Cue the Conferences: FableVision’s 2023 Guide

Lunches with partners, new meet and greets, enlightening sessions, presentation opportunities, and exciting cities – what’s not to love about conferences? Check out where we’re headed to learn from industry professionals, share our insights, and most importantly, see you.

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MuseumNext Digital Learning Summit

During the virtual conference, learn how museums can keep up with evolving technology to create engaging and immersive experiences for visitors. Keep an eye out for Kellian Adams Pletcher, our Director of G.L.A.M. (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) Innovation.

When: Monday, June 19 – Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Where: Online

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ISTELive 23

Visit our friends from FableVision Learning at their tables at the Keystones Technology Innovators in PA session on Wednesday, June 28 from 9–11 a.m. and STEM Playground — Tools for Physical Computing and Making from 12–2 p.m. in the ISTE Explore and Create Playground. Paul Reynolds, Andrea Calvin, and Mary Johnston will provide hands-on demonstrations of FabMaker Studio and Animation-ish. Learn more here.

When: Sunday, June 25 – Wednesday, June 28
Where: Philadelphia

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Games for Change Festival

Celebrate Games for Change’s (G4C) 20th anniversary with a summer festival full of events analyzing the past, present, and future of gaming and XR.

FableVision’s VP of audiyo-yo Anne Richards will present a project brief on Nunaka!: Games for Indigenous Cultural Heritage Preservation on Wednesday, July 19 at 5 p.m.

Producer Jonah Gaynor will present a project brief on Wilson Center’s Plastic Pipeline right after Anne on Wednesday, July 19 at 5:20 p.m. Both presentations will be at the Microsoft Winter Garden.

President Gary Goldberger and Communications Strategist Nadya Karpova will also be attending. We hope to see you at both project briefs! The schedule and more details can be found here.

When: Tuesday, July 18 – Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Where: New York City

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Podcast Movement

At the world’s largest podcast conference, passionate podcasters and industry professionals gather to learn from each other and improve the audio community. Anne Richards and Gary Goldberger will surely tune in — don’t forget to say hello.

When: Monday, August 21 – Thursday, August 24, 2023
Where: Denver

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Ed Games Expo 2023

The  Ed Games Expo is a public showcase of game-changing #edtech innovations developed through programs at IES, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), and across government. We’ve got a few great things lined up for Wednesday, September 20 at Kennedy Center REACH:

• Between 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., catch FableVision Studios’ Paul Reynolds, Snow Dong, and Nadya Karpova, along with FableVision Learning’s Andrea Calvin and Mary Johnston in Skylight Pavilion at tables S-7 and S-8. We’ll be doing live demos of Civics! An American Musical and Nunaka.

• At 1:30 p.m., Snow will lead a Master Class on Civics! at MoonShot Studio. If you’d like to attend, please register here.

• Between 5:30-8:30 p.m., find us in PT-109 at tables P-3 and P4 for the Ed Games Expo for the Public.

Click here to view the Ed Games Expo agenda.

When: Tuesday, September 19 — Friday, September 22
Where: Washington, D.C.

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Serious Play Conference

Time for some serious fun in Toronto, while learning about creating and using games and simulations for educational purposes and how to move those programs ahead. Make sure to attend Executive Producer Peter Stidwill’s session on Wednesday, October 11 from 2-2:45 p.m. on Five Tips for Researchers Who Want to Make Educational Games. See the full conference program here.

When: Wednesday, October 11 – Friday, October 13, 2023
Where: Toronto

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Hands On! Conference

Hosted by the Children’s Museum Creaviva in Bern, Switzerland, Europe’s largest conference on science education and children in museums will experiment with exhibitions, themes, and learning opportunities. And who’s keynoting? You guessed it — Kellian. More information coming soon — you don’t want to miss this one.

When: Wednesday, October 25 – Friday, October 27, 2023
Where: Bern, Switzerland

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MCN Annual Conference

For MCN 2023, the Penn Museum in Philadelphia will gather over 600 cultural heritage professionals from museums, historic sites, and visitor attractions to advance digital transformations in museums. Kellian and Gary can’t wait to see you there.

