Kickstartable: A Children’s Television Pilot Episode

Welcome to the first in what I hope will be a regular feature here on Persesphone, KICKSTARTABLEs. What’s a Kickstartable? Why I’m so glad you asked. It’s a Kickstarter project that’s caught my eye, or another editor’s eye, and we want to show it to the world. Sound good? First up in the series is the brain child of my friend, Ann Huber. Her project is to film a full-length pilot of YogaKidsâ„¢, to shop around to television networks. She’s got the vision. She’s got the skill. She’s got the determination. All she needs is the funding.

Check it:

Want to know more about this amazing project? Here’s the low down:

Tell us a little about your Kickstarter project. What do you hope to accomplish with the funds raised?

The Kickstarter project is for a Children’s TV show pilot called YogaKidsâ„¢. It will be a thirty minute show that helps teach kids about wellness and the world around them through stories, music, and kid-friendly yoga poses. It will also offer them coping strategies, help them with physical development, and encourage healthy-eating habits. As for the structure of the show, I compare it to Barney, but instead of a playground, the action is set in a magical yoga garden. And instead of a big purple dinosaur, we have the Gardener character that will be interacting with the YogaKids. Because I think kids love learning from other kids, it will be the YogaKids that will be teaching the poses. The Gardener’s role is to help the kids make connections from these poses to the world around them, an organic progression as many of the over 200 official YogaKidsâ„¢ poses are based on animals (bunny breathing, lizard, polar bear) and natural elements (mountain, volcano, tree).

With the funds raised, I’ll produce the pilot episode only to use as an example of what the YogaKidsâ„¢ TV series would look like. With this pilot in hand, I’ll be able to shop the idea of the series to various children’s networks.

Is this your first Kickstarter project? If so, what made you make the leap to engaging the world community to promote your cause?

This is my first Kickstarter project. I wasn’t searching for a creative idea as much as I was searching for a way to realize the one I already had. In other words, I had written the YogaKidsâ„¢ pilot script before knowing anything about Kickstarter. Up to that point, I had no idea how I could possibly fund the project (though that little fact wasn’t deterring me from hoping that I would eventually find a way). About a week after writing the script, my husband came home and told me, “I know a way you can do this. Ever heard of Kickstarter?” So I looked into it to discover that it was the perfect match for my needs. Because if I can get the world community involved enough to support the pilot, I truly believe that I can make the series a reality.

What was the most challenging part of getting your Kickstarter presentation together?

Because the idea was fully formed before finding Kickstarter, launching the project wasn’t too difficult. This, right now, is the hard part! For the next three weeks, I’ve got to stay positive, patient and very, very busy searching for as many different ways to get the word out as I can. I have read that running a Kickstarter campaign is a full-time job and that’s true. So juggling this with my other jobs is a big challenge.

What has been the most pleasantly surprising thing since your video has been live?

The support from my own social network has been amazing. Some of my friends have been ceaselessly promoting it and I’m so grateful. Asking people for money can be a difficult thing. I’m not particularly good at it, perhaps because I understand how financially tough things are for some folks (I am most definitely one of these “some folks.”) So when people don’t have much to give, and still do, that really touches me.

What’s your project’s biggest selling point?

I believe the values and ideas taught in the YogaKidsâ„¢ TV show are ones that kids truly need in today’s world. Specifically, I’m most passionate about the coping strategies I mentioned above. Kids need healthy ways to deal with the stresses and feelings (the frustrations and the anger) they deal with daily. There has been research done recently concluding that yoga has a positive effect on bullying because it changes the bully. So many times in our society, we’re reacting to problems in hopes of solving them instead of dealing with the real root cause of the issue. I feel like YogaKidsâ„¢ is an exception to that. The show is all about creating change from the inside out, by empowering kids with the tools to become the happiest and healthiest they can be. That, I believe, is the project’s biggest selling point and it’s most important one.

Personally, I love the idea of a calming television show with positive lessons and life skills. I especially love the idea of show that doesn’t involve a purple dinosaur. I love the idea of a show that could, effectively, change a bully.

The YogaKidsâ„¢ Project will be on Kickstarter until February 22, 2013.

Disclaimer: Please do not take this review or my personal endorsement of this project as investment advice. I am a lady blogger on the Internet, not an investment adviser, nor am I an angel investor myself.