Tell us a little bit about how you work with the FRP team.
When developing a new show, I am often asked to write a curriculum to help the team understand the educational components that could come into play in the series. I then review outlines and drafts of the scripts in order to ensure that the message being portrayed to children comes at the most impactful moment and is clear enough for young children to understand. Lastly, I show preschoolers the programs to find out what they think! Children always tell me the truth and have fantastic ideas for how to make a character better or a scene funnier. Their feedback is always pure gold!
Do you have a favorite project or episode you’ve worked on?
This is a hard choice, but one of my favorite episodes was the Donkey Hodie episode called “Duck Duck’s Broken Bookcase.” In this episode, Duck Duck learns that girls can do everything boys can do and challenges a stereotypical message that was portrayed in an old book. We pulled in media literacy consultants to help with this episode as well because teaching girls and boys that they are capable of anything can really change the trajectory of a child’s life.
What’s something you wish parents and caregivers knew about our series?
Parents should know that the FRP team takes their work incredibly seriously. Every single word that a character says has multiple people considering if it is the right one to use in the scene in order to benefit their children. We care if every word, and every image, and every voice intonation is clear, accurate, articulate, educational, and funny!
What was your favorite TV show when you were growing up?
I was a TV junkie and loved a lot of different shows for different reasons. Sesame Street was my first—Ernie, Super Grover, The Count—who doesn’t love them? It also didn’t hurt that they had a hilarious baby monster named Natascha that I of course adored. But I also watched a lot of Bugs Bunny, and Foghorn Leghorn always made my mom laugh. When he came on, my sisters and I would call out, “The chicken is on TV!” My mom would come running and watch that segment with us. That was truly special.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
When I was in third grade, my grandmother taught me how to knit. More recently, I used YouTube to relearn how to knit and am in the process of knitting myself a sweater. I also have two kids and love going to watch their soccer and lacrosse games. I used to coach lacrosse and up until last year, I played on an adult lacrosse team as well.