By DUSTIN RACIOPPI
It’s the moment most television producers pine for: a trip to the Big Apple, a walk down the red carpet and a chance to go home with a golden-winged woman holding an atom a coveted Emmy award.
For Fair Haven’s Chris Dudick, this dream has become reality, as he and two local children will suit up for the Emmy Awards for their nomination in the children’s programming category.
Dudick, who runs Small Factory Productions in Fair Haven, and his two local kids Molly Siciliano of Red Bank and Kylin Lamar-McCastle of Fair Haven received the nod last month for their Saturday morning cartoon series, Small Factory Flicks.
“It’s a black-tie event,” Dudick said. “We’re going to show up there and, hopefully, win.”
The show, called Small Factory Flicks, is hosted by Siciliano and Lamar-McCastle, and features animated shorts produced by students at the Achievement First East New York Charter School in Brooklyn. It airs on New York City’s public access network, NYC Life.
The 12-episode season was created and produced by children from the school with the help of the staff at Small Factory, Dudick said.
“It’s kids’ writing, it’s kids’ ideas, their thoughts, their creative creations,” he said. “It’s not just Small Factory that’s getting (the nomination). It’s the kids.”
Exciting stuff, no doubt, considering Small Factory’s relatively short TV life, Dudick said.
He started Small Factory in 2007, an idea spawned when he was babysitting his cousins and together they wrote and animated their own cartoon. Since then, the company, located in the Acme shopping plaza on River Road, has produced hundreds of kid-created shows, many of which involve children from the Red Bank area, he said.
The nomination for the Brooklyn-based show, he hopes, will serve as a springboard to get more kids involved, more exposure and, maybe in future years, another trip to the Emmys.
“Definitely. I think it gives credence to what we’re doing,” Dudick said. “Hopefully, this lets everyday people see it and realize that.”
