{"id":21742,"date":"2021-10-15T08:50:40","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T12:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2022-03-24T12:44:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-24T16:44:23","slug":"south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/","title":{"rendered":"South African Creators Find Success with Kiff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The animated buddy comedy series <em>Kiff<\/em>, following the titular optimistic squirrel whose best intentions often lead to chaos, is coming to Disney Channel and Disney+ in 2023. The series is a passion project for South African creators Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal, who always dreamed of creating their own show but never thought it would be possible living in Cape Town.<\/p>\n<p>Heavens and Smal make a dynamic duo, as Heavens specializes in writing (with credits for <em>Space Chickens in Space<\/em>) and Smal is more of a visual artist (with credits as an animator for <em>Caillou<\/em>). When they met, they found that their talents meshed well together, and they \u201cdecided to just \u2018make a show\u2019 to pitch,\u201d Smal says.<\/p>\n<p>The two set out to develop a series that was \u201ca vehicle for the kinds of stories we wanted to tell and the types of characters we thought were funny and interesting,\u201d Heavens says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat really was surprising was how quickly and effortlessly the characters and world started to reveal themselves to us,\u201d Smal adds. \u201cIt didn\u2019t feel like work at all, and we both could sense there was something magical taking shape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heavens initially pitched <em>Kiff<\/em> to Disney in Los Angeles and, after several months, Disney optioned it. Heavens and Smal worked together with Disney Television Animation to develop the series. \u201cWe really took the reins through our development journey, designing the characters and aesthetic, storyboarding the pilot ourselves, and writing and producing the songs,\u201d Smal says. \u201cDisney really let our voice come through in this way, and we are just so grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though Heavens\u2019 talents are geared toward words and Smal\u2019s are geared toward art, the two have similar comedic sensibilities. \u201cThe end result is strengthened by each of us casting a critical eye over the other\u2019s work,\u201d Heavens says. \u201cSomewhere we heard the term \u2018the third brain,\u2019 which is created when he and I are working together\u2014it\u2019s kind of its own voice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cthird brain\u201d was especially useful when crafting <em>Kiff<\/em>\u2019s original music, an integral part of the show. Heavens and Smal knew from the beginning that music would be a major part of the project, as \u201cmusic and comedy is like avocado on toast\u2014they just work so well together,\u201d Smal jokes.<\/p>\n<p>Smal is a musician with experience in musical comedy, while Heavens says her experience consists of \u201cwriting funny and terrible songs that make me laugh.\u201d When they work on songs together, \u201cthe \u2018third brain\u2019 gets to have its say,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>The creators pay homage to their home country with visual environments drawing on Cape Town flora and geography, especially Table Mountain. The series maintains global appeal through its depiction of the universal growing-up experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe show navigates friendships, rivalries, families [and] society in a way that anyone who\u2019s ever been told\u2014or has had to tell their kid\u2014to brush their teeth will relate to,\u201d Heavens says.<\/p>\n<p>Smal adds, \u201cPair that with the different perspective of growing up in South Africa, and the result is something that feels surprising and familiar all at once.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, \u201cWe hope <em>Kiff<\/em> imparts empathy for all people,\u201d Heavens notes. \u201cEveryone in this show, good guy or villain, is fighting some internal battle of hope, insecurity, longing, expectations, ambition. Hopefully, it sparks curiosity to ask: Why did I just say that? Why did I behave that way?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Smal adds, \u201cThe wonderful message of this show is that it celebrates the magic of life in the big moments, as well as the small and seemingly insignificant. It shows kids how fulfilling it is to find passion, live in the moment and that it is always way better to move through life seeing the glass as half full.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Heavens and Smal can serve as inspiration for other aspiring animators who might think they don\u2019t have a chance because of where they come from. \u201cIf you want to pitch your own show, make sure that it\u2019s going to be something you really want to watch; that\u2019s what comes through in your pitch, your joy for your show!\u201d Heavens advises. \u201cAnd, of course, remember that a lot of things feel impossible to get to from the developing world\u2014but nothing is impossible. You can figure it out!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal, the South African creators of the animated buddy comedy series Kiff, on making the Disney series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":21743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,21],"tags":[110,111,6222,6220,6221],"class_list":["post-21742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-disney","tag-disney-channel","tag-kiff","tag-lucy-heavens","tag-nic-smal","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>South African Creators Find Success with Kiff - 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\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"South African Creators Find Success with Kiff - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lucy Heavens and Nic Smal, the South African creators of the animated buddy comedy series Kiff, on making the Disney series.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-15T12:50:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-24T16:44:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2017\/07\/Lucy-Heavens-and-Nic-Smal-Kiff.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"272\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/\",\"name\":\"South African Creators Find Success with Kiff - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-15T12:50:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-24T16:44:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/south-african-creators-find-success-with-kiff\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"South African Creators Find Success with Kiff\"}]},{\"@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\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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