The puppeteers of tomorrow
We speak to Sophie Ali, founder and executive producer of two educational children’s shows
We speak to Sophie Ali, founder and executive producer of two educational children’s shows, about the importance of educating children in the South Asian region, and what the future holds
International Children’s Television LLC is a social enterprise, producing educational content for the vastly underserved South Asian kids market. They are on a mission to create quality educational programming for the 200 million school-age children in South Asia.
We had the privilege of speaking with Sophie Ali, founder and executive producer, who is determined to bring the new generation educational entertainment. Ali’s journey started 16 years ago with Kahani Corner, which aired on PTV. The show was produced by Jalil Akhtar and starred Mahira Khan. The concept behind this show was celebrities reading stories to children. Since Ali had an enjoyable experience doing this in Pakistan, she wished to take it a step further. Now, she has two shows that are under production called The Magic Tent and The Flying Tent. “We have Naseeruddin Shah and Ali Azmat on board, and the character of Aunty Pashmina is styled by none other than Hassan Sheheryar Yasin. He offered to dress her and did a fabulous job!” she says.
The Magic Tent is targeted for children between the ages of three to seven years old. The show is a storytelling series that helps children associate with empathy, creates thinking and teaches creative problem solving. The concept was to use an entertainment mode of storytelling to teach educational topics that aren’t taught in the school. “In places like Pakistan and India this educational system is sorely needed as the rote system doesn’t work,” Ali adds. The series features animation and puppetry. “We have done a great deal of research and have created a curriculum specifically for this market. There are certain things that are important in this age group and need to be focused on, like the treatment of animals, the handicapped and most importantly, entitlement,” says Ali. Another topic that the show touches upon is known as the ‘Courage Curriculum’, in which Ali and her team, teach girls to respect themselves. Not only girls but boys also need to respect themselves, as “no self-respecting boy will be disrespectful to girls,” she concludes.
The Flying Tent is for toddlers up to three years old. This show is predominantly a music series with sing along songs. The concept here is to teach South Asian children English through songs. “We created this concept for classic songs as well as lullabies and folk songs from across the region, and made videos around them,” Ali explains. This specific series was solely funded by the crowd-funding platform Indiegogo, and Ali tells us that they actually raised more than they were even looking for. “We found that people want this stuff, there is a lack of it in South Asia and people are willing to help us produce it — this was a great proof of concept for us!” Ali says with great honour.
For Ali, these shows are important for multiple reasons. “The Flying Tent is about teaching language through music and The Magic Tent educates in a didactic way. Also, there is nothing local out there for our kids and it’s important for their self-esteems to see our programs. Finally, very few shows are educational and there is no better time to start this initiative for our future generations. It is very important to spread the message that kids are kind. In our show everyone lives in the same tent but they are all different, hence everyone needs to learn to get along,” she explains.
Each show is about 11 minutes long, and follows the same model of most children’s shows. Ali eventually wants to broadcast on television, but in the mean time she is a true believer in YouTube, and was ecstatic when YouTube got in touch with her for this project. “YouTube is fantastic because it is everywhere. If you have an important message you can make it available for everyone free of cost,” she says. One day Ali hopes to reach out to those without Internet and host screenings for kids who do not have access to television. There are talks about a potential radio component too, which will have a comic book visual to go hand in hand. Lastly, Ali hopes to produce DVD’s and rental videos.
With these shows comes the great legacy of Theodor Geisel who is creative director. He founded Dr Seuss and has designed many famous media puppets like Miss Piggy. “He has been intrinsically involved with each step as he too is passionate about children’s television and thinks it is very important,” Ali explains. The reason South Asia is being targeted is because “the sheer concentration of South Asia is larger than anywhere else, and it is these kids that will inherit the global economy, so tapping into this market is crucial and to do to in an entertaining and responsible way will be our honour,” she smiles.
Ali concludes: “If I could do one thing with this show, it would be to change the way we think about asking questions. We often give the impression that asking questions is rude and stupid. Even at home asking too many questions gets an answer of because ‘I said so’. We are trained from a young age not to question things. I want to change that and educate people that questioning means being smart and curious.” This is a mission driven project for Ali and her goal is to create social change through storytelling. She wants to move the needle towards change, and is going into it with full force, making sure that future generations can be the puppeteers of their lives.
