Jonathan Bird's Blue World on Public TV

[dashark]

Jonathan,

This is great news! My 2yo boy loves your web shows, especially the "Bandana Game". He watches it over and over again. My 5yo boy loves all of them....They will be very exited.....

 

[drbill]

Jonathan... did you try marketing them to other countries? I'm considering Europe and Asia as potential markets for my show since they actually seem to like educational material.

It is very disappointing that domestic outlets find something "too educational." Very disturbing, but not unexpected. What is happening to the majority of people in this country that they'd rather see car chases and murders than something that might (dare I say it) broaden their horizons and actually educate them about the world around them?

Of course I'm titling my proposed new show "Munching and Mating in the Macrocystis" so it will have all the "violins" and "sax" that much of the American audience desires!

 

[Fishbird]

Bill, you're right. Look at Discovery Channel: American Chopper (guys yelling at each other), Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch. Discovery is into "reality" not documentary. They have Animal Planet, but even their line up is heavily reality/drama.

For a while now, it has been very hard finding money to do nature films. I finally had to go to Nat Geo International for my last film and to other international markets for some films before that because the domestic nature film has been a tough sell here.

HOWEVER, believe me, when March of the Penguins made 125 million dollars, a lot of people took notice. Disney formed a whole new distribution company to do nature films and it jump started a lot of things, like the Planet Earth series from BBC.

Unfortunately, because my show is hosted, it is harder to go international because of language dubbing. It's easy to dub a purely VO (voice over) documentary into other languages, but when you have a guy on screen with lips moving, it's a problem. As a result, we have not yet worked on non-English versions of the shows. We do have an international distributor who will be taking the film to English markets.

Jonathan

 

[Fishbird]

Jonathan,

This is great news! My 2yo boy loves your web shows, especially the "Bandana Game". He watches it over and over again. My 5yo boy loves all of them....They will be very exited.....

Thanks!! It is airing in LA right now. Watching it on TV?

 

[Fishbird]

KCET in LA ran it last month. KVCR is airing it this month. Here is the schedule

 

[JoyfulNoise]

What a great story! I'm so happy for your success and for getting your show on PBS. Helps remind me to stay true, keep working hard, and keep trying. If my local PBS station doesn't carry the show, I'll at least drop the station a note about it and watch online.

 

[dashark]

Thanks!! It is airing in LA right now. Watching it on TV?

I am trying to find it to set the DVR. Having trouble.
My 5yo is already a good little freediver. he can't wait to start scuba. he always asks me when I will take him to "swim with the sharks".
I will keep looking for the show.....

 

[dashark]

KCET in LA ran it last month. KVCR is airing it this month. Here is the schedule

Thats what I needed to know! got the DVR set...the little guys will be stoked!
Congratulations......

 

[Fishbird]

Well, today is an exciting day for me...the premiere of Jonathan Bird's Blue World in the Boston area. Today I can see my own show on TV for the first time! How cool is that???

Also, last night I posted a new webisode on the website....about the airplane graveyard of Kwajalein Atoll. Check it out!

Jonathan

 

[Fishbird]

Who knows how these things happen. Out of the blue, we got listed as a featured video on the top level page of YouTube on Monday. We got more hits in a day than our entire YouTube channel got in a year. But it was cool!

Jonathan