Today, part two of our interview with the Imagination Movers. Could we have edited some of this down? Oh yeah, probably. But these four men will be in your living room every Saturday morning, entertaining your offspring. You probably want to know exactly how they got there and what their intentions are…right?

You know the drill: Read the interview. Catch the clip. Set your TiVo and watch. Then let us know what you think.

How did you hook up with Disney?
New Orleans is a small place but with a far reach. Friends in New Orleans spoke to friends in California. California friends spoke with our soon to be Disney friends and invited them to see us perform live at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Playhouse Disney & Disney Records came and saw us. Soon after, we began having conversations.

How has the show changed since your original pitch?
Playhouse had wanted to create a show based on/around our music. Little did they know how much hard work we had done previously on developing our own TV concept! After signing with Disney, we handed our work off and then began collaborating on what would become Imagination Movers, the TV series. Great resources - such as head writer Rick Gitelson and the production team of Skot Bright and Sasha Penn - were assembled through the wonderful guidance of Nancy Kanter at Playhouse.

About 75 percent of what you see on the TV series was envisioned by the four [of us] in 2003. Knit Knots to Warehouse Mouse to Wobble Goggles to Scribble Sticks — they were ideas fleshed out before our relationship with Disney.

How much creative input do you each have?
As co-executive producers, we participate on many aspects of the show, from premises to final scripts to show edits. Our voice is always being heard and our ideas incorporated. One of our points of pride is that all the songs you hear in the show were written by [all of] the Movers.

…We’re so proud that the original Movers idea we dreamed up five years ago was very much the blueprint for the finished product, and we’ve been able to work closely with the network and producers to make sure that tone and spirit of our original idea shines through. We wanted to make a show about four friends who work together to solve problems — and that’s what we’ve got. We wanted to make sure that music and comedy was a big part of the show and we’ve accomplished that. We think kids and parents will really enjoy watching this together.

You’re seriously living a lot of people’s dreams — going from everyday jobs to having your own nationally recognized band…and TV show. What’s surprised you most about this journey?
The places we’ve gone. The people we’ve met. The collective tenacity in which we’ve tackled everything that’s come our way, high points and low, and that despite our ups and downs, we’ve managed to continue to work together with the same respect and appreciation for one another’s talents and gifts as we had on day one.

Did you have to take a crash-course in acting or improv?
Disney always encouraged us to just be ourselves when we got in front of the camera. At first, it seemed intimidating to learn our lines and figure out how to act like “real actors,” but we quickly learned to enjoy the challenge of bringing the stories to life. Our favorite moments are when we get to be silly with larger-than-life physical comedy. Each Mover has found his own personality and style.

How has all this changed your relationships with your families? [The Movers' kids range in age from two-and-a-half months to nine years.]
Our schedules are much different nowadays. Less traditional. Our lives are less traditional. When we were filming, we worked five days a week for 12 to 14 hours a day. Luckily we had weekends off so there was a semblance of normalcy. When you add in playing live shows during the six months we aren’t filming, the time away can be taxing, but we’re very aware of the need to balance our lives and keep everything in perspective. We are not 100% sure what tomorrow brings.

What was most important to you about creating a kids’ show?
From day one, we wanted to create something meaningful, a show that treated children as creators instead of consumers. We felt too much of what existed did not recognize kids as emotionally, intellectually and physically complex individuals they are.

It was always our belief to make a show everyone in the family could enjoy together. We write our music with the same belief – songs a four-year old, a nine year-old, and a thirty-five year-old could, and should, rock out to together!

Filed under Show and Tell, Six and Under

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