[Tenure Period]
About NEVER PLAY MUSIC RIGHT NEXT TO THE ZOO (2021) Runtime: 07:48
Featuring John Lithgow (CONCLAVE, FOOTLOOSE)
Written by John Lithgow, Illustrated by Leeza Hernandez
Executive Produced by the SAG-AFTRA Foundation
Directed & Produced by Amy Adrion
A concert gets out of hand when the animals at the neighboring zoo storm the stage and play the instruments themselves in this hilarious picture book based on one of John Lithgow’s best-loved tunes.
The Making of In August, 2021, the SAG-AFTRA Foundation reached out to see if I was interested in directing another Storyline Online episode featuring John Lithgow reading, in fact singing!, a book that he wrote, NEVER PLAY MUSIC RIGHT NEXT TO THE ZOO.
The Fall semester had already started, but I was able to fly to Los Angles on Wednesday, September 15th for a shoot on Friday, returning to Rochester that Sunday. It was a quick turnaround, but I was thrilled for the opportunity to work with one of the most versatile actors of his generation, and unsurprisingly, John Lithgow turned out to be an absolute dream.
The project also allowed me to hire collaborators both old and new, as I worked with cinematographer Cat Deakins, Camera Operator Paris McCoy, and Sound Recordist Ori Rendler, all based in LA, and I hired RIT Assistant Professor Meghdad Asadilari as the Animation Director and Lead Animator who worked with RIT Graduate Student Yuting Shao to produce the animation. RIT Lecturer Don Casper did the Color Correction.
Fostering community through filmmaking is one of my professional and personal goals and this project allowed me to reconnect with LA based colleagues and provided the opportunity for new collaborations with RIT colleagues and students on a high profile production, and the project benefitted enormously from their expertise and creativity.
I went on to work with Meghdad Asadilari as Animation Director on 5 more Storyline Online episodes and he received an RIT PLIG (Provost’s Learning Innovation Grant) to build a course on 2D character setup and automated animations in Aftereffects that used material from this series as examples.
Peer Review // Dissemination
With a digital library of more than 100 videos, Storyline Online is used by teachers in classrooms, by parents at home and on mobile devices, and is endorsed by leading organizations including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Library Association.
Each book includes supplemental curriculum developed by a credentialed elementary educator to strengthen comprehension, verbal and written skills. Teacher’s Guide
I am proud that each of the 7 episodes I directed have been given the “Storyline Online Kids' Top Pick Seal of Approval,” recognizing books that have surpassed 1 million views, highlighting their popularity among children and their impact as trusted early literacy tools for parents and educators.
NEVER PLAY MUSIC RIGHT NEXT TO THE ZOO has over 2.3 million views on YouTube.
