The Producer......of a wierd little idea

Tomorrow, February 28, 2008, I shall officially become a television producer. Tomorrow we begin taping the inserts that will become the theme song and classroom field trip for 'Dipsy Doodle's Flower Pot Shop.' It has been a long, exhilarating, creative and somewhat frustrating process that began as a weird little idea last September.

Well, maybe the weird little idea actually began last fall when I was kicked out of my Kindergarten position and dragged kicking and screaming into the Tech Ed position. I begged the district's Tech Trainer to spend a morning with me teaching me how the school's computer lab worked. We spent a delightful few hours checking things out, teaching me the ropes and talking about his own new position as the cable station director. He was interested in producing new programming with a parent education focus. I told them they needed to get something up for preschoolers and their parents to watch. I mulled a few things over and then submitted my 'weird little idea' to him. I waited and waited and waited and then basically forgot about it. We ran into one another at a district meeting in December and he told me that they were very interested in doing it. I met with two 'official' producers a few days later...just before Christmas vacation. I advocated a program idea that would entertain preschoolers and model for parents basic literacy concepts. The program encompasses the very best of shows I watched when I was a child. Milky the Clown, Soupy Sales and Captain Kangaroo were the heros of my little world. It delights me to think that their tricks shall be carried on through my own weird little idea.

Over the past few months I have been actively seeking copyright permission from authors whose works will be the center of our show. I have conscripted teacher friends to be on camera readers, write a theme song and design the 'set' we will use. I have met with a retired friend who clowns for a hobby and absorbed suggestions for my own clown character. I 'auditioned' a recommended high school student to portray the host of our show. She is delirious with excitement. I scoured clown supply web sites for glasses and gloves and paints and wigs. The pattern, material and accessories for a costume are hanging from my bedroom door knob in a Wal-Mart bag....this weekend's project. I have conscripted permission from parents for their children to appear on camera. I have written one script and three more are burbling in my head waiting for a spare minute so they can be transferred to my computer. And tomorrow we start filming.

So it's just a little preschool show and I am doing it for free. This producing stuff is kind of cool.....but I am seriously channeling the spirits of Milky, Soupy, Captain K, Jim Henson and and Mr. Rogers. Weird little ideas can sometimes kick start a change. I am too old to start a new career but this is the right size project for me. Gotta figure out how to get paid for it though. Then it would be a perfect weird little idea. Heh.