When: Wednesday, November 8 – Friday, November 10, 2023
Where: Philadelphia

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This year, Gary, Anne, VP of Moonladder Tone Thyne, and VP of Development Rachel Reade Marcus attended the Kidscreen Summit in Miami. At BostonFIG Online Expo, Kellian presented tips for researchers and developers working together when creating games. We were thrilled to catch up with you at those conferences, and we look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones in the upcoming months.

May FableFriday: Tone Thyne, Vice President, Moonladder

After congratulating Tone on his ninth anniversary at FableVision and the rebranding of Moonladder, FableVision’s film and television division, let’s take this oppor-tone-ity to learn more about Tone Thyne. As Vice President of Moonladder, award-winning creative executive Tone focuses on creating, showrunning, and co-producing animated and live-action properties. By drawing on his personal experiences and meeting children at their level, he sets the tone for his broadcasting work, hoping to create educational, inspirational, and relatable content for kids.

“The best show creators are highly nostalgic in nature,” said Tone. “Reaching into the past to dust off experiences and feelings that we remember as kids (or remembering gems from our own childrens’ growing up) is the best way to create characters and experiences that viewers will relate to. Most of the stories I write are ripped from the pages of the Thyne house.” 

Read on to learn more about Tone’s creative journey, advice for aspiring children’s content creators, his latest hobby, and what he thinks about Woody from Toy Story.

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What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood have always been some of my greatest sources of inspiration. Each show seamlessly educates viewers by way of engaging characters and compelling stories. The learning is never didactic since the content is so entertaining. How can you even taste the spinach when it’s chopped up and mixed into a delicious milkshake? This kind of dedication to create meaningful content with a whimsical twist lines up beautifully with FableVision’s 200-year mission to move the world to a better place through media, storytelling, and technology. I was thrilled to join FableVision in 2014 to create original content with a studio that embodies my outlook on the positive power of children’s media through purposeful storytelling.

Congratulations on the rebrand of Moonladder! Can you tell us more about FableVision’s newest group? 
It’s an exciting time for FableVision. We are expanding in step with the industry’s growing need for original content. Since our studio creates original properties in the audio space with our audiyo-yo group and original games with our FableVision Games team, we felt it was fitting to distinguish FableVision’s original film and television properties with their own distinction as well. And so, Moonladder was born. 

We know that a kinder world begins with the bonds we form between young viewers and aspirational characters. Today, there is a notable focus on children’s media platforms to incorporate learning goals that lead to positive change in our world: diversity, gratitude, giving back to your community, inclusion, mindfulness, equity, and so on. Creating stories that inspire children to think about and interact with others in meaningful ways is in perfect alignment with Moonladder’s North Star. 

Rachel Marcus joined our team in February of this year and we are thrilled that her creativity and expertise in broadcast distribution and financing will help place Moonladder’s meaningful content with appropriate homes on important broadcast platforms around the world.  

Before you found your calling in creating, writing, and showrunning animated properties, you were an animator. Where did your creative journey take you?
I studied animation at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and cut my teeth in the real world at Walt Disney Feature Animation (great place to work, a little bit of a Mickey Mouse operation). I began there in production on groundbreaking films like The Lion King, Pocahontas, Mulan, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Over my 12 years at Disney, I worked on other animated jewels like Tarzan, Fantasia 2000, Atlantis, and Toy Story. I left in 2001 to follow my lifelong dream of creating educational content for kids and had the incredible opportunity to animate segments on the “Letter I” and the “Letter N” for Sesame Street (it was my IN!). This eventually led to my producing animation at Little Airplane Productions where I produced animated series such as The Wonder Pets!, among others. While at Little Airplane, I co-created The Adventures of Napkin Man! Fueled by the thrill of creating my own series, I packed up my expertise and headed to FableVision to join superhero forces with the dream team at the studio to create some of the world’s most meaningful content. 