International Children’s Television LLC is a social enterprise, producing educational content for the vastly underserved South Asian kids market. They are on a mission to create quality educational programming for the 200 million school-age children in South Asia.
We had the privilege of speaking with Sophie Ali, founder and executive producer, who is determined to bring the new generation educational entertainment. Ali’s journey started 16 years ago with Kahani Corner, which aired on PTV. The show was produced by Jalil Akhtar and starred Mahira Khan. The concept behind this show was celebrities reading stories to children. Since Ali had an enjoyable experience doing this in Pakistan, she wished to take it a step further. Now, she has two shows that are under production called The Magic Tent and The Flying Tent. “We have Naseeruddin Shah and Ali Azmat on board, and the character of Aunty Pashmina is styled by none other than Hassan Sheheryar Yasin. He offered to dress her and did a fabulous job!” she says.
The Magic Tent is targeted for children between the ages of three to seven years old. The show is a storytelling series that helps children associate with empathy, creates thinking and teaches creative problem solving. The concept was to use an entertainment mode of storytelling to teach educational topics that aren’t taught in the school. “In places like Pakistan and India this educational system is sorely needed as the rote system doesn’t work,” Ali adds. The series features animation and puppetry. “We have done a great deal of research and have created a curriculum specifically for this market. There are certain things that are important in this age group and need to be focused on, like the treatment of animals, the handicapped and most importantly, entitlement,” says Ali. Another topic that the show touches upon is known as the ‘Courage Curriculum’, in which Ali and her team, teach girls to respect themselves. Not only girls but boys also need to respect themselves, as “no self-respecting boy will be disrespectful to girls,” she concludes.
The Flying Tent is for toddlers up to three years old. This show is predominantly a music series with sing along songs. The concept here is to teach South Asian children English through songs. “We created this concept for classic songs as well as lullabies and folk songs from across the region, and made videos around them,” Ali explains. This specific series was solely funded by the crowd-funding platform Indiegogo, and Ali tells us that they actually raised more than they were even looking for. “We found that people want this stuff, there is a lack of it in South Asia and people are willing to help us produce it — this was a great proof of concept for us!” Ali says with great honour.
For Ali, these shows are important for multiple reasons. “The Flying Tent is about teaching language through music and The Magic Tent educates in a didactic way. Also, there is nothing local out there for our kids and it’s important for their self-esteems to see our programs. Finally, very few shows are educational and there is no better time to start this initiative for our future generations. It is very important to spread the message that kids are kind. In our show everyone lives in the same tent but they are all different, hence everyone needs to learn to get along,” she explains.
Each show is about 11 minutes long, and follows the same model of most children’s shows. Ali eventually wants to broadcast on television, but in the mean time she is a true believer in YouTube, and was ecstatic when YouTube got in touch with her for this project. “YouTube is fantastic because it is everywhere. If you have an important message you can make it available for everyone free of cost,” she says. One day Ali hopes to reach out to those without Internet and host screenings for kids who do not have access to television. There are talks about a potential radio component too, which will have a comic book visual to go hand in hand. Lastly, Ali hopes to produce DVD’s and rental videos.
With these shows comes the great legacy of Theodor Geisel who is creative director. He founded Dr Seuss and has designed many famous media puppets like Miss Piggy. “He has been intrinsically involved with each step as he too is passionate about children’s television and thinks it is very important,” Ali explains. The reason South Asia is being targeted is because “the sheer concentration of South Asia is larger than anywhere else, and it is these kids that will inherit the global economy, so tapping into this market is crucial and to do to in an entertaining and responsible way will be our honour,” she smiles.
Ali concludes: “If I could do one thing with this show, it would be to change the way we think about asking questions. We often give the impression that asking questions is rude and stupid. Even at home asking too many questions gets an answer of because ‘I said so’. We are trained from a young age not to question things. I want to change that and educate people that questioning means being smart and curious.” This is a mission driven project for Ali and her goal is to create social change through storytelling. She wants to move the needle towards change, and is going into it with full force, making sure that future generations can be the puppeteers of their lives.