One Wee World's Award-Winning DVD Series

Whooooo-wheeeeeee!!! How cool is it to be able to say that?!?!

In the past month, we've won four major media awards, the iParenting Media Award, the National Parenting Center Award, the Dove Foundation Seal of Approval, and the Film Advisory Board Tribute of Excellence!

I have to admit, I am especially proud of the Film Advisory Board's Review, and I'd like to share it...

"What a delight! The multifaceted mission of One Wee World is admirable. The comprehensive historical and modern day Mexican culture depicted in “One Wee World Celebrates Mexico” DVD is breathtaking. Scenes of tribal and modern day Mariachi music and dance, culture beliefs, art, architecture, and exotic scenery, are vivid and rich in texture. Children at play, Mexican food, language and number sequences that add to the mix are valuable tools in understanding diversity. The film helps kids to become acquainted with people from other cultures who share our magnificent world, and make their life richer for the experience. “One Wee World Celebrates Mexico” is wonderful entertainment for all ages.

““One Wee World Celebrates Mexico” is the perfect addition for the family DVD library. A fabulous journey that will be hard to forget.”

I'm just so happy with that because it so perfectly captures everything we set out to do.

Right now, as a company, we've got two lovely prospects before us... because I'm new to business, I don't know how much to disclose or if I even should, so I'm not going to go into specifics just to be on the safe side. Suffice it to say, either partnership seems as if it would really help our DVDs get out there! Send us all your good vibes, prayers, juju, and wishes. And know we're sending them right back at you with gratitude!

This is Tracy Douglas, award-winning producer, signing off! : )

Dancing with the Stars (And Shakin' in My Boots)

Tonight, Shelli and I went to a live taping of Dancing with the Stars, courtesy of her friend, Donna, who knows the executive producer.

We'd never seen the show before last week, when Donna invited us to come and see if we could make any connections to help us with One Wee World. We ended up going last Tuesday and had a great time, but unfortunately didn't get to speak with the person we had hoped to meet.

So, we were back again this week, in hopes of getting another chance to meet him, but, alas, we missed our elusive person yet again. However, we did get a couple of other great opportunities.

Down on the floor some of the celebrity guests tonight included George Lopez, Eva Longoria, and Oscar de la Hoya... can you imagine?

Shelli and I looked at them and then looked at each other.

I started fumbling with my purse to get the DVDs we'd brought just in case an opportunity exactly like this came up. But, I was still wasn't committed to doing it. I asked Shelli if she thought we should give them to them and, of course, she said, "Yes." (Thanks, Shelli, for not saying, "Duh!")

Then, I bought myself time by dithering about debating whether or not I should give the programs to them before or after the show.

At this point I felt an incapacitating wave of nervousness engulf me. Whenever I feel this certain feeling of nervousness, I know that I have to do whatever it is that has made me so nervous, if for no other reason than to conquer the fear I'm experiencing.

So, I rocketed off my seat ( I was glad I'd bought a pretty, new dress earlier that day... it helped that I felt cute) and barreled on down to their table.

As a quick aside, this has got to be an awkward position that celebrities must constantly face, a stranger in close proximity to them, obviously wanting their attention and the celebrities' having no earthly idea as to what's about to happen.

Once they were all warily looking at me, I explained, "I created a children's DVD about celebrating diversity, and I'd like you all to have one," while I pushed DVDs across the table to each of them.

Not wanting to be a bother, I bolted on back to my seat.

Shelli and I spent the next ten minutes craning our necks to see if they were actually looking at the DVDs or not. We thought we saw George Lopez looking his over and felt hopeful. Then we saw Eva checking it out and felt even better.

Then, we realized we should have included a note asking what we'd hoped they might do if they liked the DVD, like endorse us, or give us a testimonial, spread the word and talk about us on talk shows, or even introduce us to others who might be able to get our project off the ground.

Oh well, ever since starting this project the learning curves on a number of subjects has been precipitously steep.

The whole rest of the show I worried that they'd just leave the DVDs behind on the table, but when they got up and left, the table was clear. So... who knows? It'd be so great to hear something from them.

And they weren't the only ones we got to give our DVD to. We got to visit the green room where we saw Leeza Gibbons and gave her a copy, too.

I have to say, she was WAY cool! We were very gratified that she really listened, engaged us in a brief conversation, and complimented us on what we were trying to do. I was really impressed by her graciousness and sincerity.

And, a shout out to Connie, who we also met tonight. Connie worked on one of the segments on the show and she was a pleasure to talk with in line and later on in the green room.