What was your time at Disney like, working on blockbuster films that many kids grew up on and cherish? 
It was unlike any experience I had ever had. The Great Masters of Animation were creating world-famous and culturally indelible characters literally right in front of me. I remember being in Michael Surrey’s office while he was sketching out options for what Timon could look like – or in Ken Duncan’s office while he was dreaming up Jane from Tarzan. I had amazing “front row seats” to recording sessions with notable talent like Tom Hanks, Demi Moore, Catherine O’Hara, among so many others. Music meetings with Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. What an absolute thrill. And knowing that the content that we made at Disney has such a global appeal and can impact people around the world in a positive way is nothing shy of heartwarming. Disney was a Master Class in making something from the very germ of an idea to post production and distribution. Being a part of that process helped mold my production skills, allowing me a 360 degree view of every aspect of creating content.

What attracted you to children’s television?
I was born the same year that Sesame Street was born and literally grew up watching the show. It had a profound impact on me, which helped me realize how effective and creative children’s media can be, especially on television. Creating children’s content that has the power to positively shape the citizens of tomorrow is a privilege that I’m grateful for every day.

Wonder Pets! Schoolhouse

What’s the key ingredient for all of your projects?
Quite simply: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. Viewers need to connect with content that they consume. The best way to connect with content is to relate to it in some way. The most effective tool for creating relatable content is to draw directly from personal experiences. Viewers can feel that authenticity. 

On a train one day, I was tickled to watch a playful interaction between a mother and her baby. Each time the mother handed the baby his soft toy, he would throw it onto the ground in a fit of giggles. I was mesmerized. So, when Sesame Street called looking for a short film about counting, I drew on this real life experience and created The Silliest Counting Show, a piece showcasing a little girl attempting to count soft blocks with a playful baby who continuously throws them on the floor. I was able to harness the joy and playfulness of the real world experience in our short film.  

Considering the importance of “lived experiences” in creating authentic content, it’s vital to have a broad range of voices at the table that represent the experiences characters portray on screen, whether cultural, historical, or personal.

What advice do you have for aspiring kids’ content creators?
Create what you know. You can’t tell stories or develop characters that aren’t close to you or it will reek of falseness. 

Also, know your audience. When my daughter celebrated her third birthday, I took tons of pictures of the adorable party, but when I looked at them later, I realized that they didn’t capture the magic of what I experienced in person. On her next birthday, I got down on my knee and took photos that were on an eye-level with the kids. Those photos put me right back at the party. Being on the same level with the kids had a real magic to it. There’s a famous clip of Mister Rogers speaking with a child in a wheelchair on his show. Mister Rogers doesn’t stand up and talk down to him, he crouches next to him, asks him if he can lean on his chair, and talks face-to-face with him. He literally gets down on the same level as his viewers. Metaphorically, children’s content creators need to join our viewers at their level.

And finally, give your characters flaws. Young viewers recognize flaws and relate to them. Showcasing “perfect” characters leaves a void between the viewer and the character they should be relating to. Whether a character is too impulsive or impatient or a little clumsy, young viewers should be able to look at a character and say, “That’s me. I know that person, I can relate to them.”

What are some of your hobbies?
I’ve been converting an old potting shed in my backyard into an art studio with an incredible custom floor. I bought 16,000 classic #2 pencils and created a herringbone parquet floor with a layer of epoxy over top. It’s super fun and immensely inspiring. This is where all the great future ideas will be born! 

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More About Tone

Favorite show? Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, of course.

Favorite movie? It’s a Wonderful Life, of course.

Favorite game?
My kids made up a game they call The Chain Game. We play it on car rides or at the dinner table. One person plays a song, then the next person picks a new song that is linked in some way through lyrics, theme, guitar riff… anything. It’s DJ Round Robin. 

Favorite place traveled? Crayola Experience in Easton, PA.

Favorite type of music to listen to while working?
Somehow sad music helps me come up with great creative ideas. The sadder the music, the better. I search Spotify for “Sad Playlists,” “The Saddest Music of all Time,” or “The Weepiest Break Up Songs.” When I put on my headphones and announce, “I’m going into my sad cave,” everyone knows I have some ideas to come up with. 

Favorite practical joke?
I began my first day at FableVision on April Fools’ Day. I came into the studio with a tray covered in foil and announced that I always bring brownies to commemorate my first day on a new job. When the staff pulled the foil away, they discovered a pile of Brown E’s that I had cut out of construction paper. They’ve never forgiven me.  

