The Jim Henson Company’s Halle Stanford

Halle Stanford, president of television for The Jim Henson Company, talks to TV Kids about how the company is delivering on passion points of education, the environment, world peace and the arts through programming that young ones and families can bond over together.

An Emmy-winning and 11-time Emmy-nominated television producer, and 30-year veteran of The Jim Henson Company, Stanford has been rallying a “hope punk” war cry, setting about to give kids and families a hopeful feeling for the future and to make “corny cool again.” This mission is carried out through her role as president of television for The Jim Henson Company, where creating transformative TV has long been the ethos. Stanford follows in the footsteps of the legendary Jim Henson himself in wanting to deliver on passion points of education, the environment, world peace and the arts through programming that young ones and families can bond over together.

TV KIDS: What are some of the keys to creating content that the whole family can enjoy together?
STANFORD: There are three things that I have learned will definitely bond a family together on the couch, and it’s three things that Henson does really well. The first one is comedy. I love I Love Lucy; it was the first show I remember laughing with my mom about, and it is now the show my son and I watch together. Comedy will always bond a family. The second thing is music. Singing songs together from a young to old age bonds families together in a joyful way. The music that my family sang together was heavy on The Muppets, Sesame Street and all kinds of Broadway musicals. The third part of the secret sauce is nostalgia, meaning the shows that moms, dads, grandparents or caregivers loved watching when they were growing up and now want to share with their kids. So, looking at what is on television now in this space, of course, Fraggle Rock qualifies as well as Star Wars spin-offs or even Cobra Kai. Those three things—comedy, music and nostalgia—really can bring a family together on the couch. And when I say “family,” I mean all kinds of families—traditional, blended and extended. Families that include preschoolers all the way up to grandparents.

Additionally, at The Jim Henson Company, we want to create transformative television. Families are enlightened these days and very selective about what they want to watch together on TV. From my perspective, as a producer, you need to create a show where the audience feels like they are part of the family that they’re watching. With Sid the Science Kid, there’s a song that he sings in the backseat, “I love my mom! My mom’s so cool!” It’s just a little ditty, but it has 5 million views on YouTube. Why? Because moms ARE cool! And Mom likes to be told she’s cool, and kids love to hear Sid sing it.

We also try to have real messaging in our programming. We really think about what families need. Even before the pandemic, I felt that families needed hopeful messaging projected to them in their shows. They needed to feel good. I wanted that Happy Days, Little House on the Prairie kind of feeling in our shows. My war cry is: More hope punk, and making corny cool again.

And finally, it’s also all about creating innovative, stellar, high-quality productions; a show where you feel like you’re part of the magic. Sitting down and watching The Mandalorian with your family is exciting—to be together and part of that magic. So, all those things together really help create family entertainment that will bond an entire family together.

TV KIDS: In this increasingly saturated TV market, what does a show need to stand out and grab an audience?
STANFORD: Number one, a great marketing budget. There are tons of wonderful television series available for audiences right now, so it’s all about finding them and helping families to navigate the roadmap to the show that’s right for them. People are looking to feel a certain way, whether that’s intrigued, excited or transformed. So, if a show can headline for a viewer how it will make them feel, they’ll go right to it.

For parents, I believe they want two things for their kids: They want them to survive in the future, and they want them to be happy. And survival translates to being successful in school and in life. So, they’re going to look for shows that actually help them achieve their learning potential, shows that might teach them to read or may inspire them to explore STEAM learning. They also want their kids to be happy, so once a child hooks into a property they love, parents are happy to support it. News flash: Parents like it when their kids are smiling. Finding that combination of survival and happiness in a show for parents is their golden ticket.

For kids, what they’re looking for is a friend they want to hang out with every day. My son wants to hang out every day with MrBeast on YouTube. Another child might want to hang out with Bluey every day. You’ve got to create a friend, or group of friends, that entices kids. I also truly believe that kids want to be taught things they are curious about. If a child wants to know more about, let’s say, Minecraft, they’re going to seek it out—and they will find it because there’s so much content out there. So again, marketing support is important to help kids steer toward the programming they are seeking. Kids are also always looking for social and cultural currency. What I mean by that is that if they see a popular Marvel movie, that gives them currency on the playground to say, “Yeah, I’m in the know.” So, creating programming that will be part of that currency is really important.

