Thanks to my new friends at Fatherly for their latest post entitled, “The Creator of ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood’ on Keeping Fred Rogers’s Message Going”.

I sat down last week to speak with Fatherly’s Carlos Mejia about perspective, inspiration and the value of Public Broadcasting. Fatherly is a “parenting resource for men who understand that embracing what they’ve become doesn’t mean giving up who they are.” Enjoy!

The Creator of ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood’ on Keeping Fred Rogers’s Message Going

 As a result of your incredible feedback, I let you know (over a year ago) that our second show for Amazon Studios, Wishenpoof, had received the green light for series production. After many, many months of notes, scripting, sketches, character designs, storyboarding, scoring, animatics, recording, rendering, editing, research, more research and much, much more, I can finally see the light!!

So on August 14th, our latest, most magical Wishenpoof will premier for Amazon Prime Members in the US, UK and Germany! A fun, magical adventure series that teaches lessons through imaginative play, Wishenpoof inspires children to solve life’s big preschool problems in creative ways.

There’s been a nice amount of press about Wishenpoof‘s release and with a BIG premier party staged in New York City’s Central Park, everyone will start to feel there’s magic in the air!

I can’t thank you all enough for your incredible support and I hope your kids LOVE it!!

xo

Angela

Not a Prime member yet? You can sign up for a free trial at amazon.com/prime.

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The Parents’ Choice Awards help parents make informed decision. This time around, they’ve given gold medals to PBS Kids’ Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Amazon Studios’ Creative Galaxy!!

The Parents’ Choice Awards provide a service to the millions of parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and caregivers all over this country who are time-pressed and simply don’t have even a moment to pre-screen every product they give the kids in their lives. Since 1978, this is where the Parents’ Choice resource has stepped in.

Needless to say, we are proud and honored to be listed among their Spring 2015 award winners!

“The Parents’ Choice Gold Awards are given to those books, toys, games, videos, software, magazines, audio recordings, and television programs that are judged as the highest quality, most appealing products in their genre. Criteria for judgments include the highest production standards, universal human values and a unique, individual quality that pushes the product a notch above others.”

-Parents’ Choice

Sincere gratitude to NPR, in particular Erika Beras, behavioral health reporter at WESA-FM, for your NPR Morning Edition piece: Daniel Tiger: Won’t You Be His Neighbor which aired this morning.

I can’t begin to explain how grateful we are for our 36 million video streams per month!

While high ratings and streams aren’t frowned upon around here, it’s truly because they serve as a testament that parents yearn for quality, “good for you” programming for their children.

For many of us, such positive reviews help make the labor and the difficulties of work, take a backseat.

Thank you to my incredible Out of the Blue Enterprises family, as well as our team over at The Fred Rogers Company, PBS Kids, 9 Story Entertainment & Voodoo Highway Music & Post.  The magic that is Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood couldn’t happen without each one of you!

Have a listen to the NPR piece Daniel Tiger: Won’t You Be His Neighbor right here & let us know what you think about the show by commenting below:

And a special shout out for Blue’s Clues as well! #happymamma

Creative Galaxy!! Tonight’s the night of the big premiere.

So excited to hear what everyone thinks of Out of the Blue Enterprises latest show for Amazon Studios.

Much more to come!!

xo

Angela

PBS Kids Renews Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

I literally just sent a note to Nicole, a mother of two year old twins. In the message, I explained that there’s a lot of love poured into Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and while, like any other business, there are challenging times where it’s necessary to fight for what you believe in, knowing who our audience is and receiving such incredible feedback like hers helps so very much.

I honestly believe that we treat the characters as our own children and have the utmost of respect for yours..we hope that comes through in the show.

So thank you Nicole, Malina Saval @MalinaSaval (Variety – Assoc Editor) and everyone who’s ever had a kind word to say Fred Rogers’ baby, Daniel. After all, we do it to make this a happier world.

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you, 
I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you. 

So let’s make the most of this beautiful day, 
Since we’re together, we might as well say, 
Would you be mine? 
Could you be mine? 
Won’t you be my neighbor?

-Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood

Many parents are concerned about the enormous media content their children are exposed to. And while the number of avenues that deliver these various messages is increasing, there are just as many contradicting opinions on all of this content.

How can a parent properly assess it all, so that their children can consume age appropriate material that’s conducive to their growth?

WQED launched iQ: smartparent in response to a research study made up of parents expressing a desire to build their confidence with educational, 21st century media & expand their capacity for co-learning with their digitally savvy children. Through a series of 6 hour-long broadcasts & numerous online resources, iQ: smartparent equips parents & caregivers with tools & resources to aid their understanding and use of digital media & technologies for learning.

Thursday, June 27th, I will be hosting iQ: smartparent “Tune In, Tune Out” in the Fred Rogers’ Studios.

Do your children believe everything they see on TV? How does your child learn to separate fiction from reality? This episode will empower families with skills & techniques which will assist in evaluating media while identifying ways that it can positively impact their lives.

I will be speaking with Board Certified Family Physician, Deborah Gilboa MD (@AskDocG), educational psychologist & children’s TV producer Alice Wilder (@alicewilder), Emmy®-award winning music producer, Emmai Alaquiva (@Emmai_Alaquiva) and behavioral scientist at the RAND Corp., Steven Martino.

If you are interested in attending the “Tune In, Tune Out” live taping in Pittsburgh, PA on Thursday, June 27, 2013 from 6:30-8 PM (EDT) please visit iQsmartparent4’s eventbrite page. iQ smartparent’s “Tune In, Tune Out” episode premieres: August 29, 8:00pm

iQ: smartparent is brought to you by WQED Multimedia with generous support from an anonymous donor & expertise from Common Sense Media.

“We are thrilled to welcome Angela Santomero to the iQ: smartparent series. She offers the sensitivity, advice, and media savvy to help any parent make great decisions about how 21 century media impacts a child. As a parent and TV creator she lives it every day.”

-Jennifer Stancil – WQED Executive Director of Educational Partnerships

2013 Parents’ Choice Award goes to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. Congratulations to The Fred Rogers Company, PBS Kids, 9 Story Entertainment, Out of the Blue Enterprises & Voodoo Highway Music & Post. Lots of little happy faces are in agreement with the nation’s oldest nonprofit program created to recognize quality children’s media.

Congrats to all who continue the magic in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe!!