Boy, I just want One Wee World to be everything I know it can be, a movement for peace and unity and a joyful celebration of diversity. And I'd love to see everyone be a part of it.

I am an optimist, so I shall fall asleep tonight hoping, hoping, hoping.

Raison D'Etre

I mean, honestly... HONESTLY!!! Could he be any more beautiful?

I just had to take a moment and post this... we took it when we went camping with Shelli and Aaron and some other friends a week and a half ago.

It was a such a great time and, not the least because of the nights. (My close friends know I bemoan the fact that Max is not the cuddliest guy in the world... sure, he'll pop on over for a quick, distracted kiss, and a tight, sincere hug, but then he'll tear off on one of his pressing toddler missions to destroy our house)

Anyways, at night, when we'd build the fire, Max would nestle cozily into my lap and stay there for hours!!! I was never more content in my life! Gazing from him to the stars to the fire, smelling the woodsmoke and the top of his sweet little head, I kept my arms in a tight embrace around him, giving extra-special squeezes to savor his sturdy little, healthy little body and let him know his mama loves him more than she could ever, ever express. Those were among the best moments of my life.

We need to go camping every night!

Rounding out the Wee Team

This post applauds the efforts of three artists who have left their own indelible marks on the birth and future of One Wee World.

First, Angela Roberson, an animator whose considerable beauty is equaled by her talent and enthusiasm. This year, Angela made history by being the first contestant of African-American descent to compete in the Miss Los Angeles Chinatown AND winning the Third Princess crown!

We met Angela by way of Bruce (good people know good people!) who suggested her as a possible artist to sketch out Ambassador Kiki for us. We'd put the call out to several people we knew who all submitted ideas to us. But as soon as we saw Angela's rendition, we knew she was the one to go with. Angela has been such a pleasure to work with. I couldn't imagine a better "mom" for Kiki!

And if Kiki's "mom" is Angela, then Kiki's "dad" would be Ben Bardens of Bark Animation. Ben is a friend and former neighbor of the Taylors who teaches animation here in Los Angeles and currently works for the L.A. Lakers doing graphics for their games at the Staples Center. So in addition to animating Kiki wonderfully for us, he's also responsible for creating our beautiful title and vocabulary slides. Ben's really been there for us throughout our journey, giving generously of his talent, support, and willingness to help. We really look forward to Ben's future with us, as soon as we can afford to snag him as an art director, HE'S OURS!!!

Last, but far, far from least, Lance Landiak of Ditty Base and the Decibel Collective. I spent a lot of time looking for the right partner to help us with our music. Days and days and days of listening to music production libraries and submissions from various sources. I was starting to get pretty worried because either I didn't like the music, or the sources were out of our budget.

All the research on the internet paid off though when I stumbled across the treasure that is Lance. From the very first conversation I had with him, Lance has been acommodating, supportive, and gracious. And the music they create ROCKS!!!

I just love what they've done for us. And what really tickles me is both that we've never met in person and also the truly global scale upon which we're working together. Lance lives in B.C. in Canada. The artist, Ged, who wrote the music to our theme song and sang it is an Irish man who lives in London. And the artist, Mo Shang, who has just written the Japanese version of our theme song lives in Singapore. How amazing is that?

We seriously could NOT have produced our first DVD to our exacting standards in so short a time without Lance's help. I am thrilled to think of all of the fantastic music we'll be working on together for our next programs.

Angela, Lance, and Ben, good times behind us, good times before us! We're so happy to be working with all of you!

Ace in our pockets

I would be deeply remiss if I didn't include a member of the One Wee World team who stepped in when we most needed help. Mr. Aaron Strongoni, true blue friend and lifesaver.

My husband met Aaron when they both worked at a restaurant here in L.A. It really isn't a stretch for me to imagine how they got to be friends. Their wry, sarcastic senses of humor and unique way of looking at things must have made them gravitate toward one another.

Not much is known about "Strongoni" as our son, Max, calls him... He is nocturnal. He is desired by all my single (and some married) girlfriends. And he writes horror films.

Hailing from Idaho, the Split Pea Capitol of the World as he would proudly tell you, Aaron is, and this will indeed make him cringe, just adorable and wildly talented.

We've been working a lot together the past couple of weeks, and it's been so much fun! It's beyond gratifying to have been given the gift of this idea, and then to see the idea manfiested exactly as I envisioned. And Aaron has had a huge role in that, with his generosity in helping us film and entirely handling the editing on his own.

Out of respect to him because I can imagine he wouldn't want a very long piece, I am going to keep this short. Strongoni, you are brilliant.

