Portland media company A Kids Company About is teaming with an icon in children’s media The Jim Henson Co. for its next project.
The two companies are developing “A Kids Show About,” which will combine Henson’s character creation with A Kids Company About’s line of books that tackle tough and important topics for children.
There are 80 titles so far in the A Kids Book About line. Each are written by experts or people with lived experience on a given topic. Those topics cover concerns such as racism, anxiety, incarceration, imagination, belonging and gender. The books are meant to spur conversation between children and the adults in their lives.
Earlier this year, the company made a digital version of “A Kids Book About School Shootings” available for free as a resource for parents and caregivers following the Robb Elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. That book was downloaded more than 30,000 times in the days following the shooting.
“A Kids Show About” will follow the model of shows like "The Muppets," "Sesame Street" or "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" that mix live-action with animation and puppetry to tell a story. It is aimed at children ages 6 to 11. The show will also follow the A Kids Company About philosophy of not talking down to kids.
“A lot of kids content is either live or animation,” said A Kids Company About founder and CEO Jelani Memory. “We want all of the above plus muppets, set in a format that could really use the medium to share the message around the topics and engage with kids in an entertaining way.”
The project development is being overseen by Sidney Clifton, senior vice president of animation and mixed media at The Jim Henson Co.
“Many of today's kids are deeply aware of the most serious challenges and risks that are a threat to them each day,” Clifton said in a written statement. “As producers, we have an opportunity to provide the resources and trusted information, and — above all — to inspire the radical hope that kids need in order to see themselves as part of their community and feel empowered to make the changes they want to see in their world.”
The two groups started talking last year, Memory said. The Jim Henson Co. reached out and a deal was signed earlier this year. He said that this isn’t the first opportunity of this nature for A Kids Company About, but it was the right partner.
“Hollywood came knocking back in 2020. We have been fending people off since,” Memory said. “We said no to a lot of folks to land here at this spot with The Jim Henson Co.”
The show's team is still working on the concept and finding the creative partners needed to sign on. Later they will pitch the idea and if it sells they can land at a major streaming service and get a full season approved, Memory said.
The whole process is akin to working in startups and pitching investors.
“You need to get the vision as fully realized as you can,” Memory said before you try to sell it.
Memory and Dan Ilani, who runs entertainment division for A Kids Company About, are executive producers for the project along with Lisa Henson and Halle Stanford from the Jim Henson Co.
This deal is technically an option and licensing of the book series. Memory said the authors' involvement is still being determined. Once the show is sold is when the deal will generate revenue for the company.
A Kids Company About is just the latest local children’s company to ink a deal with the Jim Henson Co. Vancouver-based Slumberkins has been in development on a project with the Jim Henson Co. since 2018. In late 2020 the company noted it had a streaming partner and was in production.
