Wednesday, August 24, 2011

A Special Thanks To Our Hosts & Guest


Pellegrinos Restaurant & Lounge Two days ago, we started filming day 1 of our new kids cooking show with Chef Joe "JJ" Johnson. The restaurant was located in North Haledon, New Jersey roughly 37 minutes (or 22 miles) from the city. Despite a late production start and minor setbacks, we were able to capture what we needed for our first pilot shoot thanks to the owners of Pellegrino's, Donny Giordano and Pellegrino Mongillo.


Bullying Behavior & Peer Pressure Around Food Chef JJ was very pleased and appreciative of the personal bullying stories, diverse talent, and unique personalities of our kids:

JOSHUA JACKSON (mother Tawanda Jackson)
ALPHONSO AND CAMILLE JONES Alphonso (mother Kathy Jones)
EDEN SANAA DUNCAN-SMITH (mother Nicole Duncan-Smith)
KHAIL TOI BRYANT (mother Choddie Bryant)
AUBREY AND JELANI JOSEPH (mother Melissa Beech Anderson)
ALESSIA MASTRANDO (mother Angela Mastrando)

Because we were filming the kids cooking show pilot as part our anti-bullying documentary story, we asked Alessia Mastrando to share her "tear-jerking" personal bullying story with the group to start the discussion.

A special "Thank You" goes out to our brave Champion for helping to make the pilot shoot a worthwhile experience.

Shakespeare Productions Films Kids Love Cooking with Chef JJ TV Show Pilot


Lets Go Cooking! After the group discussion with the kids, we introduced our young cooks to their new chef hats and aprons provided by our friends at The Chef Hat. Thanks to Jeff Fountain for helping us out with the quick turnaround and fast delivery on the chef merchandise, we were able to provide Waist Chef 4-Way Aprons, Youth Bib Chef Aprons, Adult Bib Chef Aprons, Toque Chef Hats, and White Scull Cap with the Play Pretty, Play Pals Project logos on them that the kids were all excited about.


Kids Love The Chef Hats & Aprons We're truly appreciative of their "perfectionist embroidery lady's" meticulous nature, the style and quality of the merchandise, and the timely delivery. We definitely look forward to doing more business with The Chef Hat.


Kid Friendly 10 Minute Recipes Chef JJ teamed up with Play Pretty, Play Pals Project on the production of the show to get kids to start cooking and to help parents to be more conscious of what they put in their bodies. His method is to incorporate local ingredients and modern cooking techniques, all with a sense of love and humor to his food.

WATERMELON SALAD

Ingredients:

1/4 of Watermelon
1 cup Ricotta Salata
4 sprigs of Mint
1 cup of Balsamic reduction
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

• Take watermelon and cut into small dices place in bowl, then take mint leafs and pull apart with hands and put into same bowl. Take balsamic and reduce in sauce pot by 1/2. Once reduced by half, place 2 tsp into bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Lastly, take Ricotta cheese and peel with peeler and place on salad...1/4 of cup.


CHOBANI PARFAIT

Ingredients:

1/2 C (4oz) Strawberry 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt
1/2 C granola
1/2 C mixed berries

Instructions:

• For each serving, layer 1/2 Chobani, granola, and berries in parfait glass. Repeat.


MIXED BERRY FROCHO POPS

Ingredients:

1 C fresh or frozen mixed berries
1 C (8 oz) Plain 0% Chobani Greek Yogurt
3 Tbsp hone

Instructions:

• Puree fruit, Chobani and honey in food processor until smooth.
• Fill 6 freezer-pop molds or 3-oz paper cups three-quarters full. Insert sticks and freeze until completely firm, about 6 hours.
• Dip molds briefly in hot water before unfolding.


MEATBALLS (Grass Fed Beef)

Ingredients:

1 pound ground chuck
4 ounces dried bread crumbs
4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup grated Romano
1 cup grated Spanish onion
2 each finely diced fresh garlic
4 springs finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
4 springs finely chopped fresh basil leaves
4 springs finely chopped fresh oregano

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
• Mix all ingredients thoroughly in large bowl. If mixture seems a little loose add more bread crumbs.
• Roll meatballs loosely about the size of a golf ball and place on baking sheet. Add little water to bottom of the sheet pan. Place into preheated oven for approximately 35 to 40 minutes cover with aluminum foil.


