I subscribed earlier this week to KidScreen’s online newsletter (note the permanent link to the right), and I’m already in love with it. All the industry news for all things children’s media, right there in your in-box! Who could ask for anything more?
One of the first things I learned is that Nickelodeon is rolling out its fiftieth station with a launch today, Wednesday July 23. This is Nick Arabia, a Middle Eastern station that will reach a potential 190 million viewers (I’m not sure if that’s homes or individuals).
The range and cultural adaptations of Sesame Street are fairly well known, but I had no idea Nick was also gaining such a reach. The station will feature original Arabic programming, such as a live-action show for older kids called Jametna (seen above), but also the American standards like SpongeBob and Dora. Thanks to Gary Rusak for writing the brief article about this station; its website can be found here. At first blush it looks exactly like any Nickelodeon site you’d expect in the States, but then I guess most American school kids wouldn’t fair too well on the quiz question ‘What is the capital of the United Arab Emirates?' For that matter I'm not sure we adults would either....
(The answer is here.)
At any rate, let's hope the relationship between Nick and the Middle East proves long and fruitful, finding productive and symbiotic ways to mix American and Arab cultures.
4 comments:
Gideon told me about your blog, and I must say I'm very impressed. I've been pondering about many of your posts over the last couple of days since I've read them. I'm looking forward to what else you have to say.
Meanwhile, I have a couple of links that I think you might appreciate. The first is Kids Off the Couch which sends out a weekly e-newsletter featuring a "media adventure" for the week that is very Dean-esque (e.g. watch The Secret Garden and go to a garden, etc.). They even have a special edition for people living in New York, so you should check it out.
The second is one I just found a moment ago of video animations of Old Testament stories made by Primary kids in Connecticut. Here's a blurb about it: They invited the public and their friends to a premiere screening of the films at a real movie theater, complete with a modest red carpet. “We ate popcorn and viewed our movies on the big screen. These young people will never forget making these stories. Which was part of our plan. When you produce, direct and star in stories from the scriptures, you never forget the message…even if it is a little bit different from the official version.”
And lastly, feel free to come check out my own personal site at caferock.org just for our latest blog entries. I like to blog about Mormon cinema from time to time. Here's a few entries, you might like: Mormon Cinema in Three Lines or Less, Keith Merrill is Stalking Me, and What's Up? Docs.
It's good to hear from you, Alyssa! (Where are you geographically? Are you on facebook too?) I won't be able to check out any of those sites until next Tuesday-ish, but I certainly will then--they all sound wonderful. Although this site is kid-centric and I really am not connected enough to blog about Mormon film, I'm still completely interested in it, including events like that Primary activity; as everyone's going viral it's nice to see someone reach the other way, towards the silver screen. In fact, I guess that is children's cinema, isn't it? But at any rate I'm glad you like, or say you like, what I've done thus far--thanks for checking it out.
To answer your first question, we have just barely moved back to Utah after being in California for a few years where I worked for Yahoo. As for the second, yes, I'm on Facebook. (As an Internet junkie, I'm into pretty much every Internet fad.) I'm connected to Gideon if you find him on there.
P.S. Did I ever tell you that I was in Dean's Children's Media class with you? I was similarly moved and inspired. I've never really teared up in a lecture before, but I remember his class on Home Movies really got me going. Very moving.
This is fantastic stuff--thanks for sending it along. I'm finishing up a BYU Studies (website) article about online Mormon cinema, so the kids' videos are exactly the kind of thing I need to round out my examples. Fantastic for the kids too--expect to see me highlight it here soon!
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