UK Children's television production

Another day, another Dormouse, as my uncle used to say.

Prizes for anybody who can let us know what that means!

Here we are now, counting down the days until we are back in front of the cameras, in the studio shooting season two of our fantastic new Christian kids TV show Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew!

Filming in the studio begins August 12th, for two whole weeks.  That's pretty awesome, and I must say I am SO looking forward to it!  That's only six weeks away!

The ideas are coming thick and fast, we really want season two to be pacey, eye catching and engaging so I'm having to be quite inventive  to create over five hours of material which will play out in a relatively small space with not a huge amount of props.

Scripting episode 5 is underway! There has been planning done previously as I may have mentioned, we aren't doing the complete script from concept to completion with just six weeks to go, but most of it!  They are likely to be completed two weeks before filming, leaving us time to lest them rest for a couple of weeks before re-visiting and proofing with a fresh 'eye'.

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The theme for episode 5 is jealousy.  Don't you ever find it hard to be pleased for somebody because of their good fortune, especially if it's something you dearly wanted for yourself? Perhaps not, perhaps you are far more holy than that, but Mr Bon-Hovis sure isn't!  He's got a bit of work to do on that area!

Have a look at this lovely picture of our Creation Crew dog Charlie giving Flossie (short for Felicity) a little doggie kiss!

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How to make a Christian kids TV show

Production diary for season two of the fantastic new Christian kids TV show 'Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew'!

Episode four script completed! (Applause, mini celebrations, small indoor fireworks go off *POP*!)

We're trying to be a little more adventurous in season two, there are one or two more pieces of set, and two or three new characters which you'll get to meet.

As a writer, it gives me a lot more scope for scenarios and situations, there's more opportunity for changes in tone and mood with different personalities joining in the stories.

I find I have to keep reminding myself that such devices are available, and force myself to introduce them. And they are bringing a whole lot of fun with them, really enriching the whole environment of the house.

We've also been carrying on with the filming of the VTs at Creation Crew HQ, with the girls finally able to play with something they actually made last Saturday. It was so covered in wet paint that we couldn't finish off the filming!

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It's quite tricky writing this, I'm never sure how much information I should give away...it's unlikely that it's going to spoil the TV experience for the kids, as children aren't really going to be following the production diary, but there is a tradition in production of not revealing all...however I can reveal that the little fella below will be making a cameo appearance!

Onward and upward, episode 5 scripting begins today!

Christian kids TV production on a tight budget

Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew Christian kids TV show production diary!

Writing again today!

I think anybody reading this might be surprised by how much production time is taken up with maintenance and promotion of on-line materials such as the youtube channel, the main website and all the blogs and microsites.

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After I have written this post on facebook it will be posted to three different blogs and four different websites. Each of the blogs will then be submitted to places like Pinterest, Stumbleupon, Twitter and Tumblr, most of which require descriptions of the articles and keywords. So I say I'm scriptwriting today, in fact it will be a good two hours of article writing and blogging first. It's all very well having a fantastic new show, but people need to know about it!

A lot of work is being done to promote Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew on youtube too, we have over 300 subscribers and that is increasing daily, hopefully over the next few years as we produce more and more of a higher and higher quality we will attract a strong and loyal fan base!

The youtube channel itself has to be tweaked and adjusted daily, to keep the search engines interested, otherwise it will stagnate and drop down the search engine results and nobody will find our stuff.

So production diary this may be, but public awareness of the production must go hand in hand! So friends, don't forget to do what you can for the Creation Crew and share our videos, links, blogs and articles wherever you can. It gives us such a lift here at Creation Crew HQ!

Here's a blast from the past for you, this is just over two years ago now, at this point we had no idea that UCB TV would co-produce the show with us, is was a labour of love, we just wanted to do something nice for kids.

Christian kids TV production

Producing a Christian Kids TV show on a tight budget.
All work and no chuckling makes Jovis a dull boy!24.06.2013 Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew Christian kids" TV show production diary.
How do we know if we're getting a script right for the show? There are a number of things we're trying to achieve; we want the show to be edifying, we want it to encourage children to engage with the faith on a personal level and on their own terms in a way they can relate to, we want to tackle issues which 3-7 year olds are going to find relevant to them in their everyday lives. We want to offer a viable alternative to secular television which the children themselves will choose into.

And we want it to be funny!

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And a good measure surely has to be whether or not it's making me laugh as I write. If I don't find it funny, how can I possibly expect anybody else to?

I must admit, I have an awful lot of fun writing for the show. Most of the actual 'writing" time isn't spend actually typing words on a keyboard, it's spent staring into space, getting distracted, snapping back into 'Creation Crew" mode and drifting back out again. The most successful writing times are when I'm almost dreaming; I'm in the house with the characters watching a scenario play out in my head, then I can rewind it, play it out again, tweak and adjust, and when it's right I just know. I'll often say out loud 'YES!" and quickly start writing. And that may only be a paragraph or two, and then I have to stop typing, and drift off again!

I should also point out that the whole process is covered by a lot of prayer, and it has been since the beginning. We pray daily for the show and its success generally, we pray morning and evening for the specific area we are working on, and on a more intimate level I pray privately as I am working for God to lead me in what to share with the children and what I should open up to them in any given show.

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The Lord is very faithful in his walk with us on this programme.

On Friday I had quite a block, I found that I was drawing a blank everywhere I looked. From quiet thinking time, aimlessly drifting through facebook time, re-reading old scripts and visualising was all coming to nothing. But when I lifted this up to the Lord my mind brightened and cheerful, relevant and funny ideas began blossoming in my mind. That has now become part of episode four and will be appearing on your screen soon!

