Mebbe I Should've Been Canadian??
It's official. Canadian children's television rules, and with a few exceptions, U.S kids t.v. sucks. (oh, and the Brits do it better too!)
While it's doubtful that, even if I had been born ten years earlier, and in some place like Toronto, that I could have been working in the children's television industry, my chances would have been a HELL of a lot better than they were/are here. Having looked back at Canadian kids t.v. over the past 30 years, there would have been a lot more opportunity even for a big galoot like myself, as a performer and as a techie, as it seems like costumes and puppets still get the job done in the Great White North, and it's all flash-animation and reality-tv based crap down below the border. Here in the U.S., we long ago abandoned imaginitive kid's television for cheaply produced toy commercials. The few bright spots that do show up get quashed by lack of funding or network execs.
I know it's not as black-and-white as all that, but it's hard not to think that way when I see the total garbage that keeps coming out, and getting funding, even on PBS. I'm even thinking seriously about seeking work in the Christian kid's t.v. market just to see if there's some opportunity there. Bad as some of it is, at least there's a spark, and demand.
No real purpose to this rant, just thinking out loud after a restless night.
While it's doubtful that, even if I had been born ten years earlier, and in some place like Toronto, that I could have been working in the children's television industry, my chances would have been a HELL of a lot better than they were/are here. Having looked back at Canadian kids t.v. over the past 30 years, there would have been a lot more opportunity even for a big galoot like myself, as a performer and as a techie, as it seems like costumes and puppets still get the job done in the Great White North, and it's all flash-animation and reality-tv based crap down below the border. Here in the U.S., we long ago abandoned imaginitive kid's television for cheaply produced toy commercials. The few bright spots that do show up get quashed by lack of funding or network execs.
I know it's not as black-and-white as all that, but it's hard not to think that way when I see the total garbage that keeps coming out, and getting funding, even on PBS. I'm even thinking seriously about seeking work in the Christian kid's t.v. market just to see if there's some opportunity there. Bad as some of it is, at least there's a spark, and demand.
No real purpose to this rant, just thinking out loud after a restless night.