WordGirl

TV Kids
Weekly, August 21, 2007

ORIGIN: WordGirl is based on an original concept by
Dorothea Gillim. A former fifth-grade teacher, Gillim is now a producer with
Scholastic Media’s animation production studio, Soup2Nuts. Gillim wanted to
make literacy and eloquence a superpower, just like super speed or super
strength.

DISTRIBUTOR:
Scholastic Media

CREATOR
& EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Dorothea Gillim

TV SHOW: WordGirl chronicles the adventures of Becky
Botsford, a mild-mannered fifth grader who, at the call of duty, transforms
into WordGirl—caped crusader and definition dynamo. When there is trouble
in The City, this super heroine-in-disguise uses vocabulary to defeat outlaws
bent on “WORD” domination. With the help of her faithful monkey sidekick,
Captain Huggy Face, WordGirl spends each episode defeating a quirky cast of
misfit bad guys and gals with her uncanny vocabulary skills and superhero
strength.

The series is
designed to enrich children’s vocabulary, instill a love of language and foster
better reading comprehension. Through humorous and engaging story lines and a
wacky cast of characters, WordGirl will introduce 6-to-8-years-olds to an array of words in a
context that is fun and thoroughly exciting.

WordGirl boasts an all-star cast of veteran
actors and comedians, including Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), who narrates the series; Dannah
Feinglass (FOX’s Madtv, VH1’s Best Week Ever), who voices the show’s super heroine WordGirl and her alter-ego
Becky Botsford; Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development) as the voice of Mr. Big; Tom Kenny (SpongeBob
SquarePants, Foster’s
Home for Imaginary Friends) as Dr. Two-Brains and WordGirl’s younger brother, TJ; Cree
Summers (Clifford the Big Red Dog, Chalk Zone) as Granny May; Ryan Raddatz (A Mighty Wind, Big Love, How I Met Your Mother) as Mr. Botsford and Becky’s classmate
and best friend, Scoops; Maria Bamford (Barnyard, The Comedians of Comedy) as Mrs. Botsford and Becky’s best
friend, Violet; and Fred Stoller (Everybody Loves Raymond), who plays Chuck the Evil
Sandwich-Making Guy.

Scholastic’s
award-winning animation studio Soup2Nuts will produce 26, 2-D half-hour
episodes.

COMMISSIONING/MAIN
BROADCASTER: WordGirl will premiere on September 7 on PBS
KIDS GO! in the U.S.

TV SALES: Australia (ABC), Canada (TV Ontario and
Knowledge Network) and Israel (NOGA).

CONSUMER
PRODUCTS: All WordGirl
products will extend
the show’s themes of vocabulary, humor and superhero action. Key product
categories will include publishing, interactive, home video, electronic
learning aids, board games, puzzles, apparel, accessories and Halloween
costumes. The consumer-products program will launch later in 2008.

STRATEGY FOR
ROLLOUT: WordGirl first debuted on PBS KIDS GO! as on-air
and online shorts in November 2006. It was picked up for a full season order in
April 2007. The 26×30-minute series will be launched on the international
market at MIPCOM. The first 13 half-hour episodes will be available in May
2008, with the following 13 set for rollout in May 2009.

“WordGirl is smart, funny and kids will leave
each episode laughing and learning,” according to Linda Kahn, the senior VP of
international TV sales and merchandising at Scholastic. “Broadcasters are
looking for original entertaining series and WordGirl fits the bill. The stories are well
written, have inventive characters and the animation style is fresh. Villains
include a bank-robbing granny, evil sandwich-making guy, boy genius and many
more. What other series has perilous predicaments, cliffhanger endings and a
loyal monkey sidekick? Plus, it’s high time that eloquence was added to the
list of super powers.”

At present,
Scholastic is working on television sales for the series. “We’ll be screening
episodes at MIPCOM Jr.,” Kahn says. “Response has been terrific so far. We are
looking for the broadest possible reach for the series and hope to have it on
the pan-regional cable and satellite networks as well as on terrestrial
networks. This has worked well with other series from Scholastic Media and we’re
optimistic about the pick-up for WordGirl.”

Kahn notes
that the series comes with a package of shorts and is available in both
26×30-minute and 52×11-minute episodes. “The 1- to 2-minute shorts can be
screened both on TV and on the Internet. Making the series available in
different formats is important to reach our target audience. We want WordGirl to be highly accessible.”

On the
merchandising front, the U.S. rollout is due for 2008, with international
launch slated for 2009 “after WordGirl has had a chance to build awareness,” Kahn explains.