Colorado Technical University

Kids Stuff

Summary: Kids StuffWe get asked over and over don t you think the movie s not going to work somewhere I say it s not Americana so much as it s about kids In India in Japan in Argentina theyare looking and saying this is what I m going through Rich Ross president of Disney Channel Worldwide on High School Musical which has been a huge international success BURBANK Calif IN a sunny corner office at Disney Channel headquarters here two junior executives were charting the course by which High School Musical has been commandeering the television sets of the world s teenagers A feel good story that sets West Side Storyish themes to catchy tunes that recall Grease the movie has already been seen by an estimated 40 million Americans most of them in high school or middle school themselves It s won another 7 5 million fans in Europe 10 7 million in Latin America and no one knows precisely how many in Asia The next horizon is Africa And so the question at hand was Should a South African drum corps record a new promotional version of one of the anthemic songs As the young executives debated the question they carefully watched for the response of their audience who not coincidentally was their boss Rich Ross the president of Disney Channel Worldwide which created the film and gave it its premiere on its main domestic cable network But his mind was starting to drift to something they had laid on the coffee table before him Oh my God he said picking up the prototype of the latest High School Musical toy It s a Magic 8 Ball He tore off the packaging and began to shake it furiously like a child at his eighth birthday party Mr Ross was looking for the answer to a silent question which he later somewhat sheepishly articulated as How much more How much indeed As the head of 62 Disney channels and their offshoots Mr Ross probably has more influence than anyone else on the television that young children and adolescents are watching these days not just in this country but also in many of the 100 other nations that now carry Disney Channel programming And then there are all the compact discs clothes toys and games that those various programs and movies have spun off His shows aren t just big children s shows They re among the biggest shows period In fact Disney Channel is responsible for all but two of the 30 highest rated television movies specials and shows on cable television in 2005 6 among viewers ages 6 to 14 according to Nielsen Media Research The newest of these programs is Hannah Montana which after American Idol was the most watched show on television last season among viewers 6 to 14 it typically draws an average audience of more than two million over all Its success follows that of Lizzie McGuire That s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack it acknowledges the desire of so many young viewers to become famous while quietly informing them that celebrity is not all it is cracked up to be Similarly Cory in the House a spinoff of Raven that has its premiere in January will show its lead character Raven s teenage brother played by Kyle Massey living out another fantasy of at least some children and adults he will move into the White House where his father has been hired as the president s chef Sprinkled among these shows and others on Disney are elements that Mr Ross considers top priorities to his viewers One is music which is often embedded within the story line itself Hannah has produced enough songs that a soundtrack on Disney Records of course it s due at month s end In addition each episode of a Disney show typically features a point of contention either among friends or between parents and their children because Mr Ross wants his viewers to say they can solve a problem with their mom by watching an episode of Raven Mr Ross also wants the situations depicted to be universal the jock in High School Musical who s embarrassed about being in a school play for example so that the shows and movies can be beamed around the world We get asked over and over Don t you think the movie s not going to work somewhere he said We say it s not Americana so much as it s about kids In India in Japan in Argentina they re looking and saying this is what I m going through Finally Mr Ross said he strives not to condescend to his audience The most vivid example of that respect is an experiment already under way on the Disney Channel Web site in which children can re edit episodes of their favorite shows adding or subtracting scenes or songs We feel comfortable kids can watch something backwards or put it in a different order he said Along with his chief development executive Gary Marsh an 18 year Disney Channel veteran whom Mr Ross appointed to succeed him as president of entertainment for the channel he has also launched the careers of a stable of Disney stars many of whom have appeared on each other s shows Among them are Hilary Duff who vaulted to fame as Lizzie McGuire Raven Symon star of That s So Raven and now the two Cheetah Girls movies Dylan and Cole Sprouse the twin leads of Zack and the six lead actors and actresses of High School Musical Before they got those roles Mr Ross a former children s casting director interviewed each of those young performers while parents waited patiently outside the room We wanted to understand who they are what they are like as a kid he said Mr Marsh and his team at Disney Channel developed High School Musical but it was Mr Ross who aggressively rallied support for it from his bosses chief among them Robert A Iger the president and chief executive of the Walt Disney Company He began that campaign during a visit to a ski lodge outside Salt Lake City where the movie was filming He typically visits one set a year Watching the opening scene he said he found himself getting the chills In the scene the two main characters a teenage basketball star and a shy outsider are pushed together to sing a song at a New Year s Eve karaoke event It s a foreshadowing of their eventual reluctant pairing in a school production Immediately Mr Ross said he was transported back to his own high school experience managing the drama club But instead of savoring the memory he called Anne Sweeney his boss and the president of the Disney ABC Television Group I think I ve got something he told her The next thing he knew he Ms Sweeney and Mr Marsh were in Mr Iger s office showing him some early scenes Then Mr Ross got the other Disney divisions involved Before the movie