Concept art for Woody, featuring Tone’s blue eyes

A Tone fun fact that most people don’t know?
At Disney Feature Animation, the characters the artists create always seem to end up looking like the coworkers they spend so much time with. Everyone there is seemingly somebody. It’s like working at a theme park – Gaston and Pocahontas were great friends of mine and Belle was my boss. Woody from Toy Story bears a striking resemblance to me. Thankfully, my boots are free from snakes though.

November FableFriday: Anne Richards, Vice President, audiyo-yo

As a natural storyteller eager to connect with children in different media, Anne Richards, VP of FableVision’s audio division audiyo-yo, has done it all – television, publishing, games, edtech, and more. Once she found her calling in audio, she knew that she wanted to keep exploring this intimate format that lets listeners paint their own picture of the characters and story as they process what they hear.

“Even though audio is a classic form of storytelling going all the way back to radio plays, there’s so much work happening in this space right now,” says Anne. “There’s a lot of room for innovation and emerging voices to make an impact.”

And innovating is exactly what Anne is doing. This summer, audiyo-yo released its first project – the interactive, voice-activated Pinna Original Yes No Audio Escape series (check out the October/November Kidscreen print issue) – where listeners co-create the story by answering “yes” or “no” to questions presented to them. This fall, audiyo-yo delights listeners with Pinna Original Roasting Vegetables, a short-form audio series full of silly vegetable puns, original beats (or should we say beets?), and nutritious, delicious characters. 

Anne is your comprehensive guide to podcast knowledge. Keep reading to learn more about the future of podcasts, audiyo-yo’s upcoming projects, and Anne’s advice for aspiring kids’ podcast creators. 

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What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
I feel like I’ve been journeying to FableVision for a long time! I first met Gary Goldberger about 15 years ago through kids’ industry conferences. A few years later, I hired FableVision to create learning games for a non-profit I was working with and had a great experience with the team. Fast forward another few years and I started working for FableVision as a freelance game designer and producer. I’ve been in the orbit for a long time one way or another, so when Gary and I hatched the idea to bring an audio division to the studio, it felt like a really natural progression. I’ve always been a fan of FableVision’s work and the amazing and talented team, so officially being a FableVisionary at long last feels like a homecoming. 

Anne’s nephews meeting Bear

You’ve been a writer, producer, game designer, and more! How did you end up focusing on podcasts?
My work in audio came out of my experience in other kids’ media. I’ve worked in almost every form of children’s entertainment, starting in television on Bear in the Big Blue House way back in the day, then exploring game design, educational technology, publishing, you name it. I have always loved storytelling and wanted to work in different places where kids seek out narrative experiences.

In terms of how I found my way to audio, I was lucky enough to know Amy Kraft at Pinna through kids’ media circles. A few years ago, Amy came to me and asked me to create a podcast to teach kids the ABCs – in audio, which was an interesting challenge! That show turned into the podcast series Quentin and Alfie’s ABC Adventures, and eventually led to me becoming the Executive Producer at Pinna, where I oversaw different kinds of podcasts for a wide range of kids. So I’m really grateful to Amy and the team at Pinna for taking a chance on me and understanding that there’s a lot of creative overlap in other media formats and audio work. It’s always about the kid audience at the center and finding different ways for them to connect with stories and characters that are meaningful to them.

Family photo!

What do you love about podcasts and why do you think they’re a special form of media?
I think what makes audio special is how intimate it is. There’s nothing like hearing someone speaking in your headphones to feel like a story is being told just for you. Audio is a form of entertainment that asks the audience to meet it halfway – when you don’t know what characters look like or you can’t see an animated view of a setting, you become a co-creator of the narrative experience, using your imagination in a way that I think is really special. 

Why are children’s podcasts important right now?
I’ve worked in so many different roles over the course of my career because I’m excited about new formats and emerging media, and I think that’s where kids’ audio is right now. There’s a lot of room for new voices.

