Childrens' science show wins big accolades
Mississauga News - Nov, 2005

With an Emmy Award already under his belt and a 2005 Gemini Award coming in over the weekend, you couldn't blame Vince Commisso if he wanted to boast.

However, Commisso, founder of the television production company 9 Story Entertainment, isn't quite ready to talk about the above-mentioned accolades. In fact, he's most proud of the little-known ACT Award he received earlier this year for the animated children's television program Peep And The Big Wide World.

"I'm particularly proud of (the ACT Award) because it focuses on Canadian programming for young people," said Commisso. "However, when we won the Gemini (for Best Pre-School Program or Series), it was a little bit surreal. When you receive an award like that, after all the work involved, there is a tremendous sense of pay off."

The show, which airs weekdays at 11 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. on TVO, follows three birds, Peep, Chirp and Quack, as they discover their world through science. The idea behind the show is to both educate and entertain, said Commisso.

"We try to explore science in a way that is relatable to pre-schoolers, but also make it entertaining," said Commisso, adding well-known film actor Joan Cusak lends her voice to the show as the narrator.

Having finished taping the second full-season of the show and set to get to work on the third, Commisso said that awards prove that the show has struck a chord with its young viewers.

"If you have a chance to truly connect with the audience and manage to do so, then you've reached nirvana as a producer," said Commisso. "We've set the bar high and we have to keep reaching higher."

Speaking of setting the bar high, Commisso is about to release the pilot to a new animated show, Skyland. The ambitious project is an attempt to create a new mythology ofr children in the 9-14 age group using a mixture of motion capture technology, CGI, 2-D and key frame animation. The show launches Saturday at 7 p.m. on Teletoon as a one-hour special.

In the show, which is set in the future, the world has used up all the renewable energy sources. The Earth is ruined after people tunnel to the centre of the world to harness the magma there.

The end results is a massive continental shift that sees the Earth split into blocks of land that magically float into the sky. As water becomes more and more precious for the people living on the floating blocks, things turn ugly and rebellion raises its head.

"I'm a big Marvel comic book fan and I've always felt the most compelling stories are the ones with depth," said Commisso. "As long as you build the story slowly cohesively and coherently and keep the good versus evil aspect, the myth will hold."

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