StoryTime is our annual signature event where children’s media luminaries share their personal stories— stories about the Power of Play that shaped them- and the decisions that forever changed their lives.
Carly Ciarrocchi, a Moth StorySLAM winner and Emmy nominee, hosted this year’s StoryTime event. Renowned for her contributions to kids’ media and storytelling, she expertly guided this captivating experience.
This intimate experience offered a glimpse into the authentic, true stories of industry leaders, leaving us inspired and motivated to take our own risks in life, career, and projects.
Caroline co-founded Overplay, a company revolutionizing the $574 billion digital media landscape with the first frictionless platform for user-generated games. Caroline and Overplay were just featured on “Shark Tank” and invested in by tech billionaire Mark Cuban. Caroline built her career at some of the world’s best edutainment companies — Sesame Workshop and Scholastic Media.
Larissa Helena is an editor, rights consultant, and award-winning translator. Larissa currently leads the North America catalog expansion of beloved screen-free audio player Yoto, bringing favorite brands like Chronicles of Narnia, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, Dragons Love Tacos and Sesame Street to the platform.
Anthony Frasier is the CEO and founder of ABF Creative, a Webby Award-winning audio production company renowned for its multicultural storytelling. A former NPR producer with a decade in the tech industry, Frasier has led ABF Creative to the forefront of family audio content, blending cultural depth with emotional resonance.
Noel MacNeal launched his career performing on PBS’s award-winning Sesame Street, where he honed his craft with puppetry legends Jim Henson and Frank Oz. He has been a performer on Sesame Street for over 30 years and has trained puppeteers globally for Sesame Workshop’s international co-productions..
Angela Santomero is the Co-Creator and Executive Producer for the breakthrough and award-winning Blue’s Clues, Blue’s Room, the new hit, Blue’s Clues & You (Nickelodeon) which boasts 1.5 billion views on YouTube alone. She also wrote the highly rated, and Times-reviewed, Paramount + live-action family movie, Blue’s Big City Adventure. In The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell referred to Blue’s Clues as “One of the stickiest TV shows EVER made.” Angela is also the Creator, Executive Producer, and Head Writer for the smash hit Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (PBS), as well as Super Why! (PBS), Creative Galaxy (Amazon Studios), Wishenpoof! (Amazon Studios), Charlie’s Colorforms City (Netflix), Hello, Jack (Apple), and the upcoming Dee & Friends in Oz (Netflix) series inspired by Frank Baum’s classic book, Wizard of Oz. 
The room was filled and our storytellers took the stage to speak from their hearts and share moments in their careers where they faced “RISK.”
The vulnerability and humor that Divinity, Kaitlin, Fyütch, Susie, and Sal shared as they shared game-changing moments in their lives whether driven by personal motivations, “aha moments,” family and so much more.
Each had a unique story to tell that found a way to resonate with all of us in the room that night.
Nominate a storyteller here.
For the first time in the almost 20 years history of the Children’s Media Association our signature annual RED CHAIR event was held in Los Angeles during the fall of 2022 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Hosted by the phenomenal Amy Friedman, our CMA Advisor and Head, Kids & Family Programming at Warner Bros Discovery.
We began the evening with an inspiring panel about the journey from Development to Green Light. CMA President, Suzie Domnick, was joined by Michelle Sullivan of Gaumont, Sadaf Cohen Muncy of HappyNest Entertainment, and Emmy Nominee writer and showrunner, Corey Powell.
Our signature Red Chair Event followed, where Amy Friedman, beloved studio executive and a Children’s Media Association advisor, sat down with Andy Yeatman of Moonbug Entertainment. The Red Chair conversation is unique in its format with 20 minutes on career, 20 minutes on personal, and 20 minutes of questions from the audience. This format allows us to not only showcase the executive’s career but also the person behind the title.
After our memorable programming we enjoyed delicious hors d’oeuvres and cocktails while listening to the beautiful singing of Angela Parrish under the stars!