I also think that dealing with the pandemic, caregivers of young children were drawn to audio as something families could enjoy together, or that their kids could enjoy on their own without being glued to screens after long days of remote learning. That has contributed to audio becoming a medium with an interested, engaged audience that is still hungry for more great content. It’s served a really tangible role in the life of families these past few years and folks want more of it.

Anne’s dog Pip

What’s the future of children’s podcasting? Where is audio going next?
Right now, I’m interested in interactive audio and I think there is huge potential in voice recognition and truly responsive storytelling. This year, I created and produced three titles in the Pinna Original Yes No Audio Escape series through audiyo-yo. They’re audio escape rooms where the child actually speaks out loud to the podcast and gets different outcomes if they say “yes” or “no” to different questions. If you’re trying to escape a haunted house in five minutes, you have to choose whether to walk down that one hallway or stop and talk to a couple of ghosts who seem interested in you. It’s an innovative way to play with audio, and, given FableVision’s deep experience in interactive experiences, it feels like a perfect fit for audiyo-yo.

Alaska

What are you excited to work on at audiyo-yo? How does audiyo-yo stand out from other audio production companies?
I’m excited to work on original projects we’re developing at FableVision, like Tone Thyne’s big sweeping musical series Cummerbund. And I’m equally excited to work with clients who are interested in making audio for kids but who might need expertise in how to bring characters and worlds to life in this medium. 

This role is also a huge opportunity for me to work with creators who may be new to audio, or to kids’ media in general, to broaden the range of voices we have in the space. For instance, we just made a show called Roasting Vegetables with Postell Pringle, who’s a theater and musical artist and all around huge talent, but who hasn’t made a kids’ podcast before (though his group, Q Brothers Collective, has made an awesome hip-hop album for kids, Buggin’ ). They also created the soundtrack for Long Way Home, a sweeping musical epic based on Homer's The Odyssey for the renowned United Voices Chicago – check them out! Pos and I created and wrote the show together and I’m excited about all of the things he brought to the project that I never would have come up with on my own, and vice versa.

In terms of what’s special about audiyo-yo – we bring a unique mix of production and creative expertise to the table. At FableVision, there’s an amazing braintrust of people who put kids at the center of their work. They’re innovators in terms of using different media to reach kids where they are and to help them grow. In the audio industry, what sets us apart is the breadth of experience we have with making stories for a kids’ audience across all different types of media. We combine that with a deep understanding of the nuts and bolts of what it takes to bring a podcast from concept to final broadcast-quality audio.

What advice would you give to people hoping to work in kids’ audio?
Immerse yourself in the medium and figure out what speaks to you. Do you love highly sound-designed stories or simpler audiobooks? Interesting new formats or classic ones? Short form appointment-type content or longer, serialized shows? Listen to as much as you can and follow your taste to seek out mentors and companies who are doing work you love. This is a welcoming field and it’s relatively easy to access experienced folks who are excited to bring in new talent, but people also want to know that you’ve done your homework and are interested in what they do specifically. The last thing I’d say is be curious about your audience – talk to kids about what’s interesting and exciting to them and allow that to inspire you. 

Brooklyn

What’s an Anne fun fact that most people don’t know?
I think most people don’t know that I won a trophy in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade in the early 2000s. 

So… you love Brooklyn?
Man, do I love Brooklyn! I’ve lived in Brooklyn since the late 1990s. There’s just no place like it – the art and culture, the food, the brownstones, but mostly the opportunity to meet people from all over the world with totally different experiences, who all come together in this crazy, busy, loud, and magical place. I’m fortunate to also have family in more rural places as I do need to escape the bustle of the big city sometimes. I basically gravitate towards either the biggest, most raucous environment in the world or a farmhouse down some country road where there are no humans whatsoever.

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More About Anne

GLS Panel

Favorite podcast?
I have to take this opportunity to plug my sister Meg’s amazing parenting podcast, What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood. It's chock full of hilarious advice and every once in a while I get name-checked, so that’s exciting. For kids, there are so many shows that I love, but Grim, Grimmer, Grimmest, which I worked on at Pinna with Adam Gidwitz and Ilana Millner, is a sentimental favorite of mine and just a master class in storytelling.

