Also at the Great Northern Creative Festival, I listened to a presentation by Sarah Gomes Harris, creator of one of my favourite children's series, Sarah and Duck.
Sarah explained that the concept of the series came about from doodles that she made while she worked at a stationery shop: in a way, I think, that explains why some of the recurring characters in the series seem so strange and random, as you come up with a lot of weird ideas if you just doodle with no agenda and no preciousness.
Sarah put together her ideas, with a central character based upon herself, and took them to a pitching event, where she was lucky enough to have it picked up. What I found interesting was that she initially had no thoughts of Sarah and Duck being a children's series: she just wanted to make something entertaining, but it was important for commercial purposes to make the programme fit into some sort of niche, and so it was reworked for pre-schoolers. I think this history does show through in the final programme: the cartoon Sarah is an independent character who does not seem to have any parents; the other on-screen characters do not talk down to her, and it does not shy away from being rather surreal.
There were a few concessions made to make the programme more acceptable to children: the one that surprised me the most was the revelation that small children are scared of old people, which necessitated the re-design of the Scarf Lady to make her look younger.
One thing I picked up on in Sarah's talk was a touch of sadness: it was clear that the programme meant a lot to her, as it had provided an escape from a mundane dead-end job (something that I can relate to, as I took the difficult path of leaving a secure yet miserable job in order to follow a creative journey), but because of the way of the commercial world, she had to give up ownership of her precious creation, and gradually give up control of it. It was clear that she was uncomfortable with the fact that Sarah and Duck was no longer "hers," and had changed in ways that she had no choice over. With any luck, this is a reality that I might have to face one day.
Nevertheless, it was pleasant and inspiring to hear from someone who has managed to find some kind of success in the route that I am taking.
Sarah explained that the concept of the series came about from doodles that she made while she worked at a stationery shop: in a way, I think, that explains why some of the recurring characters in the series seem so strange and random, as you come up with a lot of weird ideas if you just doodle with no agenda and no preciousness.
Sarah put together her ideas, with a central character based upon herself, and took them to a pitching event, where she was lucky enough to have it picked up. What I found interesting was that she initially had no thoughts of Sarah and Duck being a children's series: she just wanted to make something entertaining, but it was important for commercial purposes to make the programme fit into some sort of niche, and so it was reworked for pre-schoolers. I think this history does show through in the final programme: the cartoon Sarah is an independent character who does not seem to have any parents; the other on-screen characters do not talk down to her, and it does not shy away from being rather surreal.
There were a few concessions made to make the programme more acceptable to children: the one that surprised me the most was the revelation that small children are scared of old people, which necessitated the re-design of the Scarf Lady to make her look younger.
One thing I picked up on in Sarah's talk was a touch of sadness: it was clear that the programme meant a lot to her, as it had provided an escape from a mundane dead-end job (something that I can relate to, as I took the difficult path of leaving a secure yet miserable job in order to follow a creative journey), but because of the way of the commercial world, she had to give up ownership of her precious creation, and gradually give up control of it. It was clear that she was uncomfortable with the fact that Sarah and Duck was no longer "hers," and had changed in ways that she had no choice over. With any luck, this is a reality that I might have to face one day.
Nevertheless, it was pleasant and inspiring to hear from someone who has managed to find some kind of success in the route that I am taking.
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