I hope you're enjoying my insights into this production, I have begun this diary quite early in the process so I will be posting on the whole journey from filming to song writing to editing and launch!

In the meantime enjoy this sweet picture of Charlie, who you will have seen guest appearing in the show on the VTs. Just a little puppy here, we can be pretty certain he was asleep!


God bless you all. x

Kids TV show production diary

So the performance licenses have all been approved for the Creation Crew Kids, Betsy Bella and Flossie. This means they can work on and off set, and even take occasional half days off school for narration and voice over work.

Did you notice that Early Bird and Dora Mouse are voice by Betsy and Bella respectively?

It's going to be a busy day today, we have 13 VT's to film for the 'Through the Window" sections, and we're hoping to get two of them filmed in one day today.

These are filmed in and around Creation Crew HQ using an ordinary good quality handy-cam. It's shot in full HD at 60 fps, but it's quite a straightforward home use type camera. Clearly there is a lot of top-end equipment available, but the handy-cam feel is quite intimate, it's convenient and gives a quick and easy results lending an un-contrived dynamism to these sections.

We want a complete change of atmosphere, and a break from the studio pace.

This approach to film making has also meant that the VTs are as close to a genuine experience for the girls as possible. While they do take some direction such as 'Can you just do that again" or 'Wait for me to get ahead so I can film you coming towards the camera." or 'Put the boat in the water when I say go." all of the VTs do involve the children genuinely enjoying an activity which is a lot of fun for them.

In case you were wondering, VT stands for video tape, you may have heard people on TV saying 'roll vt" at which point a previously made film plays. So we call them VTs.

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Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew production Diary

Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation-Crew season two production diary:

Things are all getting rather suspicious in episode four. Not only is Mr Bon-Hovis being nice to Woody Louse, but Woody Louse seems to find the experience rather touching!

What's going on in the Creation Crew house? All will be revealed at the proper time.

And I imagine some people have wondered if we were ever going to get to meet the mysterious Mrs Bosanti-Crayco, and exclusive news, YES!

Mrs Bosanti-Crayco herself will begin making regular appearances 
from now on adding an extra dimension to the show!

Kids TV show production diary

Production updates!

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Here at Creation Crew HQ we've decided it might be fun if the regular posts took the form of production updates for the next few months! 

Since we're so busy writing and producing all the great songs, Arty Crafty times, stories and pictures, scripts and so much more, we thought that it would be great to bring you along on the journey, and get everybody excited about what we're doing for the next show!

So today we are working on scripts, and it looks like Mr Bon-Hovis is in for a surprise in this episode, why is he trying to blow up all these balloons? He doesn't even know himself! Mrs Bosanti-Crayco has asked for his help, but is there something she's not telling him?

Meanwhile, Stripy Monkey waits patiently on the Mantlepiece of Creation Crew HQ for his time to shine:

Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew - Vision Video - Christian Videos, Movies, and DVDs

Good morning all!

Have you noticed that the posts have been a little sporadic lately? Well it's all in a GREAT cause!

We have some fantastic and exciting breaking news here at Creation Crew HQ, season 2 is under way! We are scriptwriting, song writing and filming as we speak. The studio work will be filmed in August, and we expect work to be complete before Christmas 2013!

Thanks to everybody who has supported and encouraged along the way! Season two is going to be a BLAST! Building on everything we've learned from making the first 13 episodes we're going to make the next 13 more fun than you can shake a stick at!

Here's a little snippet of song time to whet your appetite:
"I have a gift that never runs out,
Something special and I always have enough,
Whenever I'm down, even wearing a frown,
I can always give a little bit of love!"

Hurrah for Vision Video, now you can get the full season of Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew directly from a proper distributor!


It will be a treasured favourite in the library and the heart of any child aged 3-7!


Jovis Bon-Hovis and the Creation Crew - Vision Video - Christian Videos, Movies, and DVDs

How to do a prayer walk

How to do a prayer walk with kids.

On a beautiful sunny day like it is here, all I can think about is getting outside and spending some time in the garden!

Well for now, I'll satisfy myself with watching the pretty birds as they feed in the trees just outside my window.  But let's continue the theme of encouraging our children to pray by getting them outside and looking for things to talk to God about.

As parents and leaders we want to encourage a living and natural relationship with God in our children, one which has it's place in the every-day, and the ordinary.  

We don't want our little ones to feel that God is set aside for special occasions or celebrations, or for when we want something special, or something goes especially wrong.

The casual and almost irreverent relationship with a God who is right there with them, and alongside them in everything they do, desiring to be a part of every aspect of their lives is a beautiful and precious gift to make available to a child.

So why not take your child or children out for a little prayer walk today?  Here's the deal; take a watch with you and time two minute walks.  After each two minute section, pause where you are and be quiet for a little while, look around and try to find something to pray about, and pray about it right there and then.

Encourage the kids to be peaceful, listen to their hearts, find inspiration from what they can see or hear, smells in the air, a neighbour's fence which is breaking, a baby crying or people laughing and celebrating across the street.  What is the world telling them?  How could God bless the things you are observing?

What you are looking for is ways of encouraging an openness with God, a willingness to share your heart dialogue with him in the little things, and to be in commune with him in your normal mundane activities.  Also, you are teaching your kids to be observant, to look around and see needs, opportunities to be thankful, opportunities to care.

Take the challenge, go on a prayer walk with your kids today!

Creation Crew kids Betsy and Bella

Creation Crew kids Isabella on an essential chocolate break during filming of a super-fun 'Through the Window' outside adventure!

Season two of the Creation Crew is now in the early stages of production, as season one begins to roll out properly with our distributor 'Vision Video' mid-June 2013.

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