And the Emmy goes to...The Electric Company!
Many of you know me as a sitar playing filmmaker, but I also happen to have a day-job as an editor for TV shows. There is one program that I am particularly proud of--The Electric Company. Some of you may remember the show from when it was on in the Seventies. Well it is back, and it was just honored with 5 Emmy awards last weekend, including one for editing! (Other awards we won are Outstanding Children's Series, Outstanding Achievement In Single Camera Photography, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing, and New Approaches – Daytime Children’s)
I'd like to take a moment to sing the praises of the show because they're doing some truly amazing things. First off, unlike many other shows geared towards children, The Electric Company actually teaches kids to read! It is produced by Sesame Workshop, the same folks behind Sesame Street, and it promotes literacy and grammar skills with an emphasis on phonics. Each episode highlights specific letters, key-words and sentence structures and incorporates them into engaging narratives, music videos and animations, all with the goal of motivating kids to read.
On top of the television series, The Electric Company has a completely interactive educational website (http://pbskids.org/electriccompany), and kids are encouraged to keep learning with reading games and videos. They have even developed an entire educational curriculum for teachers, and remarkably, educators across the country are using the show and it's programs to teach reading skills to their students. I have witnessed students in the classroom using The Electric Company program and I can honestly say I have never seen kids so enthusiastic about learning.
It is such an honor to work on this magnificent show and I'm so thrilled that the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has recognized us for our work. It's a wonderful feeling to be part of a TV show that does something good for the world. Congrats to our amazing team!
Special thanks to:
Karen Fowler (Executive Producer)
Carol Klein (Coordinating Producer)
Scott Cameron (Producer)
Ryan McFaul, Nadine Zylstra, Jason Wolner (Directors)
Todd Rutt (Graphics Producer)
Ryan Cunningham (Supervising Post Producer)
Tiffany Isaacson (Post-Production Coordinator)
Lacey Stanton (Post-Production P.A.)
And my fellow editors Paul Viskup and Kick Mougis
