Little Airplane Productions
Little Airplane Productions, Inc. is an American television production company that makes preschool television shows. Founded by Josh Selig in 1998, the company created and produced Wonder Pets! and Oobi for Nickelodeon, Go Baby! and Emma's Theatre for Playhouse Disney, and 3rd & Bird for the BBC's children's channel CBeebies.
The production's studios are located in New York City's South Street Seaport. The company's production facilities are in a 12,000 square feet (1,100 m2) building, including animation, design, voice-over, storyboard and post-production. The studio houses a recording facility where the music for its productions is recorded under the direction of Jeffrey Lesser.
In mid-2007, the company opened new studios in London and Abu Dhabi, following the announcement of 3rd & Bird.
Productions
Television
- Oobi was the first long-form production made by the company. After running as a short-form series on Noggin in 2001, "Oobi" premiered as a long-form series on Noggin in April 2003.[1]
- Wonder Pets! was a production for Nickelodeon, on the adventures of Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling and Turtle Tuck.[2]
- 3rd & Bird was an animated series co-produced by Little Airplane Productions and CBeebies. The series premiered on CBeebies in July 2008 and aired in 18 territories abroad.
- 'Go Baby! was a short-form animated series currently airing on Playhouse Disney. Each interstitial has Baby completing a series of simple tasks with the help of the viewer. The narrator is voiced by actor Richard Kind.
- Tobi was a series of four minute visual poems that premiered on Treehouse TV in Canada and Nickelodeon Australia on March 7.
- Small Potatoes debuted at the 12th annual BAMKids International Film Festival where “Imagination (Give it a Try)” won a BAMmie award for Best Short Film for ages 2–5. It is currently airing on CBeebies in the UK, and is planned for broadcast in the US on Disney Junior.
Other work
Short films
The Time Out Chair is a short film written and directed by Selig, about a young girl who leaves her preschool classroom dragging her "Time Out" chair with her. The short was filmed in East Village, Manhattan and shown at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival.
Linny is a short film about a guinea pig who goes on adventures. This short was aired on Nickelodeon in 2004, and also inspired the later show Wonder Pets!
The Little Light Foundation
In 2009, Little Airplane Productions created a non-profit initiative called “The Little Light Foundation.' The Foundation’s first project was a new animated series called “The Olive Branch” on Nick Jr. Each one-minute episode is a story about two characters who achieve conflict resolution, told without words.
The Little Airplane Café
In the summer of 2009 Little Airplane Productions launched the Little Airplane Café. Laurie Berkner opened the Little Airplane Café in July 2009. Her performance was broadcast live on SiriusXM's “Kids’ Place Live!” Mindy Thomas of “The Absolutely Mindy Show” hosted the performance and talked to the audience on radio. Guests have included Jon Scieszka, Milkshake, and Suzi Shelton.
The Little Airplane Academy
Little Airplane Academy offers a three-day workshop twice a year at the company's South Street Seaport studios. Participants learn the fundamentals of creating a preschool series including pitching, writing, character design, directing and producing live action and animated shows. In 2009 the Academy ran a one-day writing workshop with Susan Kim. Little Airplane has also hosted workshops in Qatar, England and Norway.
References
External links
- Official website
- Little Airplane Productions at the Big Cartoon DataBase