THE much-anticipated animated series

‘Nancy’s School Daze’, the spin-off of the critically acclaimed and impacting ‘Nancy’s Story’ videos, is expected to reach as far as Berbice, Linden and Essequibo, as exclusive broadcaster E-Networks seeks to make the show accessible throughout Guyana.“We are seeking to give the show (as) broad (a) national reach as possible. Currently, it is as far as [E-Networks] has subscribers. They’re working on Berbice, they’re working on Essequibo, and they’re working on Linden,” said Alex Graham, CEO of the show’s production company, Tinninben Animation.

The bi-weekly show, the product of a partnership between Tinninben Animation Studio and E-Networks, is being funded by the Institute of Private Enterprise Development (IPED) and is currently aired on E-Networks Channel E1 every other Saturday at 18:00hrs, following its premiere on October 1.

E-Networks’ Managing Director Vishok Persaud had already spoken of his aspirations to ensure the show has “the biggest possible audience”, which includes not only the local audience, but some 30 to 35 per cent of the company’s audience which comes from the USA, and another five per cent from other international markets.

The show sees the evolution of ‘Nancy’, the protagonist of the video ‘Nancy’s Story’ and its sequel ‘Nancy Story: Boys Too’, who is now in secondary school and will be facing many social issues common to Guyanese youths.

Thanks to the show, the Guyanese public can see these issues expressed using relatable characters in very familiar settings that Guyanese children will be able to connect with.

However, unlike the series’ antecedent videos, this series will not be broadcast on popular channels like NCN and Learning Channel, due to financial constraints and the need to have the show generate revenue to sustain its existence. This decision, Graham concedes, was difficult but necessary.

The show has a staff of approximately 30 persons engaged full-time, part-time and occasionally. These must all be paid, and the money to so do must be generated from some source.

“One of the challenges we have is that this thing has to make money. NCN and the Learning Channel had broadcast our other shows because we had given (the shows) to them for free. For the love of Guyanese children, everything we did under Nancy Stories we gave away. But to keep the studio going, this thing has to garner revenue; so that is one of the reasons we have to stick with an exclusive broadcast partner.
“We have a lot of people on the show, we have to pay people every day,” Graham said.

DON’T HAVE MONEY
Although the company has a relationship with The Learning Channel, over the years, according to Graham, “They don’t have the money to do it”. Nonetheless, Graham added, Guyanese do not have to despair, as provision will be made to have a season one of the series available.

“We expect that when we get to the end of Season One and Season Two starts, we will make Season One available, so people who might not have seen it during the season will still get a chance to see it. While Season Two is exclusive on E1, they will get to see Season One everywhere and on the Internet,” Graham said.

Despite the praise ‘Nancy Story’ and ‘Nancy Story: Boys Too’ has been garnering, the production team has struggled to acquire funding for the series.
Social Protection Minister Volda Lawrence has commended the impact of the shows, which addressed sexual abuse of children and encouraged them to speaking out.

“I can rehearse ‘Nancy’s Story’ because I love it so much, and I know the impact it can have. I guess that everyone has seen ‘Nancy’s Story’ and the sequel, ‘Nancy’s Story: Boys Too’, and are just as excited as I am to witness the season premiere, entitled ‘Nancy School Daze’, the first episodic animated TV series in Guyana,” Lawrence had said at launch of the series on October 1.

Minister of Business, Dominic Gaskin, also commended the show: “I am enthused when I see things happening in areas that we have not traditionally explored and exploited,” he said. “I know that Guyanese are creative people; however, what has eluded us is the commercial aspect of our creative abilities. I believe that compared to many other industries and the challenges they face, this industry may have some inherent advantages. I see endless opportunities, because I see an endless market place; an endless market place that can be accessed simply by clicking and streaming, instead of trucking and shipping.

“I see opportunities for young people, I see opportunities for people in sparsely populated hinterland communities with limited employment opportunities,” the Business Minister has said.

‘Nancy’s Story’ was first launched in October 2012, and was part of the TELL Scheme initiative, a suite of tools employed as part of ‘the national plan for the prevention of sexual violence against children in Guyana’.

The almost four-minute video played an emotional tale of nine-year-old Nancy who was abused by a close family member – an uncle – who used to babysit her and her brother when her mother was away at work.

In ‘Nancy’s Story: Boys Too’, the eight-minute animated feature film showed an older Nancy helping her friend ‘Steven’ with his own challenge of sexual abuse, and finally encouraging him to tell an adult.
The videos come equipped with a catchy ‘Tell Song’ tune that encourages abused children to speak out.