{"id":9752,"date":"2016-03-25T11:10:37","date_gmt":"2016-03-25T15:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/"},"modified":"2016-03-28T14:23:37","modified_gmt":"2016-03-28T18:23:37","slug":"the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jim Henson Company\u2019s Lisa Henson"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0CEO offers\u00a0insight into how the company\u00a0is seeking out and developing innovative new shows like the upcoming\u00a0<\/em>Dot., adapted from the book by Randi Zuckerberg.<\/em><\/p>\n

For more than five decades, The Jim Henson Company has been delivering high-quality, parent-friendly content for kids everywhere. Building on her father\u2019s legacy, CEO Lisa Henson is ensuring that the company continues to keep up with the rapid changes in how young ones consume content.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>Dot.<\/em>\u00a0has been getting a lot of buzz. How did The Jim Henson Company come to be associated with that project?
\nHENSON:<\/strong>\u00a0We saw the book, which we thought was adorable and unique. It\u2019s a very simple book, but the subject matter is something that we hadn\u2019t seen yet in terms of literary properties or even TV properties being pitched. Dot is a digital native, a young girl who is very comfortable with tech and it doesn\u2019t detract from her real-life activities. The technology she uses adds to the richness of her life. We immediately saw that as an arena that is unique and needed today.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0How are you keeping returning brands like\u00a0Dinosaur Train<\/em>\u00a0fresh?
\nHENSON:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019m glad you brought up\u00a0Dinosaur Train<\/em>\u00a0because we just did what we call season four, but actually the show premiered in 2009 and it\u2019s been continuously in production for seven years. We love that show. We feel it has endless creative possibilities because the Mesozoic Era is so rich with creatures and science that kids are unfamiliar with. We never feel tapped out with\u00a0Dinosaur Train<\/em>. We have so much fun coming up with the event programs and the specials and the stunt weeks that keep the show fresh. We\u2019re layering in new subjects, new vehicles, new characters all the time, so the original episodes kids are familiar with are still good, but we\u2019re freshening it all the time with new elements. It\u2019s hard to come up with a show that will break through the critical first two to three years in which it will either succeed on a big level or quietly go away as a minor success.\u00a0Dinosaur Train<\/em>\u00a0is our perennial success story.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0Is there a different process for developing a property for a digital platform as compared with making one for a traditional linear broadcaster?
\nHENSON:<\/strong>\u00a0In minor ways, yes; in the major ways, no. The shows are distinguished by having good characters, strong story lines and unique curriculums, and those qualities are going to be the same in either way the show is premiered. Perhaps the differences are in the way we craft the deal or the way the show is administered.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>When kids have so many other distractions, how do you attract them and keep them tuned in?
\nHENSON:<\/strong> It\u2019s interesting that Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are all preferring to do programs that are at least 11 minutes long. The idea that the programming should be short and oriented to short attention spans isn\u2019t holding true for those digital platforms. These digital network platforms want stories that are engaging and 11 minutes long at least.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>Are you developing any content outside of the preschool segment?
\nHENSON:<\/strong>\u00a0We have a good amount of development in both the bridge age group and also 6 and up. We have a couple of things in development for teens or tweens. Historically as a company we\u2019ve done family entertainment and fantasy\/sci-fi. People have enjoyed\u00a0The Labyrinth<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Dark Crystal<\/em>, so we are developing properties that will bring those fantasy qualities to a younger level. That is not to say that we are developing\u00a0Labyrinth<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0The Dark Crystal<\/em>\u00a0for ages 6 and up. However, we are developing shows with the qualities that were seen in those Creature Shop shows, the animatronics and the high-fantasy characters.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:<\/strong>\u00a0Tell us about your new series\u00a0Splash and Bubbles<\/em>.
\nHENSON:<\/strong>\u00a0We are working with PBS on\u00a0Splash and Bubbles<\/em>. It\u2019s a very big project for us. It\u2019s utilizing Digital Puppetry and therefore all the best talent at the company is engaged with it. The characters, story lines and settings in\u00a0Splash and Bubbles<\/em>\u00a0are grounded in a marine biology curriculum that focuses on themes of diversity, individuality, interconnectedness and the celebration of learning and discovery. We are currently going into production on 80 11-minute stories.<\/p>\n

TV KIDS:\u00a0<\/strong>How have you approached bringing an educational curriculum to shows while still keeping them engaging and entertaining?
\nHENSON:<\/strong>\u00a0PBS is a channel that likes to have meaningful content and a strong element of learning. We also like to bring to those shows a secondary curricular level that is playful, friendly and adventurous, so that they don\u2019t feel like lessons. For instance, learning about dinosaurs and the Mesozoic Era is often a parade of facts and kids memorizing names of dinosaurs. So with\u00a0Dinosaur Train<\/em>, we went about it a different way. We wanted to teach general natural sciences and we emphasized the concept that dinosaurs are animals too. So when we\u2019re learning about dinosaurs we\u2019re learning about them as animals. We\u2019re comparing a four-legged dinosaur to a four-legged cow that eats grass, so they\u2019re both herbivores. We\u2019re keeping it quite simple and easy to relate to and making it relevant for kids who are watching it. Similarly, with\u00a0Splash and Bubbles<\/em>, we want to familiarize kids with these characters. We call them the citizens of the sea, and Reeftown, the neighborhood that Splash [a yellow fusilier fish] lives in, is like a neighborhood with characters that you would meet, perhaps along the lines of Sesame Street\u2014a block populated by characters who became very familiar to the audience. We really want to make these subjects, which are somewhat faraway, feel immediate and relevant for kids.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The CEO offers insight into how the company is seeking out and developing innovative new shows like the upcoming Dot., adapted from the book by Randi Zuckerberg.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":9753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,21],"tags":[427,933,429],"class_list":["post-9752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-dot","tag-lisa-henson","tag-the-jim-henson-company","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Jim Henson Company\u2019s Lisa Henson - 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\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Jim Henson Company\u2019s Lisa Henson - TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The CEO offers insight into how the company is seeking out and developing innovative new shows like the upcoming Dot., adapted from the book by Randi Zuckerberg.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVKIDS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T15:10:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-28T18:23:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2015\/09\/2016-03-25-Lisa-Henson-web.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1\" \/>\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=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/\",\"name\":\"The Jim Henson Company\u2019s Lisa Henson - TVKIDS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-03-25T15:10:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-28T18:23:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/the-jim-henson-companys-lisa-henson\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvkids\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Jim Henson Company\u2019s Lisa Henson\"}]},{\"@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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