The Jim Henson Co. has appointed children’s television industry veteran Sam Ewing to handle the international sales of its newest property, a CG-animated preschool TV series titled Sid the Science Kid. The show will debut in the U.S. on Sept. 1 as part of the two-hour morning preschool block PBS KIDS and online at pbskids.org.
Most recently, Ewing launched the Cartoon Consultants Group, consulting on productions and distribution for companies including EM.TV Munich, Saban Capital Group and Starz Media/Bolder Media. Prior to that, he served as senior VP of worldwide distribution and VP of development for Cookie Jar Ent. Ewing also served as VP of international co-productions and acquisitions at Saban Int’l. Other previous gigs included stints as Ruby-Spears Prods., Worldvision Ent., Hanna-Barbera Prods. and NBC Ent.
Sid the Science Kid is an educational show that uses comedy to promote exploration, discovery and science readiness among preschoolers. The energetic and inquisitive Sid starts each episode with a new question (‘Why are my shoes shrinking?’ ‘Why do bananas get mushy?’) and embarks on a fun-filled day of finding answers with the help of family and friends. Sid and his pals also host an interactiveb website at pbskids.org/sid.
An initial slate of 40 half-hour episodes are being co-produced by The Jim Henson Co. and KCET/Los Angeles. The animation is created using the Henson Digital Puppetry Studio, a proprietary technology that allows the company’s performers to puppeteer and voice digitally animated characters in realtime. The technology was previously used to launch the Henson toon property The Skrumps.
