Little Airplane Productions and children’s music artist Laurie Berkner have joined together to develop the new animated preschool television series, "Sing It, Laurie!"
Press release from Little Airplane Productions:
New York, NY -- Two of the industry’s most acclaimed creators of children’s entertainment - the Emmy Award-winning Little Airplane Productions and the top-selling US children’s music artist Laurie Berkner - have joined together to develop the new animated preschool television series Sing It, Laurie! The announcement was made today by the creators of the new series, Laurie Berkner and Josh Selig, President and Founder, Little Airplane Productions.
Sing It, Laurie! is about a little girl named Laurie who loves to sing and play her purple guitar. In each 11 minute episode, Laurie, along with her dog Jamaica (Jam for short), explores one theme, such as Family, Community, or Nature. Laurie travels around her neighborhood in her Wing Dinger, a unique one person helicopter that's just the perfect size for Laurie and Jam.
Each episode features songs written by Laurie Berkner. Some are originals composed just for the show and others are classics from Laurie's multi-platinum albums and DVDs.
"Laurie Berkner is my favorite children's musician. Her songs are honest, beautiful, and reflect a deep understanding of children and their lives. She also knows how to make them laugh, sing and dance," said Selig. "I'm thrilled to be collaborating with Laurie on this new television series and I know that it will be embraced by children and families all over the world."
“I could not be more thrilled to be working with Josh Selig and Little Airplane!,” added Laurie. “I have been an enormous fan of Josh’s work for some time. I’m continually impressed by his originality and ability to create beautiful, funny and thoughtful shows for children that demonstrate great sensitivity and insight into their experiences. I feel excited and honored to have the chance to create one of these shows with him.”
The Sing It, Laurie educational curriculum was written by Dr. Christine Ricci (Dora the Explorer) and focuses on two core themes: Creativity Curiosity and Music Appreciation. In each episode, Laurie will use music and singing to help her both explore and understand her world.
About Laurie Berkner
Laurie Berkner is widely recognized as the most popular independent children’s recording artist in the United States, with multiple best-selling, award-winning CDs and DVDs under her belt. Dubbed “the queen of kids’ music” by People Magazine, and hailed as “a kind of sippy-cup Sheryl Crow” by Time Magazine, she is generally acknowledged as the modern matriarch of the progressive “kindie rock” movement. A former preschool music teacher by day and indie rocker by night, Laurie Berkner started selling her music out of her living room over ten years ago on her own label, Two Tomatoes Records. Laurie was the first artist to ever appear in music videos on Nick Jr,, Nickelodeon’s 24-hour educational, commercial-free preschool network, and is featured in nearly all of the episodes of the channel’s Jack’s Big Music Show.
About Little Airplane Productions
Founded by Josh Selig in 1999, Little Airplane Productions created and produced The Wonder Pets! for Nick Jr. (winner of a 2009 Japan Prize), Small Potatoes and 3rd & Bird for the BBC's CBeebies. Small Potatoes and 3rd & Bird currently air in the U.S. on Disney Junior and in markets around the world. Josh 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 a 1998 Japan Prize). Little Airplane has also launched the Little Light Foundation (www.littlelightfoundation.org). The mission of the Little Light Foundation is to create programming that will help children around the world learn about conflict resolution and mutual respect. For more information about Little Airplane Productions please visit www.littleairplane.com
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
