Chris Dudick, a University alumnus, was awarded an Emmy for children’s programming at the 55th Annual New York Emmy Award Gala on April 1, 2012 in New York City.
Dudick received a bachelor’s degree in art from the University in 2003 and went on to complete his master’s in teaching in 2012. Dudick is now the executive producer of Small Factory Productions in Fair Haven, NJ.
“It’s nice to know that sometimes even the more low-key majors end up getting really cool jobs and even better opportunities,” said Alyssia Bifano, a first-year student and graphic design major at the University. “The fact that Chris Dudick was from Monmouth and won an Emmy is eye-opening and inspiring.”
The Emmy award-winning socially conscious cartoons, “Kids Kare,” were created at Small Factory Productions during a Create-a-Cartoon program held by the company. The program was held for children between the ages of four to 12. The interactive, educational arts activity was not only held at the production studio, but also at schools, hospitals and community organizations.
With their cartoons and songs boasting authentic and imaginative stories, the young “Kids Kare” storytellers and animators have inspired feelings of volunteerism and responsibility. The message that the producers have is simple. They want to join forces and be the youngest generation to change the world. Inspiring others to save lives, care for animals and lend a helping hand are the ideas they have decided to pursue. They want everyone to want to change with world with them and they want to do so one socially conscious cartoon at a time.
Samantha Feldstein, a senior, shared her feelings on the impact something like this has on children.
“This series is something truly inspiring,” she said. “I hope that people decide they want to help change the world. It’s amazing what interactive art and television can do for children. It can really help in the healing process for many of them.”
Children from the Riverview Medical Center’s Children’s Art Therapy Program created one of the cartoons that were featured on the cartoon series. The short animated film that the teen artists created was titled, “Tyler’s Reef.” It was created to help other children deal with the loss of loved ones. The children who created the story were able to pull situations from their own personal experiences.
“College students always think that business is the only major that can get you anywhere, I know I did” said Jessica Fina, also a senior at the University. “This just goes to show that that sometimes the underdog majors can really do a lot and change people’s outlook on life.”
This creation was made possible because of funding from Provident Bank through collaboration with Riverview Medical Center’s Children’s Art Therapy Program as well as Small Factory Productions. The cartoonseries can be viewed at www. mysmallfactory.com.
