{"id":20050,"date":"2021-02-04T08:33:49","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T13:33:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/"},"modified":"2021-02-04T09:01:40","modified_gmt":"2021-02-04T14:01:40","slug":"creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/","title":{"rendered":"Creative Keynote: Rebooting Blue\u2019s Clues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Traci Paige Johnson and Angela Santomero discussed the process that goes into making Blue\u2019s Clues & You!<\/em>, a reboot of the iconic preschool show for Nickelodeon, at the TV Kids Festival.<\/p>\n

The co-creators and executive producers of Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em> and Blue\u2019s Clues & You!<\/em> were interviewed by Kristin Brzoznowski, executive editor of TV Kids<\/em> and World Screen<\/em>, as part of the first of the day\u2019s creative keynotes at the TV Kids Festival. The duo began contemplating a reboot of the beloved preschool show\u2014which debuted in 1996\u2014back in the summer of 2016. They knew they wanted to bring something fresh to the reboot, especially as it came at a time when a generation that had grown up watching the original was now having children of its own. And while the media landscape has changed since the show first came out, Paige Johnson and Santomero\u2014who have both studied child development\u2014feel that the fundamentals of what kids need from entertainment have stayed the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em>, we wanted kids to be heard; that\u2019s why we started the interactivity,\u201d said Santomero, who is also chief creative officer at 9 Story Media Group. \u201cThat feeling of wanting to be heard, wanting to understand the world, being asked for your opinion makes you feel smart and empowered. That\u2019s been the mission from day one and we believe 100 percent that it\u2019s still true today.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what to keep from the original and what to adapt, Paige Johnson\u2014who voices Blue\u2014noted, \u201cWe knew we wanted to keep the clues, the interactivity, the building the self-esteem of preschoolers, and a live-action host. We wanted it to feel fresh look-wise, so making Blue 3D while still keeping our 2D cut-out aesthetic. And then the biggest thing was the notebook. We had millions of conversations: do we go digital, do we not go digital? It was the perfect kindergarten compromise of, let\u2019s do both!\u201d<\/p>\n

Santomero added, \u201cThat back to basics of being able to draw something but then also have it so we can have e-mail. And that changed what Mail Time was. We had to keep it, but how could we refresh it? Traci had designed an old-fashioned phone that was so stylized for the world; we didn\u2019t think kids would even know what that was! So the idea of video calls made so much more sense. And then, of course, the music changed. We wanted to have that refresh and give kids something that was their own with also keeping some of the standards there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finding Josh Dela Cruz to serve as host of the reboot was critical. \u201cNickelodeon did an amazing job casting,\u201d Paige Johnson said. \u201cThey got over 3,000 people. We did an open call. They were incredible in helping us find Josh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve Burns, the first host has also been part of the reboot. \u201cHe\u2019s a director on the series, he\u2019s a writer, he started brainstorming with us, helping us get feedback on finding the host, he\u2019s a consulting producer,\u201d Santomero said. \u201cHis voice is how we all started.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige Johnson added, \u201cSteve worked with Josh, handing over the baton, all the tools in the toolbelt for how to connect to the camera and feel like you\u2019re talking to the preschooler at home. And the famous pause and the eye blink. It\u2019s so wonderful to have Steve on board as part of the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brzoznowski then asked the co-creators to break down the production of an episode. \u201cWe start with the writing brainstorm,\u201d Santomero said. \u201cSo it all starts grounded in what we want as creators. We sit with other exec producers, the network and our writers to figure out what we want from the season, and then work directly with 9 Story and Brown Bag Films to create that mix of Blue in CG and then the 2D world.\u201d<\/p>\n

That mixture is key to why the reboot works so well, Paige Johnson added. \u201cThe mixed media of live action, 2D, 3D, that had never been done before. It takes a lot of planning. Once we have the script, we go into storyboard for the live-action shoot and we compose each shot as if Josh were an animated character in a storyboard. Then we shoot. Then we start building the designs and animation building around Josh. And then at the same time the 2D characters are animated, the 3D animators are working with the Josh footage, acting to Josh, and then it all comes together in the compositing and rendering.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process takes nine to ten months, they said. \u201cWe do multiple episodes at one time,\u201d Santomero explained. \u201cSometimes, the process can go faster. There\u2019s a lot of prep, so the more buttoned-up we are in prep, the faster and smoother the process can go.\u201d<\/p>\n

