here<\/a><\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\nStanford said she heard the phrase from a friend several years ago, \u201cWhen she described it, I was like, I think that\u2019s the kind of storytelling I\u2019d love to do at The Jim Henson Company! Hope punk is basically, in my opinion, making corny cool again, bringing positivity back to programming, optimistic futures, feel good\u2014that\u2019s how the Muppets made me feel as a child! We felt like anything was possible in the world. Hope punk is this roadmap to the type of programming we create. We create inspiring [content]. We want people to feel innovative. We want them to thrive. We want them to feel really good once they watch our programs. We want to be super cool too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brzoznowski asked Stanford how she and her teams are developing programming to support and inspire action in kids. \u201cI talk about the war cry of our shows. We look to build first friends. They\u2019re going to entertain our kids in the programming. They\u2019re going to engage them, and they\u2019re going to play with our audience. These friends are changemakers, and we look to them for inspiring meaning for preschoolers as they move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The upcoming slate at the company includes shows about dealing with anxiety, being emotionally diverse and climate activism. The company also tries to infuse in its shows themes like \u201cjoy, inspiration, how to have agency in the world in this age group. We also like to celebrate artists. I think that\u2019s where we can stand alone and be unique. And then, we create fantasy spaces and fantasy landscapes. We can deliver the big wish fulfillment for kids and work on the most important thing: their imaginations. That\u2019s what The Jim Henson Company can do in entertainment: build that muscle of imagination in adult viewers and kids and preschoolers. It\u2019s the best gift we can give everybody on our shows.\u201d<\/p>\n
On continuing Jim Henson\u2019s legacy in the company\u2019s slate, Stanford referenced \u201cThe Rainbow Connection,\u201d Kermit the Frog\u2019s iconic song from The Muppet Movie<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m going to give everybody a little secret: If you break down the lyrics, there\u2019s a whole secret formula that he gives all of us for our creativity! For us, it\u2019s always: innovate visually, characters first, work with other dreamers and lovable weirdos. We strive for excellence. The co-viewing experience is really important. We talk a lot about transformative television\u2014when I\u2019m done watching the show, I want to feel transformed. I want to feel like kids, and their parents can walk away and say, you know what, I\u2019m going to go out there and make the world a better place for myself, for others, for my community. All of those things carry on in the Jim Henson DNA.\u201d<\/p>\nStanford then talked about the Fraggle Rock<\/em> revival on Apple TV+. \u201cWe sat down with them and figured out, how can we still bring that message of making the world a better place in the 21st century? The topics were a little bit different this time than they were in the \u201980s, and some of them were the same. The heart of it stayed the same. The essence of Fraggle Rock<\/em> stayed the same. We were excited to be given an opportunity to make it a premium Fraggle Rock<\/em>. It was like Fraggle Rock<\/em> 2.0. Let\u2019s expand the world and the color, let\u2019s have a filmic vision for the series. And I think we succeeded.\u201d<\/p>\nThe rise of the premium streamers has enabled The Jim Henson Company to revisit some of its classic properties in series form. \u201cThey became very interested in our bigger IP. And they were able to help us produce these shows at a level that could be executed for the marketplace. The whole reason that I am at The Jim Henson Company is because of Fraggle Rock<\/em> and The Dark Crystal<\/em>. Creating new series based on those franchises was a total dream come true, but couldn\u2019t have been possible until the industry shifted its attention to really wanting to create this type of event programming for families.\u201d<\/p>\nOn developing shows that will speak to kids and resonate with caregivers, Stanford said: \u201cThe three things that bond families together\u2014and we infuse these in our shows\u2014are comedy, nostalgia and music. For preschool, we talk a lot about providing parents a toolbox to help them model the learning\u2014whatever the show is trying to teach\u2014outside of the home and inside of the home. We\u2019re always encouraging kids to get up and get outside, get creative and get active. Those messages are always in there. I think that parents appreciate that. The thing that we do so well at Henson is we celebrate families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stanford then discussed the considerations that go into what style is best for a program, given the company\u2019s skills set across live action, animation and puppetry. \u201cIt\u2019s whatever medium the story calls for. Sometimes, there could be a debate. Harriet the Spy<\/em> was a debate. Do we do live action again, or do we do animation and make it all about 1962, New York City? Then we don\u2019t need a $2 million budget to go back in time, and we can make it feel like this fantasy New York. So animation just seemed the right way to go. We had it inspired [by] the author\u2019s illustrations of Harriet. With a puppet project, particularly in prime time, when we\u2019re building creatures, it has to do with creating a magical reality. There\u2019s nothing like a puppet or a creature to pull you into another universe, another story. We play in all kinds of mediums. We\u2019re just always pushing the visuals.\u201d<\/p>\nA screening of two episodes of Word Party<\/em> followed Stanford\u2019s keynote.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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