubbzy and the gang as they build snow sculptures and go sledding. It’s up to Wubbzy and his sidekicks, Walden and Daizy and Widget to work together to make things holiday happy. Cute songs will have your little ones dancing and singing along. This DVD promotes balanced appreciation of self and others. KIDS FIRST! Child Juror Comments: The adventures with Wubbzy are always fun. It showed that you can solve things by thinking hard and with some friends to help.
The Dog Who Saved Christmas. What you do when a family wants you to be a guard dog, but you are afraid to bark? It’s up to Zeus to save Christmas as the family heads out of the house on Christmas Eve, and two bumbling burglars attempt to steal their presents. This entertaining story will have you laughing and cheering. Similar to the “Home Alone” movies, it’s filled with traps and ingenuity. The story has a heart-warming ending. “The Dog Who Saved Christmas” provides positive role models for overcoming fears. KIDS FIRST Child Juror Comments: " I think my friends would love this because they love animals, and it’s a pretty good story." "The set was good and made me feel like Christmas."
December Sweepstakes
Enter our sweepstakes for a chance to win a free copy of one of the following fantastic KIDS FIRST! titles:
Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre brings to life twenty-six of the most magical fairy tales of all time. Directed by such masters of cinema as Tim Burton and Francis Ford Coppola, and star-powered by Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Mick Jagger, James Earl Jones, Howie Mandel, Christopher Reeve, Susan Sarandon and more, this collection is an unparalleled treasury of best-loved tales of enchantment, adventure and wonder.
Aliens in the Attic It’s summer vacation, but the Pearson family kids are stuck at a boring lake house with their nerdy parents. That is until feisty, little, green aliens crash-land on the roof, with plans to conquer the house AND Earth! Using only their wits, courage and video game-playing skills, the youngsters must band together to defeat the aliens and save the world -- but the toughest part might be keeping the whole thing a secret from their parents! Featuring an all-star cast including Ashley Tisdale, Andy Richter, Kevin Nealon and Tim Meadows, "Aliens In The Attic" is the most fun you can have on this planet!
Congratulations to our November winners.
Blogs: Up-to-Date News from our President and VP and Jury Manager
Granny
Ranny's Addenda
PBS Kids and PBS Kids Go Offer Holiday Themed Programming for December
PBS KIDS and PBS KIDS GO! celebrate the holidays with snowy explorations and super-powered parties with new episodes of DINOSAUR TRAIN and WORDGIRL, as well as favorite holiday specials from ARTHUR and CURIOUS GEORGE ... - Read More
Holiday Safety Tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics
The holidays are an exciting time of year for kids, and to help ensure they have a safe holiday season, here are some tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). ... - Read More
Ann's Marketing Memes
Special Awards Given to Middle School Production at the KIDS FIRST! Awards Ceremony.
Studio execs get lunch with Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop, but the independent filmmakers attended the Santa Fe Film Festival to celebrate and receive their 2009 KIDS FIRST! Best Awards. Ninety three awards in 32 categories were given to indie and student filmmakers and writers at the Awards Ceremony, opened by Lisa Strout, Director of the New Mexico Film Commission.
... - Read More
KIDS FIRST! Jury Blog From Jury Manager Lauren Longworth
Become a Juror in Time for the Holidays
Our December class was just announced and it’s filling up quickly. A little later in the month than usual, due to our annual awards ceremony on December 5, but still in time for the holiday season. ... - Read More
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.
