“Make Your Own Work” is a Wise and Repeated Refrain from Media Insiders. And They’re Right. So I Did. Here’s the Scoop,…
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/al-and-kai-s-faboo-news-positive-news-for-kids#/
In February 2023 I happened to be chatting to a producer friend when the subject of things I’d “always fancied making” came up. My mind went back to a time, as a child, when I’d wished that there was a news chanel or newspaper that only concentrated on the stuff that was going right. After the enormous fuckups that were Brexit, Trump and COVID, the idea had been prickling me.
When the *CENSORED FOR SENSITIVE DISPOSITIONS* Andrew Tate came into my eyeline upon his arrest, the idea focused further.
So much of what we see in the media is focused on clickbait doom-mongering and endless wars that, as a father, I worry deeply about the effect this has on my children when I chat these through with my wife, and when they stumble across mentions of news stories elsewhere.
Seeing what Tate had done to his audience of largely adolescent young boys, who had lived through the turmoil of the last decade and soaked in the hopelessness of it all, I was – putting it mildly – livid.
We need to do better as a society. We needed to offer our children a little bloody hope.
I mentioned this and he instantly lit up at the idea I was pitching: a news show for children that told the reverse of the mainstream durge. A show that demonstrated that actually, if you scratch beneath the surface, a lot of things are going really, really well. His enthusiasm heartened me.
When rumblings that there would be a lull in opportunities began to appear, due to the breakdown in talks between SAG/AFTRA and US Studios, I designed and commissioned two puppets from the brilliant Joe Peek and set to planning.
In July 2023, Collette Knowles and I started shooting outside broadcast footage for a pilot.
Other work interfered a bit (Pooh 2) and there was a mountain of trial and error on the technical side of thing so it was September before the Pilot wrapped. Al and Kai’s Faboo News existed.
So what exactly is it?
Al – an excitable 10 year old Anteater – and his co-adopted sister Kai – a 5 year old Capybara – have roped in their TV Producer Dad and crafts-person “Mom” to help shoot their own TV show in their basement. Combined with crafts, storytelling, outside broadcasts and a heap of anarchic Muppet-style mishaps, they somehow get a new show on the road every week, bringing only positive news stories to life.
The 27 Minute Pilot was a test bed for the idea, which we then took to other creatives and, essentially, tried out on kids, to refine what was working and not working in the concept. Investment sprang up and fell away as inflation bit so we decided to Crowdfund the show.
Which is where we come to now.
And why I am going to point you back to this link, just launched, where you can watch the Pilot, see a scene we remounted based on feedback and see just what goes into making a show like this. And if you can, and you love the idea of the show as much as I do, join us in launching Series 1 by backing the show and picking up a perk.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/al-and-kai-s-faboo-news-positive-news-for-kids#/
Al and Kai will be having a sit down chinwag with Zippy from Rainbow at the May Fayre in Covent Garden, London, on the 12th of May so come along for that too.
And yes,… I’m still auditioning for other bits and bobs. Including a movie role I had to sign and NDA for,… so I can’t tell you about it. hum.
Updates will keep flooding in. Stay Frosty!
Tim
tj-austin.co.uk 