COVID-19, of course, provided some hiccups. \u201cWe weren\u2019t allowed to shoot live action for a long time,\u201d Paige Johnson said. \u201cBut we wanted to keep on schedule, so we started animating and then when we went into the studio, Josh would act to the animation, which was a new way of working.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brzoznowski asked Paige Johnson how she became the voice of Blue. \u201cAngela and I were doing the pilot and we didn\u2019t have a lot of money to do it. Blue didn\u2019t talk and we just went around the room of who could bark. And I could bark! We said, when we go to series, we\u2019ll get a real voice actor. But then, to my delight, everyone just got used to my voice. We auditioned a lot of people and Angela and Nickelodeon said, you\u2019re the voice! It\u2019s my favorite part of the job.\u201d<\/p>\n

The discussion then moved to all the multimedia extensions to the show. \u201cWe\u2019re looking into the camera and reaching out to kids and making sure they realize how smart they are,\u201d Santomero said. \u201cIt works in so many different areas,\u201d leading the team to make podcasts of bedtime stories, play-along videos and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were so excited when the iPad came along,\u201d Paige Johnson said. \u201cWe wanted to do interactivity. We were doing faux interactivity with the classic Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em>. To have the true interactive episodes where Josh asks for help and you actually choose the right one and you draw your own clues into the notebook, it was amazing!\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a YouTube channel, a range of consumer products and a presence at events like the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade and amusement parts. \u201cExperiencing Blue together as a family is so important to us,\u201d Paige Johnson added.<\/p>\n

Amid the COVID-19 era, Dela Cruz has been hosting virtual playdates that preschoolers can access on Nick and its social media channels, with the host filming direct-to-camera segments from his home. In addition, Burns and his successor as host, Donovan Patton, teamed with Dela Cruz to make the podcast Story Time with Josh & Blue.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur themes for new episodes come out of what we think kids need\u201d at this time, Santomero added. \u201cThe idea of emotional resilience and feeling that sense of community is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

The core tenets of Santomero and Paige Johnson\u2019s approach to content creation remain unchanged. \u201cWe want to empower and challenge and build the self-esteem of preschoolers while making them laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paige Johnson added, \u201cBoth of us as kids were so inspired by TV. It spoke to us. Wanting to have that impact on others and spreading good messages of creativity and self-esteem. More than just the show, it\u2019s what happens when you turn off the show. What are you inspired to do to make, create, be? We\u2019re so excited to be able to talk to kids and families and spread the message to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Santomero and Paige Johnson have new projects as well. Santomero is working on Karma\u2019s World<\/em>, created by multi-award-winning American rapper, actor, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist Chris \u2018Ludacris\u2019 Bridges. Paige Johnson co-created Gabby\u2019s Dollhouse<\/em> for DreamWorks Animation. \u201cWe\u2019re so excited that there are more amazing shows that came out of the work we have done together,\u201d Santomero said. \u201cThere are so many creators of hit shows that started working with us as writers [on Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em>]. Having shows that are promoting and respecting kids is exciting to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful family of all of us who worked on Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em>,\u201d Paige Johnson added. \u201cWe drank the Kool-Aid and are marinated in all the goodness that Blue\u2019s Clues<\/em> brings and it\u2019s spreading more thousands points of light to different shows and talking to kids and reaching families and inspiring creativity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Traci Paige Johnson and Angela Santomero discussed the process that goes into making Blue\u2019s Clues & You!, a reboot of the iconic preschool show for Nickelodeon, at the TV Kids Festival.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":20051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[3535,3998],"class_list":["post-20050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-blues-clues","tag-blues-clues-you","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nCreative Keynote: Rebooting Blue\u2019s Clues - TVKIDS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creative Keynote: Rebooting Blue\u2019s Clues - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Traci Paige Johnson and Angela Santomero discussed the process that goes into making Blue\u2019s Clues & You!, a reboot of the iconic preschool show for Nickelodeon, at the TV Kids Festival.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-04T13:33:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-04T14:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/2021-02-03-BluesClues.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/\",\"name\":\"Creative Keynote: Rebooting Blue\u2019s Clues - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-04T13:33:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-04T14:01:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/creative-keynote-rebooting-blues-clues\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Creative Keynote: Rebooting Blue\u2019s Clues\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\",\"name\":\"TVKIDS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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