Behind the Scenes
Little Engine Media
Little Engine Media is a production company dedicated to creating educational multimedia materials and products that serve children, families, and communities in need. Our aim is to create video, print, and online materials using lovable, friendly characters and real-life situations to educate and empower kids with knowledge and information that is helpful to understanding complex situations from a child’s perspective.
Melissa Roja Lawlor: Producer / Director
Melissa has been involved with children and puppetry for ten years, beginning her career in children’s television as an intern on Jim Henson’s Bear in the Big Blue House. After five years of teaching high school English and a stint with the critically-acclaimed PBS documentary show Frontline, Melissa moved back to children’s television with a strong desire to educate children through media. She has served as an Associate Producer, Roadshow Producer and background puppeteer on the multiple award-winning PBS Kids’ show Between the Lions, and she has performed in many live appearances for the show across the United States in children’s theaters, museums, hospitals and shelters.
Melissa graduated cum laude with a B.A. in English and Psychology from Amherst College and an M.A. in English from Middlebury College. She received the prestigious Psi Upsilon Prize from Amherst recognizing excellence in leadership, scholarship, and athletics, as well as the Challenger Prize for Writing from Middlebury.
The Puppet Kitchen
The Puppet Kitchen is a comprehensive design studio in Manhattan’s East Village, specializing in character design, construction and performance for stage, television, and film. From Disney World to Broadway, The Puppet Kitchen creates award-winning designs and beautifully crafted products, all imbued with a sense of inventiveness and fun.
Michael Schupbach: Puppet Builder and Character Designer
An alumnus of Jim Henson’s Muppet Workshop, Michael has designed and built puppets for television programs, movies, and Tony Award-winning theatrical productions. For his work on Sesame Street, he is the proud owner of four Daytime Emmy Awards. He has also worked on Disney Channel’s Emmy Award-winning Playhouse Disney series Bear in the Big Blue House, Puppet Planet for the Travel Channel, Noggin’s interactive series Play with Me Sesame, and Universal Studios’ Sesame Street in 4-D.
Michael holds a degree from Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey’s Clown College as well as a somewhat more serious B.A. in Education with a concentration in Children’s Television from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Care.com
Care.com is the premier source of trustworthy care options for children, pets, elderly parents and your home. We offer a full scale of subscription-based services to address the life-cycle of specific care needs while providing free background checks and a suite of tools and resources for selecting the best care possible. In addition to the network of trusted care providers available to subscribers, Care.com features a variety of articles and guides to provide in-depth information about specific care services and issues.
