Green Screen Adventures is a children's television series which premiered in 2007. The series was originally produced for local broadcast on WCIU-TV (Channel 26) in Chicago, which is the flagship station of Weigel Broadcasting, and is designed to fit the FCC's educational and information programming requirements while also being produced locally in Chicago. However the program now also airs nationally as part of the This TV digital subchannel network, a joint partnership between MGM Television, Weigel and Cookie Jar Group, and other Weigel stations in Milwaukee and South Bend, Indiana to fulfill their E/I efforts.
Green Screen Adventures features stories and drawings by students in second through eighth grade using sketch comedy, story theatre, game shows, original songs, puppetry and more. Since their debut in 2007, they have featured stories written by almost 1,000 elementary school students.
The show is set around the submissions of short stories, school reports, poetry, essays, basic academic questions and artwork from students in the Chicago Public Schools and other schools in the Chicago area between second and eighth grades. A parent or guardian then signs a standard release form if the idea is used in the series.
An ensemble of actors for the series then takes these submissions, and the program's writers and actors create a short teleplay which is acted out with minimal props, costumes and a chroma key backdrop (the titlular green screen of the series.) The student's story is brought to life by the actors as the green screen becomes the world of the story or subject. The Green Screen also showcases their children's original artwork.
The "Good Presents" segments show about different animals.
Cast and crew
Jessica Honor Carleton is a writer, actress, puppeteer, puppet designer and storyteller, while Kierra Bunch, Brendan Buckley, Sasha Smith, Scott Gryder, Robert Schleifer, Alexander Knapp are the actors and puppeteers. They all play the roles of people and animals. Katy Daso is the floor director and costume designer. Retired cast members include Ariel Coleman-Turner, Frankie Benavides, Rafael Torres, Casie Walls, Nathan, and Lawrence Thompson, who is a singer.
Original characters
Characters played by Jessica Carleton
Coach D.
Detective McMystery
Fuzzwink
Gerald the Giraffe
Lady Fontana
Penny the Horse
The Green Screen Clown
Characters played by Ariel Turner
Earth Girl (later on changed to "Green Girl")
Howie the Howling Monkey
Martha Graham Cracker
Other
Benjamin Noculars (played by Brendan Buckley)
Fang the talking Zubat (played by Frankie Benavides)
Puppets
Jessica Carleton designed the following puppets for "Green Screen Adventures" while the plush ones like an elephant, a monkey and an owl have been brought:
Sock Drawer Drama
Gray cat with blue eyes
Brown dog with light brown eyes
Orange tiger
Yellow mouse
Sheep
Wolf
Fox
Zebra
Pig
Cow
Food Folks
Apple
Banana
Strawberry
Hot dog
Pepper
Spaghetti
Milkshake
Pies (blueberry and cherry)
Sandwich
Tomato
Waffle
Other
Books
Socks (blue and purple)
Octopus (orange and pink)
TV remote
Card
Marker
Box