CloudKid’s Dave Schlafman is thrilled to have been a kid of the ’80s. At that time, the industry was pumping out media he could interact with in a variety of ways. For instance, Ghostbusters could be seen on the big screen, on TV as a cartoon, action figures and video games were available for play, and comic books became an extension of the movie and TV show.

Some Ghostbusters formats now considered “vintage” and “antique.”

Who feels old?

Excitement grew in the ’90s as more and more media properties began to exist in an array of formats. The Simpsons got a record deal singing the blues, giving the characters a life outside animation. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 and Dave, like many fans, wondered, “Are they real?”

The Simpsons“Sing the Blues” on…

What is that thing?

These were the beginnings of “transmedia,” a storytelling technique in which narrative content is developed using different platforms and technology. This type of storytelling expands the worlds and characters beyond the original property and engages viewers in a multi-sensory experience.

Fast forward to 2007: Influenced by his childhood experience and the lack of cookbooks for kids, Dave co-creates Fizzy’s Lunch Lab with Evan Sussman. As PBS Kids’ first web-only property, Fizzy’s Lunch Lab features “original characters and funny stories that entertain and educate families about the importance of good nutrition, a balanced diet, and physical activity.” (pbs.org/parents/lunchlab/index.html)

FIZZY’S LUNCH LAB

pbskids.org/lunchlab/

About 250 pieces of content work to deepen the narratives of Fizzy’s world, making it a place in which kids want to get lost. Videos, printable recipes, interactive games, and music all serve as entry points to discovery. Dave explained that Fizzy’s videos are the main reason kids visit the site. Why do they stay? To engage and interact with the characters in games. Games are where the property’s secondary characters spinoff and become the stars.

Take the game Escape From Greasy World which follows child characters Avril and Henry as they investigate the disappearance of Professor Fizzy and his Lunch Lab gang. The narrative unfolds around educational games that players must complete to keep the plot moving. All the while, players get the chance to explore the world of Fast Food Freddy more deeply than they would in other areas of the site.

A past popular spinoff that exercises Pammy’s  funny bone:

A new popular spinoff that exercises Pammy’s brain:

The world of Fizzy’s Lunch Lab also has a life outside the website. Not only can original music be purchased on iTunes, recipes are ready to be printed for in-home meal preparation. These offline features truly make the whole online experience tangible for kids in the real world – it’s interaction and learning on a whole other level.

I intended to make Chickpea Cakes with Mixie Bot’s help…

But I heart chickpeas so much I ate the whole can. Woopsy.

At the end of his presentation, Dave challenged the attendees with this: “Knowing what technology exists today, what would you have made for your nine-year-old self?” Well, this nine-year-old self would’ve invented the online lifestyle series, KickingItTeenStyle.com*… because her world clearly needed the stories of style and swag delivered on multiple platforms.

First entry in KickingItTeenStyle.com’s Photo Gallery

Now that you’ve digested the above…

Dave and his crew at CloudKid have taken the data they’ve learned about Fizzy’s Lunch Lab and are applying it to other projects for PBS Kids, Scholastic, Sesame Workshop, as well as their own very cool interactive projects. Too many to name and explain here, so visit cloudkid.com/ and explore Fizzy’s Lunch Lab here: pbskids.org/lunchlab/.

*KickingItTeenStyle.com is a fictional website on ABC’s The Middle. It does not exist online or in the real world and deserves to.