TV KIDS: How did Slumberkins come about, and what’s the series’ USP?
STANFORD: It’s a pretty magical story of how it came about. I was at an event in 2016 where young children were encouraged to ask a leading political figure any questions that were on their minds. The questions they asked—these children were maybe 8 or 9—blew my mind! Everything from climate change to their safety at schools to their own anxieties. Having been an anxious child myself, I realized we needed to create a show that helps children manage these big fears on their own so they can see the pathway to a thriving future. So, I began looking for an idea or creator that filled this creative bucket. I was so fortunate to attend a female entrepreneur conference that had a very specific emphasis on moms, where I met Kelly Oriard and Callie Christensen. I fell in love with their property, a book and toy therapy line called Slumberkins that was trying to achieve the same type of messaging that I had been looking for, focusing on emotional regulation, self-regulation and managing issues like anxiety and self-esteem. And it featured a wonderful set of characters that I just knew we could bring to life beautifully at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop.

The show is all about helping kids feel in charge of harder issues that they face in their lives. Puppets were the obvious choice for the series since they are, in my opinion, the best way to create a feeling of intimacy, safety and engagement with young kids and to get them to really open up.

The extra secret sauce was that we brought on board Ingrid Michaelson to make all the music, and she’s been with the project from the beginning. As you and I were just talking about how a show can make people feel, well, we also think about how moms and dads and caregivers feel when they’re watching the show. Knowing that Ingrid Michaelson is a very beloved musician with millennial moms, we thought it would make them feel so good to hear her music and to feel sentimental and loving as they watch the show with their children. So that was a little extra special thing that we got to add to the show. I hope the series helps children find peace within themselves and helps them face whatever challenge comes their way in the future as they ask these sorts of hard questions about the world.

TV KIDS: Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is a resounding success. Tell us about that show and why it’s beloved.
STANFORD: Well, it’s got the best theme song ever written [laughs]! I also think that the intention and messaging behind the show have continued to resonate with families for these last 40 years. We certainly have carried that intention through to Back to the Rock. Jim Henson wanted to create a show that brought about world peace. He felt a real responsibility after the international success of The Muppet Show to create a show that could impact the planet. So Fraggle Rock focused on interconnectivity, the differences between the species of Fraggles, Doozers, Gorgs—and the “silly creatures” that are human beings. We took that same intention and infused it into our series. The show is joyful, and the music is incredible. It creates this perfect fantasy for kids: just think, right under your feet, there could be a whole world of lovable and darling Fraggles.

Bringing it back at this time feels very hope punk and exactly like what families need today. We need a feel-good show that also helps tackle bigger issues in a celebratory way. The success of the show today is that we have the A-team on it: every single person—from John Tartaglia, the heart of our show who plays Gobo; to Matt Fusfeld and Alex Cuthbertson, who are the writers and showrunners; to Harvey Mason Jr., our executive music producer. They’re all fans! And that also goes for the celebrity voices that we brought on board. Daveed Diggs was over the moon to be in the series. And even on our earlier shorts, Tiffany Haddish had her hair like Red when she showed up to do the project. There are so many legit fans, and again, that nostalgia is part of the secret sauce. There is this great love and reverence for the property, and then we also want to plus it more. And Apple TV+ gave us the opportunity to produce a truly premium series. Harvey Mason Jr. gave us a modern sound, and Alex and Matt are fantastic comedy writers and brought on a new family of friends and a higher level of comedy that brings in families—so we plussed it on all levels.

And the series is relevant to today’s kids. Season one deals with shared resources, anxiety, echo chambers, commercialism and being brave enough to stand up for your identity and who you are. We researched what families and kids are thinking about right now and identified topics we’re all dealing with to infuse into our stories. That’s the other reason the show is hitting the right heartbeat with audiences; they feel like they’re being seen and heard, all while having a lot of fun together.

