Kids exploring and discovering the world; that’s the basic premise of Canada’s most popular children’s show, the CBC and Treehouse TV’s “Are We There Yet? World Adventure.”
Over its three seasons, the series has filmed in 29 countries including Egypt, Peru, Costa Rica, China, Russia, New Zealand, and Israel. Antigua & Barbuda is the latest country, and the first Caribbean country, to be featured in the series.
Series creator and producer, J J Johnson and his team from Sinking Ship Entertainment, which produces the series, are on island for a fast-paced week of shoots at various locales.
“We look for interesting things that kids are going to enjoy doing,” said Johnson, when we caught up with him at New Winthorpes-based music school Le Chateau d’Or.
Also, part of what made Antigua appealing to him, and will, he feels make it appealing for viewers as well, is the palpable pride and enthusiasm Antiguans feel for their country.
“Amazing” and “incredibly friendly” were only a couple of the adjectives he used to describe the people he’s come in to contact with both in setting this up and on the ground as they film the actual episodes.
The shoot involves a crew of six plus the two kids – Rehan Moola and Aamil Moola – who will be featured in the Antigua episodes. “It’s always siblings,” Johnson said, explaining that “(it) feels more authentic.”
Which is exactly what the series hopes to capture, authentic experiences, that families could perhaps enjoy when visiting the featured countries. As Kristen McGregor, creative producer responsible for researching the countries and finding activities for the kids to do, explained, they zero in on activities that are unique to the particular country.
(More in today’s Daily OBSERVER)
