New Kids Game and TV Series Focuses on Importance of Girls’ Roles in Technology
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (PRWEB) May 01, 2017 -- Blue Socks Media, a North Carolina-based children’s television production and management company, launched a Kickstarter campaign today. The team aims to seed capital and build a social community for its new technology-centric television series and game, Quinn & the Quips.
Quinn & the Quips is an original concept by Alex Anderson, a producer at Blue Socks Media. The series stars spunky 11-year-old Quinn, a techie game developer who unwittingly creates a portal for emoji-like characters called “quips”. The portal allows quips to escape from her latest game and cause havoc in her already complicated social life. The show will target both girls and boys from six to nine years old.
“While Quinn & the Quips will be great fun, it is a show that also models positive social behavior for a new digital generation and exemplifies how important it is for girls to get involved in technology,” Toni Steedman, president of Blue Socks Media explained.
By creating a technology-savvy girl, Quinn has the ability to make science and technology cool. The series aims to encourage girls to enter a field where they have been underrepresented and underpaid for comparable work. While representation is increasing, there is still a dramatic imbalance. According to the 2017 ISACA’s survey, 42% of women say there is a lack of role models in the field. In addition, according to the National Center for Women and Information Technology, only 26% of professional computing occupations in the 2016 U.S. workforce were held by women, and only 16% of 2015 Computer Science bachelor’s degrees recipients were women.
The team’s Kickstarter goal is $50,000 where proceeds will be used to fund a short animated pilot and development for a companion game app. Backers can contribute to the campaign and receive different levels of rewards, including access to behind-the-scenes production, exclusive first looks or downloads of the completed pilot game. There are also swag items available such as logo stress balls, USB bracelets, t-shirts and totes.
“Kickstarter is an excellent platform to expose a new concept such as Quinn & the Quips,” said Grant Stimmel, a PPC Specialist at Enventys Partners, a successful product development and marketing firm specializing in crowdfunding campaigns. “The Kickstarter platform not only provides a channel for startup funds, but the success of a campaign proves there is a demand for the product. It also helps build a community of social media supporters, which is critical today.”
Steedman and Anderson have worked together to create the series treatment, which outlines the characters, story development and first 13 episodes. Jeremy Fox, an LA-based game designer and consultant, is working on the initial game plan. Warner McGee, an illustrator known for his work on major children’s TV series and toys for Hasbro, Mattel and American Greetings, created the first pass illustrations of the characters on which the animation will be based.
In February, the Blue Socks Media team traveled to Miami for the annual Kidscreen Summit, a major industry gathering focusing on the business of kids entertainment. Blue Socks Media received a positive response on their Quinn & the Quips concept from potential key partners, including animation studios, production companies, game developers and broadcasters.
“Today, consumers decide where, when and what to watch,” Anderson commented. “So, we figured it was time to involve the consumer in the process. We will make the pilot and game either way, but with new crowdfunding supporters, it will be even better!”
The Blue Socks Media team launched the Quinn & the Quips Kickstarter campaign today. Backers can choose from a variety of reward levels to help support the project. To learn more more about Quinn & the Quips, or to follow along with their Kickstarter campaign, visit bit.ly/BlueSocksMediaKS.
About Blue Socks Media
Blue Socks Media creates, produces and manages children’s television properties. The company has produced over 200 episodes and 200 original songs for its wholly owned, Emmy Award-winning series, Raggs, which is distributed in over 100 countries. The Raggs characters also host events and perform live shows as part of the “Play at Palladium with Raggs” program at five Grand Palladium luxury resorts in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Brazil. New productions include Quinn and the Quips, CZ Kitty Mascot and Raggs Pup PI, a sequel to the original series.
Sarah Hunter, Blue Socks Media, +1 704-497-4980, [email protected]
Share this article