PAN SEARED DIVER SCALLOPS (Cauliflower Puree, Summer Vegetables, Peach Vinaigrette)

Ingredients:

U-10 Diver Scallops
2 each Local Jersey Peaches
1 head of cauliflower
1/2 pound butter
5 each patty pan squash
1/4 cup champagne vinegar
1/2 cup blended oil
1 shallot sliced fine
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

• Vinaigrette directions
• Small dice peaches. Julienne the shallots or slice thin. Place in bowl with champagne vinegar, blended oil and mix. Also season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Cauliflower Puree
• Clean cauliflower place in pot with water and butter. Bring to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
Once fully cooked place in blender with a cup of the liquid. If too thick add a little at a time to thin out...Should coat the back of your spoon.
• Patty pan squash and cut into four. Place in bowl and season with salt, pepper, and oil. Put into 400F degree oven for 10 minutes or until the patty squash is golden brown.
• Take your diver scallops season both sides with salt and pepper. Get pan smoking hot, place scallops in pan and cook on one side for 4 minutes or until golden brown, then flip over and turn off heat.

Graveshift Loves Playing with Chef JJ


We Are The Graveshift A family of 6 but a band of 4. If you ask them who's the "leader of the band", you'll get more than one leader. Jonah aka Sugar Man is the vocalist. Joshua keeps the beat going on the drums. Next is Alexis, a talented acoustic or electric guitarist and a great songwriter. And finally, there's Erica, an artist and bass player that keeps the body swaying and the head rocking.

They provided the LIVE instrumental music commercial breaks for Uriel, Johnny & Alphonso, and Play Pretty. It's going to fun producing music around the show with Graveshift.

Click to learn more about Graveshift
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Little Airplane Productions Hosts Academy for Children Program Enthusiasts


How To Make A Great Preschool Series Yesterday, we completed participation in an intensive 3-day workshop offered by Little Airplane Productions in NYC.

During the three day course, Academy participants got an overview of every step in the process of making a preschool series, from pitching through writing, curriculum development, directing, music, legal and production. The course covered both live-action and animation and featured a team of accomplished preschool TV veterans:

JOSH SELIG - Pitching/Bible Creation
CONRAD RIPPY - Legal
SUSAN KIM - Writing
JENNIFER OXLEY - Character Design/Directing Animation
NOEL MACNEAL - Puppeteer
TOM BROWN & TONE THYNE - Producing Live Action and Animation
LISA SIMON - Directing Live Action
BETH RICHMAN - Research
JEFF GOMEZ - Transmedia Storytelling
DAVID KLEEMAN - Prix Jeunesse Suitcase
JEFFERY LESSER - Music & Sound for Preschool TV
TONE THYNE - Directing Animation
KERRY NOVICK - Distribution
DARA BECKERMAN - Licensing

The highlight of the Academy was a panel discussion of network executives moderated by Josh Selig. Little Airplane Productions welcomed an impressive list of notable panelists including PBS's Linda Simensky, Nickelodeon's Sarah Landy, and Chorion's Sarah Mullervy. A very noteworthy group!


Little Airplane Productions is committed to celebrating young children and treating them and their world with dignity. We consider it both a great privilege and a great responsibility to represent and serve such a distinguished audience.

LAP specializes in quality film & television programming for young children. Founded by Josh Selig in 1999, Little Airplane Productions created and produced The Wonder Pets! for Nick Jr., Go, Baby! for Playhouse Disney, Oobi! for NOGGIN (winner of a 2001 Gold Parents’ Choice Award) and most recently, 3rd & Bird for the BBC. Additionally, Josh Selig was the Head Writer for Little Bill on Nick Jr. He has received ten Emmy Awards for his writing on Sesame Street, and was the Resident Producer of the historic Israeli/Palestinian Sesame Street co-production (winner of the 1998 Japan Prize).


The Small Potatoes Pitch Bible Mr. Selig shared with us a new project they recently developed as an example of what the industry looks for in a children program pitch presentation. The Academy experience definitely gave us the confidence that our Play Pretty, Play Pals Project and Lil' Chucky Charley & His Country Bug Friends programs are progressing in the right direction.

Thank you Tone, Josh, Conrad, Jennifer, Susan, Noel, Tom, Lisa, Beth, Jeff, David, Jeffrey, Kerry, Dara, Linda, Sarah M, Sarah L, and the Academy participants for your wonderful insights.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011

SURRON & CD Baby Distributes MP3/Digital-Downloads of Gospel Music Collection

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Buy Our Music Yesterday, we "officially" began the process of distributing four (4) new albums through CD Baby Artist Services. The plan is to do an MP3/digital-download release first, then follow up with a physical distribution of a 4-Disc Box Set containing the entire "Collector's Edition".

For the Gospel music lover who enjoys a strong message in their songs and music that crosses various genres, be on the lookout over the next few days for our albums being delivered online to retail partners like iTunes, AmazonMP3, Rhapsody, and more.

Ron Surrey: Miracle At Siloam: Kingdom At Hand