By Gary Symons
TLL Editor in Chief
Kids’ content producer Kenn Viselman has a new mission in life, launching an online entertainment and retail platform.
Viselman, best known for huge hits like Thomas the Tank Engine and Teletubbies, announced this week the unveiling of itsybitsyWOW.com, a platform for smaller or independent content producers.
The reason is primarily to level the playing field for indie producers, who must compete for eyeballs with major studios that dominate the current streaming platforms.
“The media giants are just getting ‘gianter’ and the net effect is that it’s squeezing independent creators off the screen and off the retailers’ shelves,” Viselman says. “The biggest losers are often young audiences who are being deprived of original offerings.
“The irony is that most of the biggest family hits of the past several decades have come from independent creators; Teletubbies, Cabbage Patch, Barney, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Bluey, the Wiggles, Thomas the Tank Engine and dozens more. I’m determined to create opportunities for children and their families to experience innovative and original content as a sharp contrast to the regurgitated assets that these mega studios keep pushing at audiences.”
Viselman says itsy bitsy World of Wonders gives independent creators like Viselman’s team of producing partners an opportunity to compete with “mega-media conglomerates,” and to reach their audiences directly.
Viselman is working right now with the kids’ environmental adventure show MeteoHeroes as the centrepiece of the launch.
It appears Viselman is launching the project in stages. itsybitsyWOW will apparently start out like an online retailer, but will morph over time into an interactive online experience. The site will officially launch on April 21 with The world premiere of a Live MeteoHeroes Earth Day Event.
In doing so, the company intends to focus on providing opportunities for kids and families to shop in ways that give back to society or help preserve the Earth’s environment.
As a result, itsybitsyWOW says at least 10% of every purchase will be donated to its corresponding charity, and for one product, when purchased, 100% of the income will go directly to the charity. The company’s mantra is “It’s not about making a purchase; it’s about making a difference.”
“The synergy is extraordinary,” Viselman says. “We are able to put MeteoHeroes Live on PBS Stations in California, but then simultaneously stream it on itsybitsywow.com for anyone else in the states or around the world who don’t have access to those stations.
“At the same time, fans of this ground-breaking series will have an opportunity to find exclusive products that are not available at retail and a percentage of their purchase will help save the planet.”
For example, a number of the MeteoHeroes clothing products available on itsybitsywow.com are made entirely of reclaimed materials to reduce the use of landfills.
Over the next few months itsybitsyWOW.com plans to include several exclusive interactive apps, activities and live events from Viselman’s various partners, including celebrity book readings, guest speakers like multi-Glyph Award-winning author and creator of BLACKJACK, Alex Simmons, as well as well-known meteorologists who will be able to watch episodes of MeteoHeroes and then engage and answers children’s questions about climate change and the planet.”
Viselman is executive producing MeteoHeroes in partnership with Mondo TV Studios, which is a critically acclaimed series about Climate Education, already available in 200 countries, and in 22 languages, including most of the territories associated with the Paris Climate Accord.
Mondo TV Studios is part of the Mondo TV Group, a leading European company in the production and distribution of audio-visual content. Mondo TV Studios operates in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Latin America and the Spanish-speaking markets in the United States.
The MeteoHeroes are a group of pint-sized superheroes, each of whom represent the seven continents and the different natural elements. Working in tandem to fight climate change disasters, the MeteoHeroes go to battle using their own unique superhuman abilities to save our planet.
Viselman is also executive producing with Squeeze Animation Studios an adaptation of the popular graphic novel series, Blackjack.
Arron Day, aka BlackJack, is an African American soldier of fortune battling powerful enemies, the ghosts of his past, and the bigotry of his time. Created by Alex Simmons, Blackjack first appeared in comics in 1996 under the banner of DAP (Dark Angel Productions) Comics. With more than a dozen BlackJack stories and millions of copies of these stories in print, this self-published graphic novel series has been met with both critical and commercial success.
Several other of Viselman’s brands will appear in itsy bitsy World of Wonders as well. “ I love the idea of fans being able to get sneak peaks of future projects and access to exclusive products and opportunities. This should be really fun for all of us as we explore what is possible together,” he said.”
In addition to Teletubbies and Thomas the Tank Engine, Viselman has been involved in roughly 50 series or films. According to IMDB, he was a producer on at least 16 children’s series, such as Moonzy and his Friends, Lil Pet Hospital, and 64 Zoo Lane, among others. He is currently showrunner on the MeteoHeroes series.