Favorite game?
Gone Home is a video game I deeply love – it’s so nuanced and thoughtful about how it reveals its secrets. I’ve also been playing a cooperative card game called Hanabi recently with my family, which is really fun and super challenging!

Favorite book?
I was an English major in college so it’s a long list! I go back to The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton, The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, and Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill over and over again. I recently read Kiese Laymon’s Long Division and was insanely delighted by it – it plays with form in interesting ways, but the character voices are so strong and endearing that it still feels immediate and emotional.

Favorite place to travel?
I’m interested in good food and art, and some history to dig into, which was checked off by the special and vibrant Oaxaca, Mexico that I visited with family. Mostly, there are many more places that I want to go to – ask me again in a few years!

May FableFriday: Erik Laats, Junior Developer

Erik Laats’ keen eye for design and game-building background provide him with the perfect combination of skills to develop FableVision’s projects. After working for a startup in Boston and an advertising agency across the globe in Sydney, he came back to the east coast with revived gusto to pursue his passion of creating games and interactives. Erik approaches his projects with accessibility in mind, to ensure that all users have a fun experience. 

“Everyone has a unique perspective, and I love designing and developing to accommodate ranging technical backgrounds, generational differences, and cognitive and physical disabilities,” says Erik. “The best designed experiences are ones that transcend these divisions.”

Read on to learn more about Erik’s typical day as a junior developer, his TikTok-famous pet, and his range of active and calming hobbies.

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What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
I have long been interested in animation and illustration and I was immediately drawn to FableVision’s clear affinity for beautiful, hand-drawn artwork during my senior year at UC Davis. Digging deeper, I was thrilled to find the company primarily built games and interactives with an educational bent – another interest of mine.

After a few months of email badgering, former Technical Director Brian Grossman agreed to speak with me. While I had an interest in developing games and websites, my experience was primarily in design, so FableVision decided to go with Nathan Wentworth, and I was left to continue my job search.

With a little luck, I found myself as the designer in a tiny software startup (then SYRG, now HourWork) in Boston. At such a small company, I had plenty of opportunities to help the developer team, so I pitched in whenever I could. Between these moments and a few personal game projects, I grew my confidence in technical work.

In 2019, my partner and I moved to Australia, and I found a position as a “creative technologist” at a trendy advertising agency in Sydney. It was the perfect hybrid of technical and creative work, providing me with a great chance to expand my technical abilities with my design background.

Upon returning to the United States once the pandemic began, Brian put me in touch with Jordan Bach, our current technical director, who was looking for new freelancers. After freelancing for about six months, I joined FableVision as a full-time junior developer!

What’s a typical day like for a junior developer?
I like to start the day by taking the cat for a walk and doing The Mini Crossword. Once that’s taken care of, I’ll dive right in on my current project. I am usually scheduled for one or two projects over the course of a week, so I’ll spend my morning crunching through new features or handling thoughtful client feedback.

Most days are broken up by a few client meetings, which are a nice break from the code editor. I’ll work closely with the producer or other team members to make a development plan to accommodate client requests. In the quiet moments, I like to investigate new technologies and fiddle with prototypes. If I can, I try to sneak any interesting things I’ve learned into current projects.

How does your experience in design help you create projects at FableVision?
Design and development form a symbiotic circle – one cannot exist without the other. While designing, it is useful to consider the limitations of the technology you’ll be using so you can make informed decisions. Conversely, when developing based on a design, it’s common to stumble across an edge case or some design question that wasn’t caught in the design phase. I do my best to solve these problems on my own, keep the development moving forward, and ensure the project stays on track.

Screenshot from Michael’s Flowers, a game created by Erik.

How have you approached accessibility in games and why is doing so important?
While technical accessibility – which includes things like screen reader and keyboard usability – is super important, I am also interested in exploring accessibility in a broader sense. Is this generally easy to use? Is it easy to find? Will someone with no prior knowledge be able to enjoy and understand this? I try to keep different perspectives in mind to create the most effective experiences.