TV KIDS: Harriet the Spy is continuing on an IP originally from the ’60s. Tell us about some of the timeless values in the IP, but also how it has been updated for a modern audience.
STANFORD: Lisa Henson and I both loved the book as little girls. In rereading it when it was brought to us by 2 Friends Entertainment and Rehab Entertainment, I had forgotten how punk rock Harriet was, how outspoken, and how she was a little bit of a time traveler. She felt like a modern kid, and that’s what really attracted us to the property. We thought, Wow!, she is so relatable to today’s kids; wouldn’t it be fun to do a series that’s of that time period in animation and still reflecting today’s kids, which is quite an ambitious and innovative concept. We feel like the fantasy of New York City in the ’60s is right at home with the wish fulfillment we like to deliver at The Jim Henson Company. It was fun creating this magical New York City, where Harriet navigates it with her friends and has her own artistic adventures.

Speaking of her artistic adventures, what really spoke to us at The Jim Henson Company about Harriet was that she is an artist, à la Jim Henson. She is learning how to become a writer and express herself creatively. She has bumps and ups and downs, just like adult artists. We thought that should be reflected in the series, and we wanted the imperfections of her journey reflected as well.

Boy, did we have fun going period with Harriet the Spy! It was pretty exciting. I was fortunate in that I got to write an episode that takes place at the World’s Fair. It was really fun to research that and go back in time. The World’s Fair was when the first videophones were seen, and people thought, That’s crazy! Who would ever talk on the phone and see each other? We think kids will get a kick out of that time traveling and the commentary on today’s audiences.

TV KIDS: How do your personal passion points of education, the environment, world peace and the arts inform your work at The Jim Henson Company?
STANFORD: I model myself as a producer after Kermit the Frog and Mary Poppins. À la Kermit, I want to make entertainment that makes people happy and feel good about themselves. Like Mary Poppins, I want to bring magic to their lives, make them feel transformed and as if they’re thriving. I want audiences to see themselves up there being celebrated.

I’m a student of what kids are learning, need in the moment and in the future. I’m always indulging in the next curriculum that will enrich their lives and get them excited about education—from preschool through college. The first STEAM show ever on the air was Sid the Science Kid, because we were excited about the need for this educational learning for this age group. I’m very proud that the first engineering-design thinking series, Doozers, came out of our department. The first digital citizenship series was our show Dot.Even the first paleontology preschool series was Dinosaur Train. Forward-thinking education is a passion of mine, and I feel so blessed to be at The Jim Henson Company because it’s something we’re all passionate about here as well.

My current personal passion is celebrating Jewish stories. I am a Jewish woman. I am constantly looking to represent diverse voices on our slate. And I realized last year the one voice I wasn’t representing on our slate was mine! So, we’ve put a few series into development. We recently announced the development of All-of-a-Kind Family, based on the classic book series that follows a Jewish family at the turn of the 20th century on New York’s Lower East Side. The other shows haven’t been announced, but I’m very excited that there’s a lot of Jew joy in them, and I’m excited to get those out there.

A huge mission for our company right now is wanting to work to make the world a more sustainable place, addressing climate change and inspiring climate activism. We want to encourage kids and families to get out there and be part of this mission. Our goal in our shows is to project a hopeful future and a yellow brick road of how we can get there. I’ve been reading up on solar punk, which I’m very excited about, as a possible means to a hopeful, sustainable future. There’s a lot of information out there about what’s going on with the planet, and it’s really important that we get everyone to care. The first show we’ll take out to market is an animated show called Gizmo Girls, about three real girls with superhero-like spirits who are builders, makers and doers. They’re using their hands-on skills and critical-thinking skills to solve problems in their community with a specific eco-friendly slant. I hope we find a really good home for it. I think that kids really deserve this show.

In terms of world peace, the best we can do is weave our shows with messaging and roadmaps on how to make the world a better place. We’re doing that with Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, and we try to do that in all of our series. Jim Henson did this every day of his life, alongside those great artists he worked with, and now I’m very privileged to do the same, following in the footsteps of all these great and creative human beings.