Author: play_surron

We Are The Graveshift A family of 6 but a band of 4. If you ask them who’s the “leader of the band”, you’ll get more than one leader. Jonah aka Sugar Man is the vocalist. Joshua keeps the beat going on the drums. Next is Alexis, a talented acoustic or electric guitarist and a great songwriter. And finally, there’s Erica, an artist and bass player that keeps the body swaying and the head rocking.

They provided the LIVE instrumental music commercial breaks for Uriel, Johnny & Alphonso, and Play Pretty. It’s going to fun producing music around the show with Graveshift.

Click to learn more about Graveshift

How To Make A Great Preschool Series Yesterday, we completed participation in an intensive 3-day workshop offered by Little Airplane Productions in NYC.

During the three day course, Academy participants got an overview of every step in the process of making a preschool series, from pitching through writing, curriculum development, directing, music, legal and production. The course covered both live-action and animation and featured a team of accomplished preschool TV veterans:

JOSH SELIG – Pitching/Bible Creation

CONRAD RIPPY – Legal

SUSAN KIM – Writing

JENNIFER OXLEY – Character Design/Directing Animation

NOEL MACNEAL – Puppeteer

TOM BROWN & TONE THYNE – Producing Live Action and Animation

LISA SIMON – Directing Live Action

BETH RICHMAN – Research

JEFF GOMEZ – Transmedia Storytelling

DAVID KLEEMAN – Prix Jeunesse Suitcase

JEFFERY LESSER – Music & Sound for Preschool TV

TONE THYNE – Directing Animation

KERRY NOVICK – Distribution

DARA BECKERMAN – Licensing

The highlight of the Academy was a panel discussion of network executives moderated by Josh Selig. Little Airplane Productions welcomed an impressive list of notable panelists including PBS’s Linda Simensky, Nickelodeon’s Sarah Landy, and Chorion’s Sarah Mullervy. A very noteworthy group!

Little Airplane Productions is committed to celebrating young children and treating them and their world with dignity. We consider it both a great privilege and a great responsibility to represent and serve such a distinguished audience.

LAP specializes in quality film & television programming for young children. Founded by Josh Selig in 1999, Little Airplane Productions created and produced The Wonder Pets! for Nick Jr., Go, Baby! for Playhouse Disney, Oobi! for NOGGIN (winner of a 2001 Gold Parents’ Choice Award) and most recently, 3rd & Bird for the BBC. Additionally, Josh Selig was the Head Writer for Little Bill on Nick Jr. He has received ten Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street, and was the Resident Producer of the historic Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street co-production (winner of the 1998 Japan Prize).

The Small Potatoes Pitch Bible Mr. Selig shared with us a new project they recently developed as an example of what the industry looks for in a children program pitch presentation. The Academy experience definitely gave us the confidence that our Play Pretty, Play Pals Project and Lil’ Chucky Charley & His Country Bug Friends programs are progressing in the right direction.

Thank you Tone, Josh, Conrad, Jennifer, Susan, Noel, Tom, Lisa, Beth, Jeff, David, Jeffrey, Kerry, Dara, Linda, Sarah M, Sarah L, and the Academy participants for your wonderful insights.

Buy Our Music Yesterday, we “officially” began the process of distributing four (4) new albums through CD Baby Artist Services. The plan is to do an MP3/digital-download release first, then follow up with a physical distribution of a 4-Disc Box Set containing the entire “Collector’s Edition”.

For the Gospel music lover who enjoys a strong message in their songs and music that crosses various genres, be on the lookout over the next few days for our albums being delivered online to retail partners like iTunes, AmazonMP3, Rhapsody, and more.

Chef Joe “JJ” Johnson, the first winner of the Bravo Cooking Contest called Rocco’s Dinner Party, has agreed to team up with Play Pretty, Play Pals Project to develop a new kids cooking show to get kids to start cooking and to help parents to be more conscious of what they put in their bodies.

We’re scheduled to start filming the pilot on August 22nd, 2011 at Pellegrino’s Restaurant & Lounge in North Haledon, NJ.

If all goes according to plan, we’ll be serving up Spaghetti and “grass-fed beef” meatballs, Watermelon Salad, and a Chobani Parfait on a TV channel real soon.

Threadless Design Challenge Today, we submitted several of our merchandise designs to Threadless.com to help bring more awareness to our anti-bullying campaign. With the help of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Plaxo we were able to send out multiple emails to our friends, colleagues, and supporters encouraging them to help our designs get printed by scoring it.

If our baggu bag, scarf, or wallpaper print design is printed our organization will get paid $2,500 in cash and prizes for our bullying prevention campaign. Help us spread the word. Thanks.

Give Up A Week, Get Back A Lifetime Yesterday, we started filming the pilot program to a new reality docu-series that puts a lens on the lives of those among the richest who enjoy sharing their fortunes with those who don’t have that much.

Hosted by philanthropist, corporate speaker, winner of Oprah’s Big Give show, founder of two non-profits, and volunteerism expert Steven Paletta, each episode will feature heart-felt interviews on location (home, business, neutral site) with philanthropists and people from all walks of life, unique opportunities for people to receive “celebrity-style” perks & luxuries courtesy of a celebrity, and an online boot camp challenge

Give Back Your Foundation We traveled throughout NYC with Steve, the founder of Give Back, stopping in Grand Central Station, Times Square, Penn Station, and Union Square attempting to find (and film) as many random acts of kindness, philanthropy in action, and man serving man in small ways.

The purpose was to celebrate the “everyday” philanthropist by giving them the gift of giving, a ‘Give Back Your Foundation’ promotional give away coupon worth $5, $25, and $50.