What have been some of your favorite FableVision projects?
I loved working on Keenville, created in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and Georgia Center for Assessment, because it was exciting to be on a team with developers for a large, technical project. Keenville closely embodies why I was drawn to FableVision – beyond the technical challenge, it strives to build its own imaginative universe, complete with a comprehensive world, dozens of games, and a sense of agency. I would love to see this package expand.

I also like the GASHA GO! World games from Georgia Public Broadcasting. I worked on Claw Control, which was a perfectly sized project that allowed me to take ownership of it. The huge emphasis on art and creative design led to clever interfaces that joined them together successfully in the program.

What do you hope to work on in the future at the studio?
I would love to work on a larger-scale, narrative-driven Unity game, with an emphasis on storytelling and relevant player decisions. I find these types of games very compelling, and I enjoy the challenge of building a game that accounts for player agency. These are fun to create from both a development and design perspective, especially if the game needs to be educational, too. The last FableVision project like this that comes to mind is Wanderlight.

You enjoy creating your own games and comics! What’s a side project you’re currently working on and from where do you draw your inspiration?
In my college days, one of my biggest hobbies was playing Super Smash Bros. Melee competitively. My school had a big tournament scene and people met weekly to host brackets, watch events, and hang out. It was amazing to be a part of a passionate community and inspiring to see the positive effect an old video game could have on people. While I still play for fun and go to the occasional tournament, Melee is more on the back burner these days. It will always be important to me and a foundational part of why I love making games. 

Recently, I've been drawing inspiration from my cat, Winston. He’s so ridiculous that it’s hard not to imagine him as a silly protagonist in a comic or a game. Since he loves cinnamon, in my latest project, players use their fingers to draw lines of cinnamon in the sky. Winston follows those lines on a skateboard and the goal is to reunite him with his three best friends – cow, ham bone, and donut (his favorite toys). It’s a prototype right now, but someday I hope to finish it. A while back, I made an idle game where Winston fishes and then stops to play his Nintendo Switch. The player has to tell him to fish again.

As a present for my partner, I wrote a dozen or so comics about Winston. They depict some key moments, including his adoption, our daily interactions, and when he gets too hot.

Speaking of Winston – tell us more about him!
When we adopted him from a shelter in 2020, he was a skinny and scrawny 6-month-old kitten with a biting problem. He’s since filled out nicely into a full-grown adult menace! Like all cats, he’s got some quirks, and my partner built a big following on TikTok around his love for cinnamon. I don’t want to out Winston, but he’ll snuggle anything… although cinnamon is definitely his favorite! 

He’s not the brightest bulb, but he loves to play and go on walks and nature hikes. It’s hard to get him out of the door sometimes, but he’s great at coming home to the food – he’ll run all the way back with his ears down. 

What are some of your hobbies?
When I started working, I took up rock climbing to combat sitting in an office. It’s fun to risk life and limb, jumping from rock to rock, feeling alive! I’m unable to think about anything else at that time, so I have no choice but to stop worrying and being stressed out. It’s a fun escape.

Since the pandemic, I’ve also started paying more attention to birds. While birding may have a lame reputation, it’s a useful way to stay present. No matter where you are, you can step outside and listen to the birds. I’ve slowly learned how different birds look and sound, and it is so satisfying when something flies by that you recognize. 

More About Erik

A picture of a cardinal taken by Erik.

Favorite game? Super Smash Bros. Melee – I’ve been playing it since I was six. A close second would be Undertale. 

Favorite Pokémon? That’s tough. The child in me says Lugia, but I also like Surskit, he’s a cutie.

Favorite bird? The green heron. They don’t look like your typical herons – they’re still hunters, they hide in the weeds, and wait for hours. It’s my goal this summer to get a nice picture of one.

An Erik fun fact that most people don’t know? When I was 10 years old, I jumped off the swing and “obliterated both of my arms at once,” as my doctor said. That was a defining moment for me and it took me about a year to recover. I had to serve spaghetti at a school fundraiser with my two enormous casts.

