Angela Santomero

Angela Santomero
Born Angela C. Santomero
1968 (age 47–48)
The Bronx, New York
Residence Greenwich, Connecticut
Nationality American
Occupation Television producer
Known for Co-creator of Blue's Clues, creator of Super Why, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Peep and the Big Wide World and The WotWots
Spouse(s) Greg
Children 2
Website www.angelasclues.com

Angela C. Santomero (born 1968) is an American television executive producer and co-creator of the long-running Nickelodeon children's television program Blue's Clues, as well as the PBS children's shows Super Why, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Peep and the Big Wide World and The WotWots and the Amazon Studios series Creative Galaxy.[1]

Santomero grew up in Harrington Park, New Jersey,[2] where she graduated from Harrington Park Public School in 1982[3] before attending Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan.[4] She received her bachelor's degree from Catholic University, which later presented her with their Young Alumni Merit Award.[5] She earned a master's degree in child development and psychology, with a specialty in instructional technology and media,[6][7] from Columbia University. During graduate school, she was influenced by the research of Daniel R. Anderson, who studied the effects of television violence on children and later served as a researcher and consultant for Blue's Clues,[8] and "became fascinated with the idea that if television could have a powerful negative effect on kids, it could have an equally powerful positive effect on them..."[9] She was also influenced by Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and the researchers of Sesame Street.[10]

Santomero worked as a researcher for Nickelodeon in the early 1990s,[10] when the network was looking to create a new television show for preschoolers. In 1994, Santomero, along with director Todd Kessler and animator Traci Page Johnson (a group that Nickelodeon executive Brown Johnson called a "green creative team"[11]), created the "landmark"[6] series Blue's Clues. According to writer Diane Tracy, Santomero, Kessler, and Johnson did not possess traditional backgrounds of most producers of children's programs, but "did possess an amazing combination of talents, backgrounds, and personal attributes".[12] Santomero served as executive producer and head writer, and designed the show's research and curriculum. She produced and developed other Blue's Clues projects, such as the full-length movie Blue's Big Musical Movie, educational CDs and books based on the show, and two Blue's Clues theatrical productions, which toured across the U.S.[6] In 2004, Santomero co-created the Discovery Kids and TLC TV Series Peep and the Big Wide World with Kaj Pindal Anne Wood and Andrew Davenport. In 2007, Santomero created the PBS program Super Why; she also served as executive producer and head writer.[6] In 2009, Santomero co-created the New Zealand TV Series The WotWots with Martin Baynton and Richard Taylor.

In 2011, she became host of PBS' The Parent Show, an online series about parenting. In September 2012, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, for which Santomero is executive producer and head writer, debuted on PBS.[13]

Santomero resides in Greenwich, Connecticut, with her husband Greg, an Emmy Award-winning designer/creative director and their two daughters.[10]

Notes

  1. ↑ http://www.thewrap.com/can-blues-clues-creator-launch-a-signature-show-for-amazon/
  2. ↑ Staff. "Taking Reading to New Heights; Harrington Park and Hillsdale Natives Strive to Make New Children's TV Show Appealing and Educational", The Record (Bergen County), September 6, 2007. Accessed April 22, 2013. "Created by Harrington Park native Angela Santomero and Hillsdale native Samantha Freeman the same pair who made Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues must-see TV among the playground set Super Why will teach basic reading skills such as spelling, letter recognition and theme comprehension to school-age children."
  3. ↑ Albrizio, Lianna. "Harrington Park school district honors Blues Clues writer", Northern Valley Suburbanite, July 7, 2011. accessed April 22, 2013. "And on June 20, the k-8 school recognized Angela C. Santomero, co-writer of the Emmy award-winning children's television show, Blues Clues, as the latest Circle of Leadership inductee during the school's moving up ceremony.... A member of the class of 1982, Santomero is someone who Fried feels embodies this idea."
  4. ↑ Nathan, Bradi. "Meet Blue's Clues and Super WHY! creator, Angela Santomero", MyWorkButterfly.com, August 3, 2010. Accessed April 22, 2013. "Four towns poured into Northern Valley Regional High School in Old Tappan New Jersey. There couldn’t have been more than 5,000 people in each town. Harrington Park was one of them- a sleepy little area in Bergen County that I called home.... I fondly remember two sisters who lived in Harrington Park: Jennifer and Angela.... Amongst her many accomplishments, Angela led the production and development of the Emmy nominated Blue's Big Musical Movie, wrote two Blue's Clues' theatrical productions that played in venues across the nation and co-founded Out of the Blue Enterprises."
  5. ↑ "Department of Psychology" (n.d.). The Catholic University of America. Retrieved 2012-07-23
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Angela Santomero" (n.d.). Huffington Post. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
  7. ↑ Tracy, p. 13
  8. ↑ Jaffe, Eric (December 2005). "Watch and Learn". APS Observer18 (12). Retrieved 2012-06-27
  9. ↑ Tracy, p. 14
  10. 1 2 3 Dumas, Angela (October 2009). "Angela's Smashes". Greenwich Magazine. Retrieved 2012-06-27
  11. ↑ Jim Forbes (narrator) (2006-07-27). "Behind the Clues: 10 Years of Blue (Part 1)" (Short documentary). Nickelodeon
  12. ↑ Tracy, p. 12
  13. ↑ "The Legacy of Mister Rogers Continues for Today's Kids | PBS" (n.d.). Iowa Public Television. Retrieved 2012-07-23

Works cited

External links

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