Robert Jarzen, Husband Extraordinaire

My husband and I joke that our entire relationship is based on lies. I'm afraid to admit how true that is... you see, we met almost 16 years ago on a set of a commercial. During the casting session, he lied and claimed expert skateboarding skills. And during my interview, I lied and said I knew how to drive stick shift. (Hey, we were young, broke actors, we NEEDED the work!) : )

We both got the jobs, for a cheapie Italian shoe company named Koro, and our destinies were cemented. Luckily for me, the car I drove around ended up being an automatic, but Robert fared not so well, they had to cast a stunt-double for him.

I will never forget our first day of shooting. During the morning, I was definitely checking him out... he had, and still does have, a cute, cocky walk, so I enjoyed resting my eyes on his bum. I just thought we might have a little fun flirt.

Fate had other ideas in mind, when we sat down to lunch, it was the strangest thing. I remember looking into his eyes and then my mind got very quiet. From the very base of my brain, this thought swam up to my consciousness ( I can still feel the exact place where it originated) and I remember hearing, "This is the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with."

Well, that was it for me. But, you know how men can be a little slow sometime, it took him a bit longer to figure it out. As a matter of fact, it took him FIVE WHOLE DAYS to propose to me! : ) And I imagine you can guess my answer.

Robert and I consider ourselves married a month later. We made our vows to each other under the stars by ourselves, but since we were paying our own way for any wedding celebration, it took us two years to have a civil ceremony. So although in the books, it's 14 years, in our hearts it'll be 16 on July 11th.

I am so deeply proud of my husband. He is a spectacular father, my greatest friend, and an immensely talented human being.

When we first started this project we had a couple of other partners who ended up not being able to stay with One Wee World due to other personal obligations. This couple was a director friend of ours and his wife who has worked in production coordination. They were suppposed to be responsible for scheduling, filming, and editing.

After they dropped out, we realized what a good turn of events it actually was for us. (Although initially, since we were given almost no notice before they dropped out, we really had to scramble to cover for their absence) We discovered that, truthfully, Robert was perfectly capable of directing our program to our specific requirements.

It was very empowering and also deeply gratifying for Robert to get this opportunity. He is a wildly creative person and this project very nicely brings all of his talents into great use. No one more than him knows exactly what my vision is for this, and how spectacular that he also happens to be my husband! He's thrown himself body, mind, and soul into this project and I could ask for no better partner. It's a dream come true for us to work together.

I hope we get the opportunity to do this for the next 16 lifetimes let alone the next 16 years. Robert, I love you and I know we can do this together. If it doesn't turn out the way we hope... baby, we gave it our all and I'm proud of us. As long as our family is together, we will be okay.

Our Good Ole Boy

I can't imagine a soul on this earth meeting Aaron Taylor and not feeling like they've been friends with him all their lives within a couple minutes of meeting him. Aaron's got a real gift for connecting with people. I'm not sure if it's his great sense of humor, his genuine interest in what a person's got to say, or him just being an all around great guy, but what I can tell you is that you want Aaron Taylor to be your friend.

Aaron fills the role of Musical Director for One Wee World. He's the one responsible for helping us find music that authentically represents the countries we're focusing on.

It was a no-brainer for Robert and I to ask Aaron to fill this role. From zydeco to rock to punk, Aaron is a music FREAK!!! In college, he studied sound. It's been a real boon for us since we are filming so many performances where we're using the live sound recording deftly captured by Aaron.

There are so many great things to say about Aaron, but I'm just going to mention two of the skills he possesses that I admire immensely. One, he is a terrific father. When Shelli had to return to work, Aaron elected to become a stay at home dad.

Rory could simply not have asked for a better father. I spent a lot of time with Aaron because I was a stay at home mom, and Rory is a terrific little guy in great part thanks to his father's wonderful parenting. Those two have a lot of fun together and I'm grateful they shared their infectious good times with me and Max.

The second skill Aaron has mastered is cooking. Let me tell you, Aaron makes such good food that I'm compelled to have conversations with it. Ask him, he'll tell you about the time I cradled a bowl of chili lovingly and crooned to it, oblivious of everyone and everything around me. If my tastebuds have dreams, I am sure they have recurring ones about a southwestern-style meal Aaron made for us with a coffee-rubbed filet mignon with pasilla chile sauce and corn relish that was the best meal I ate that year. That man RULES in the kitchen.

And speaking of men who rule, my next post will be about another man. But this particular man is the one who rules my heart, my husband, Robert Jarzen, co-founder, director, and executive producer of One Wee World.