Growing up I was an avid watcher of "Little Rascals" in syndication, the antics of the children in Hal Roach's series were representative of the universal antics of children. I could relate to them in some way, but I wasn't certain about Buckwheat and Stymie, I hadn't developed the vocabulary or political sophistication, to enter into a conversation about the black characters in the show. All I knew was, the show overall was cute and funny, but as I got older I often wondered what it would be like for the children to be of different cultures. What if they were from my culture?
Fast forward to my parenting years and my return to Jamaica to live, while attending a talent show at my daughter's school. The showcasing of all the talented children especially in an excerpt from an experimental play put on by Delrose Burke, a Drama Teacher and Folk Culture Specialist, in which children were up to their antics, I was inspired to make "Likkle Pickneys" a reality. I was also later able to consult with Delrose on cultural reaction to patoo or owl's.
A few weeks later, fellow business cluster member, the Creative Production and Training Center, Ltd. (CPTC) hosted a training workshop, Writing and Producing Children's Television Programming. It was facilitated by Prix Jeunesse Foundation in Munich, the recognized authority on children's media worldwide. I did not hesitate to apply and was subsequently registered for the program. My instructor Kalle Furst who is from Norway and a veteran in the field, opened our eyes to the broad spectrum of children's tv from a cross section of Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. I was in awe, I was excited, I was amazed.
Kalle expressed that we had the potential and talent here to produce great children's programming and he'd given us more of the tools to do so, but he also came to understand what we explained to him, there is no funding and very little support for creating programs period and absolutely nothing for children.
It so happened I was planning to travel to Munich to visit a friend, my first time traveling to Europe. I decided I would visit Prix Jeunesse offices while there and I'm happy I did. They were quite helpful and encouraging. They hoped to see an entry from Jamaica; therefore, I was determined to create and submit a program as soon as I got home.
I wrote the script in less than 24hrs, found my cast and began to rehearse them and enlisted the help of Trevor Bailee of Advidco who shot it I submitted a working copy to Prix Jeunesse in four weeks. All completely on my own, with support from family and friends. I only had barely enough to feed my cast of 35, but we got through it. Working with the young people and children from the Papine community in St. Andrew, Jamaica, was an enlightening and enjoyable experience.
I would like to see "Likkle Pickneys" become a long running children's tv series much like "Sesame Street"
I hope these pages will lead to funding sources to make that a reality.
I'll share more as time goes by, but "Likkle Pickneys" has so far been screened at the Reggae Film Festival on February 26, 2010 and was well received, it was also aired on Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBCJ) on April 10, 2010 at 10:00 a.m..
But I'm very happy that it will be screened at Prix Jeunesse Media Bar during the Prix Jeunesse Festival from May 28 to June 4, 2010.
I'm looking forward to attending, because it will be a tremendous experience to interact with award winning, children's media producers which will help me to improve "Likkle Pickneys".