even made its debut Disney Records for example made its songs available on iTunes building excitement and landing the soundtrack at No 1 on the Billboard charts Since then Mr Ross has traveled the world to get High School Musical on the air in as many countries as possible So far revenues from the sales of the movie s DVD release and accompanying soundtrack have exceeded $130 million according to the company more than enough to recoup the film s $4 2 million cost In making Disney Channel relevant to a generation of young viewers Mr Ross has won it a more prominent place within the famously cutthroat Disney empire a standing that would have been unthinkable when he arrived At that time the channel was available in fewer than 15 million American homes and probably best known for Avonlea a critically received but little watched series based on Anne of Green Gables The number of homes is now close to 90 million Meanwhile Disney has succeeded in steadily eroding if not yet overtaking the overall ratings advantage held by its chief competitor Nickelodeon long the top rated network among young viewers Critical to Mr Ross rise within Disney has been his relationship with his chief patron Ms Sweeney who brought him to Disney Channel in 1996 in her capacity as its president and then promoted him to that job in 2004 after she got her own promotion Prior to that Mr Ross had worked for Ms Sweeney at two other cable channels first at Nickelodeon in the late 1980 s and later at the cable channel FX then in its infancy Mr Ross and Ms Sweeney are such close colleagues that her picture is among those of several dozen relatives and friends pasted on the refrigerator in the home where Mr Ross was raised in Eastchester N Y and where his parents still live Mr Ross first experience as an impersario came in the fourth grade when he and his parents said he rallied his class to put on a Thanksgiving play and even went so far as to locate and photocopy a script himself I loved watching the audience react he said I felt I could understand what worked and what didn t That same year on the first night of Hanukkah Mr Ross father Marty a garment center executive arrived home from work with an enormous cardboard box Scrambling to open it the young boy found the kind of present that many other children could only dream about a puppy But the young Mr Ross was almost inconsolable He had asked for a television Soon after he got it and though he kept it on virtually around the clock whether watching such favorites as Charlie s Angels or Hart to Hart or Mayberry RFD while he did his homework his grades never suffered By the time he was 12 Mr Ross said he was thinking of his career Most boys at the summer camp he attended in Pennsylvania had their parents send them copies of Sports Illustrated Mr Ross made sure his family forwarded him his subscription to Daily Variety His big break came in fairly typical fashion when through a friend of his father s he secured a job in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency where he worked most summers while attending the University of Pennsylvania After graduating from Fordham Law School and passing the bar exam he set aside his legal training to work at Nickelodeon Mr Ross and his partner of nearly 2 Kids StuffWe get asked over and over don t you think the movie s not going to work somewhere I say it s not Americana so much as it s about kids In India in Japan in Argentina theyare looking and saying this is what I m going through Rich Ross president of Disney Channel Worldwide on High School Musical which has been a huge international success BURBANK Calif IN a sunny corner office at Disney Channel headquarters here two junior executives were charting the course by which High School Musical has been commandeering the television sets of the world s teenagers A feel good story that sets West Side Storyish themes to catchy tunes that recall Grease the movie has already been seen by an estimated 40 million Americans most of them in high school or middle school themselves It s won another 7 5 million fans in Europe 10 7 million in Latin America and no one knows precisely how many in Asia The next horizon is Africa And so the question at hand was Should a South African drum corps record a new promotional version of one of the anthemic songs As the young executives debated the question they carefully watched for the response of their audience who not coincidentally was their boss Rich Ross the president of Disney Channel Worldwide which created the film and gave it its premiere on its main domestic cable network But his mind was starting to drift to something they had laid on the coffee table before him Oh my God he said picking up the prototype of the latest High School Musical toy It s a Magic 8 Ball He tore off the packaging and began to shake it furiously like a child at his eighth birthday party Mr Ross was looking for the answer to a silent question which he later somewhat sheepishly articulated as How much more How much indeed As the head of 62 Disney channels and their offshoots Mr Ross probably has more influence than anyone else on the television that young children and adolescents are watching these days not just in this country but also in many of the 100 other nations that now carry Disney Channel programming And then there are all the compact discs clothes toys and games that those various programs and movies have spun off His shows aren t just big children s shows They re among the biggest shows period In fact Disney Channel is responsible for all but two of the 30 highest rated television movies specials and shows on cable television in 2005 6 among viewers ages 6 to 14 according to Nielsen Media Research The newest of these programs is Hannah Montana which after American Idol was the most watched show on television last season among viewers 6 to 14 it typically draws an average audience of more than two million over all Its success follows that of Lizzie McGuire That s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack it acknowledges the desire of so many young viewers to become famous while quietly informing them that celebrity is not all it is cracked up to be Similarly Cory in the House a spinoff of Raven that has its premiere in January will show its lead character Raven s teenage brother played by Kyle Massey living out another fantasy of at least some children and adults he will move into the White House where his father has been hired as the president s chef Sprinkled