Introducing “Learn With Paws,” FableVision’s Educational App for Pets

Boops, floofs, derps, and more. The cat’s out of the bag – FableVision is thrilled to announce the release of Learn With Paws (not claws!), a new educational app for pets. In the era of “pandemic pets,” when an influx of families welcomed new furry and feathered companions into their homes during quarantine, about 70% of current US households own at least one pet. 

The demand for educational excellence results not only in preschool waitlists and large class sizes for kids, but for animals, too. Learn With Paws helps pets excel academically and behaviorally by providing families with accessible, engaging, and free pet educational resources.

By playing through Learn With Paws, pets practice key math, ESL (English as a Second Language), PSL (Pet Second Language), art, and petiquette skills to ensure that they’re cool cats who can meet the rigorous demands of today’s educational curriculum. The Learn With Paws app consists of several unique interactives to help pets stay at the top of their class: 

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Language & Com-meow-nication
Since pets meow, tweet, neigh, or bark, it can be hard for humans to understand what their pets want. Learn With Paws teaches pets how to speak English, so you always have a friend to comment on your outfits, tell you jokes, or question your life choices. The more the pets play through Learn With Paws, the more advanced their language skills become; you can discuss the sports game with your dog or dig into a deeper conversation about the meaning of life (spoiler alert: it’s snacks).

But knowing one language isn’t enough, and we want our pets to stay ahead of the game by becoming bilingual, or even multilingual. The app provides different language settings, including the option to learn the language of other species. It can be ruff for different pets of the same household to understand each other, so Learn With Paws teaches meows to dogs, barks to cats, chirps to bearded dragons, and more.

Art & Creative Self-Expression
As a studio that fosters creativity, we had to include an interactive that allows pets to express themselves artistically. Pets take virtual painting sessions with Master Artist Tarantula who uses her eight legs to spi-draw beautiful illustrations. Pets can put final flourishes on their artwork by taking selfies with their artwork and then sending it to their owners. All drawings and images are saved to the tablet so owners can keep mementos of their pets and never run out of pet photos to share with friends. 

Math & Snack Trax
To help pets excel in STEM, Learn With Paws offers a variety of mathematical pet exercises. The app allows pets to complete exercises where they count how much kibble is in the bowl, how much kibble got added, how much kibble remains after some of it is eaten, and how much kibble they have already eaten. Advanced pets are given the opportunity to move on to multiplication and division.

Building off the counting algorithm, the app allows pets to set their snack goals each day and count how many meals remain and in how many hours. Pets like flying squirrels can also use in-app geolocation features to mark where they have buried or hidden snacks around their home for easier location later. 

Behavior & Petiquette
The app teaches pets how to be well-behaved by defining appropriate petiquette, which focuses on manners, resisting the urge to bite or scratch, behaving well with guests, and more. To teach petiquette, humans and their pets co-view videos of animals with A+ manners. For instance, we offer sessions of the exemplary Marquis, a cat who never scratches, eats his meals with a fork, and puts items that he knocks down back in their spots. 

The app addresses common pet-on-human bullying, like cats sitting on their owners’ faces to wake them up for no reason. Learn With Paws helps pets understand that some human actions are “perceived bullying” and not actual bullying, like a human not letting their dog roll around on something decaying in the yard.

Once your cat knocks your tablet off the table in disgust and shatters the screen, it’s time to move to an offline activity!

Peer Mediation
For households with multiple pets, the app offers peer mediation to help resolve conflicts among pets. The human takes on the role of neutral peer mediator and helps the disagreeing pets come to a mutual agreement. As the owner determines the root cause of unhappiness (i.e., why is the cat really trying to eat the goldfish? Maybe he’s not hungry, maybe the goldfish triggered the cat) he or she builds empathy among the animals, allowing them to come to a resolution without punishment. If the human isn’t home, that app provides simulated scenarios to circumvent common pet vs. pet conflicts that they can play through by themselves. No more fighting like cats and dogs – only peace among the pets.

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Learn With Paws is just the beginning of our journey of offering direct-to-pet media. We’re currently working on a pet physical education app to help animals stay fit, with various online courses like Hop & HIIT, puplates, and snoga. In the meantime, download Learn With Paws now to help your pets grow into kinder and wiser animals. We double dog dare you.