Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009

Colleyville Kids Hit YouTube with Original Webisodes

Colleyville Kids Hit YouTube with Original Webisodes

By Rita Cook

Contributing Writer

Lights, camera, action!

The Show About Something, produced by CoCaKee Productions, is a comedic Web show that can currently be seen at both the production company’s Web site and on YouTube.

Parents say it’s perfect for children of all ages, it’s Web safe ... and you might see a few people you know!

But even better, it’s produced exclusively by four local children (with a little help from their parents), billing the five-minute episodes as "Carol Burnett meets Jerry Seinfeld."

Including random topics, The Show About Something is currently bi-weekly "unless we have trouble editing" said Tracey Michelle of CoCaKee Productions.

Michelle, who is the mother of three of the main characters (Cody, Cade and Keelie), says it’s a group effort. The main players, using stage names, are Colleyville kids Cody Shuck, Cade Christian, Keelie Shae and Megan McCoy.

Twins, Keelie and Cade attend O.C. Taylor Elementary in Colleyville; Megan attends Cross Timbers Elementary School; and Cody attends Colleyville Middle School.

"All the kids live in close proximity to each other and have gone to school together for years," Michelle said. "They were all watching television together and said, 'Hey, we can make a Web show.’ They wanted to make safe Web content for kids with the ultimate goal to gain recognition and be able to lobby the government for a splash page on each Web site that would announce its content."

The four children do just about all the work both in front and behind the camera. They started the process back in April.

Using a home video Sony HD and lamps for indoor lighting or natural sunlight outside, all the kids are usually in every episode, barring schedule conflicts.

To get the show on the road, a rough draft of the script is outlined by parents.

The children then go over the script to decide what they want to keep, what doesn’t sound like a kid would say, and finally making their own additions.

Michelle said that during the shoot the kids are responsible for costumes, rehearsals and helping each other stay focused. "All the kids help with marking, feeding lines when someone forgets and helping with wardrobe," Michelle adds. "It really isn’t a 'one person doing one thing operation.’ Everyone helps out with everything. Even the parents help out with the homemade lighting and the like."

Speaking of the parents, their involvement is far-reaching in the overall process. They not only draft the scripts, but also help with brainstorming sessions, tell the kids what is and isn’t possible (like big explosions) and also help with filming. "Sometimes the kids have such a good time they get off-task, but our time is usually limited and they tend to monitor themselves that way," Michelle said. "The older kids are learning a little about editing, but for now the parents rough edit and then have the kids help fine-tune it. It is a huge collaboration and the kids are learning along the way."

Shot at home for the most part, the kids say they enjoy going on the road, too, always having a good time reaching out to their audience.

"As this is a kid’s show they are aware that at some point they may become too old to appeal to the kids," Michelle noted.

"However, I am sure as long as they are all interested and have the parental support the show will go on," she said.

For details, see www.TheShowAboutSomething.com.