among these shows and others on Disney are elements that Mr Ross considers top priorities to his viewers One is music which is often embedded within the story line itself Hannah has produced enough songs that a soundtrack on Disney Records of course it s due at month s end In addition each episode of a Disney show typically features a point of contention either among friends or between parents and their children because Mr Ross wants his viewers to say they can solve a problem with their mom by watching an episode of Raven Mr Ross also wants the situations depicted to be universal the jock in High School Musical who s embarrassed about being in a school play for example so that the shows and movies can be beamed around the world We get asked over and over Don t you think the movie s not going to work somewhere he said We say it s not Americana so much as it s about kids In India in Japan in Argentina they re looking and saying this is what I m going through Finally Mr Ross said he strives not to condescend to his audience The most vivid example of that respect is an experiment already under way on the Disney Channel Web site in which children can re edit episodes of their favorite shows adding or subtracting scenes or songs We feel comfortable kids can watch something backwards or put it in a different order he said Along with his chief development executive Gary Marsh an 18 year Disney Channel veteran whom Mr Ross appointed to succeed him as president of entertainment for the channel he has also launched the careers of a stable of Disney stars many of whom have appeared on each other s shows Among them are Hilary Duff who vaulted to fame as Lizzie McGuire Raven Symon star of That s So Raven and now the two Cheetah Girls movies Dylan and Cole Sprouse the twin leads of Zack and the six lead actors and actresses of High School Musical Before they got those roles Mr Ross a former children s casting director interviewed each of those young performers while parents waited patiently outside the room We wanted to understand who they are what they are like as a kid he said Mr Marsh and his team at Disney Channel developed High School Musical but it was Mr Ross who aggressively rallied support for it from his bosses chief among them Robert A Iger the president and chief executive of the Walt Disney Company He began that campaign during a visit to a ski lodge outside Salt Lake City where the movie was filming He typically visits one set a year Watching the opening scene he said he found himself getting the chills In the scene the two main characters a teenage basketball star and a shy outsider are pushed together to sing a song at a New Year s Eve karaoke event It s a foreshadowing of their eventual reluctant pairing in a school production Immediately Mr Ross said he was transported back to his own high school experience managing the drama club But instead of savoring the memory he called Anne Sweeney his boss and the president of the Disney ABC Television Group I think I ve got something he told her The next thing he knew he Ms Sweeney and Mr Marsh were in Mr Iger s office showing him some early scenes Then Mr Ross got the other Disney divisions involved Before the movie even made its debut Disney Records for example made its songs available on iTunes building excitement and landing the soundtrack at No 1 on the Billboard charts Since then Mr Ross has traveled the world to get High School Musical on the air in as many countries as possible So far revenues from the sales of the movie s DVD release and accompanying soundtrack have exceeded $130 million according to the company more than enough to recoup the film s $4 2 million cost In making Disney Channel relevant to a generation of young viewers Mr Ross has won it a more prominent place within the famously cutthroat Disney empire a standing that would have been unthinkable when he arrived At that time the channel was available in fewer than 15 million American homes and probably best known for Avonlea a critically received but little watched series based on Anne of Green Gables The number of homes is now close to 90 million Meanwhile Disney has succeeded in steadily eroding if not yet overtaking the overall ratings advantage held by its chief competitor Nickelodeon long the top rated network among young viewers Critical to Mr Ross rise within Disney has been his relationship with his chief patron Ms Sweeney who brought him to Disney Channel in 1996 in her capacity as its president and then promoted him to that job in 2004 after she got her own promotion Prior to that Mr Ross had worked for Ms Sweeney at two other cable channels first at Nickelodeon in the late 1980 s and later at the cable channel FX then in its infancy Mr Ross and Ms Sweeney are such close colleagues that her picture is among those of several dozen relatives and friends pasted on the refrigerator in the home where Mr Ross was raised in Eastchester N Y and where his parents still live Mr Ross first experience as an impersario came in the fourth grade when he and his parents said he rallied his class to put on a Thanksgiving play and even went so far as to locate and photocopy a script himself I loved watching the audience react he said I felt I could understand what worked and what didn t That same year on the first night of Hanukkah Mr Ross father Marty a garment center executive arrived home from work with an enormous cardboard box Scrambling to open it the young boy found the kind of present that many other children could only dream about a puppy But the young Mr Ross was almost inconsolable He had asked for a television Soon after he got it and though he kept it on virtually around the clock whether watching such favorites as Charlie s Angels or Hart to Hart or Mayberry RFD while he did his homework his grades never suffered By the time he was 12 Mr Ross said he was thinking of his career Most boys at the summer camp he attended in Pennsylvania had their parents send them copies of Sports Illustrated Mr Ross made sure his family forwarded him his subscription to Daily Variety His big break came in fairly typical fashion when through a friend of his father s he secured a job in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency where he worked most summers while attending the University of Pennsylvania After graduating from Fordham Law School and passing the bar exam he set aside his legal training to work at Nickelodeon Mr Ross and his partner of nearly 2

Image Dimensions: 650 x 432