Random Acts of Kindness As part of the show segment we profiled an “everyday” philanthropist who demonstrated a random act of kindness. One act was as small as a woman giving change to a homeless person on the street or volunteers giving their time to The Salvation Army. The highlight of the morning was when a good samaritan helped a blind person regain her sense of direction.

The Gift of Giving The objective was to elevate and celebrate the “art” of personal fulfillment and giving back. We believe our first film shoot with Stephen accomplished this and more. Thank you Stephen, Sean, Donna, Jeffrey, Gloria, Manpreet, Tamara, Andrea, Terrance, Gerard & The Ground Stone, and the Fresh Air Fund team for supporting our pilot program.

Z’s Youth Basketball League Yesterday, we had the privilege of filming the launch of Lazarus Sims’ (aka Z) youth basketball clinic at the Boys & Girls Club on Shonnard Street in Syracuse, NY. Coach Sims is a prominent figure in the Syracuse community and the SU men’s basketball coordinator of player development/asst. strength and conditioning coach.

The goal of the ZYBL is to bring basketball back to its true form with hard work and dedication. “I believe the best basketball is built on trust & relationships in teammates!” said Coach Z.

In a joint effort with ZYBL, we started enlisting Syracuse leaders, local businessmen, and athletes to contribute their unique talents, resources, and life lessons to a national cause around the issue of bullying.

Rest In Peace Coach Maz “My high school coach and mentor Joe Mazella, taught me the “Heart of The Game”, is through hard work and having a passion for basketball,” Lazarus said. “Coach Maz challenged me both on and off the court to be a leader, a positive role model, and achieve my personal best. He also instilled in me the value of family and friendship as well as to NEVER turn a child away.”

Z’s Footsteps to Success To further reinforce his mission statement, Coach Z personally designed a line of colorful t-shirts with 10 of his 13 steps to help him teach his youth.

1. Family 2. Respect 3. Belief 4. Education 5. Honesty 6. Dedication 7. Drive 8. Trust 9. Desire 10. Hard work 11. Commitment 12. Sportsmanship 13. Eating right

Say Yes To Education Thank you Lazarus, Samuel, Lee, Fred, Joevon, Thomas, Greg, Michelle, Chelsea, Edmund, Oliva, and Chief Fowler for supporting our documentary project and helping us to advocate for the education of children on the issue of bullying prevention and youth violence on various levels.

Mr. Daniel G. Lowengard, former Superintendent of Syracuse City School District, welcomed us in his home earlier today so we could interview him for the ‘Bullying Behavior In America’ documentary. A long time advocate for fair funding for city kids, Mr. Lowengard had been a Syracuse Superintendent for 5 1/2 years, Superintendent in Utica for 8 years, and worked nearly 39 years in public education.

We’re hoping to introduce our documentary, books, and digital media products to children in as many Syracuse and NYC school districts as possible.  Mr. Lowengard’s support with encouraging Mary Anne Schmitt, President of Say Yes To Education, and others to embrace our program can go a long way in helping this goal become a reality.

Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler allowed our cameras to follow him for a day as he gave us a glimpse into his life as head of the Syracuse police department. He talked about their Crime Analysis Center, the rising number of recent killings in Syracuse, and what his department is doing to combat youth crime, gangs and gun violence.

The next day, Chief Fowler took us on a tour of the Syracuse neighborhoods and we discussed a new TV show concept we’re developing called Police Chief, which will center around a boot camp program for bullies, juvenile offenders, and gang members to deter them from a life of crime and gang participation.

We’re proud to say our Chief has agreed to participate. To be continued…

Meet Philanthropist and Winner of Oprah’s Big Give Show Yesterday Stephen Paletta welcomed us into his office so that we could interview him for the Bullying Behavior In America documentary. We were honored to hear about his two non-profit organizations (The International Education Exchange and GiveBack), his joy of being a husband and proud father of three daughters, and choosing between a life of “significance or success”.

During the Q&A, Steve discussed the highs and lows of competing on Oprah’s Big Give show and he shared his desire to develop his own reality TV program promoting volunteering, spiritual growth & healing, and giving back. Talk about divine intervention!

Today, we followed up with a ‘Thank You’ email and introduced Steve to a new program called ‘Give Up A Week, Get Back A Lifetime’ that we had created with him in mind. If all goes according to God’s plan, we could be co-producing our first pilot program together in Haiti.

I Am The National Urban League Earlier today we filmed an interview session with Marc H. Morial, President & CEO of National Urban League, for the ‘Bullying Behavior In America’ documentary. In a distinguished professional career that has spanned 25 years, Mr. Morial has held roles as an Entrepreneur, Lawyer, Professor, Legislator, Mayor, and now current President of NUL, the nation’s largest civil rights organization. When asked what title he was most proud of? He simply smiled and replied, “Being a Dad”.

Stacie J of Donald Trump’s Apprentice 2 Show, and founder of The Jones Agency conducted the Q&A session with Mr. Morial at the NUL headquarters on Wall Street. The former Ford model, Subway franchise owner, and expert on Business was more than eager to learn about the Urban League Celebrity Empowerment Challenge initiative.

When the concept of a TV program with Mr. Morial and the Urban League was proposed after the filming, Stacie J openly welcomed the idea. It looks like we may have found our host of the ‘Life After Football: The Plaxico Burress Story’.

Give A Child A Play Pals or Play Pretty Book Thank you Marc and Stacie J for endorsing our program and helping us to advocate for the education of children on the issue of bullying prevention and youth violence on various levels.