A group of local film makers is making a children’s television show set in Blacksburg that highlights the region’s science, arts and culture. And in the spirit of Appalachian resourcefulness, they’re producing the whole thing using renewable energy.
It’s no surprise that videographer Chris Valuzzo is making a show about kids making their own show. Valuzzo is a documentary filmmaker, who’s day job is in the video department at Virginia Tech. He came to the Blacksburg decades ago for college and never left. So, it also follows that the show he’s working on is like a love letter to Appalachia.
“My name is Penelope Preston but my friends call me Penny P.,” says the main character, and Valuzzo’s real life daughter, Izzie Valluzzo, “and I like two things, art and science and making movies about it. So, actually, that’s three things.”
The show is called Penny P’s Backyard, and in each episode, the kids discover interconnections between science, nature, art and the wry humor of Appalachia. “Did you guys catch that airplane at the end?” asks Isaac Hadden, who plays Ramp. “I picked it up on the cans.”
“That wasn’t an airplane,” says Penny. “That was your stomach growling and we picked that up with our ears.”
The pilot series has been in the works for a couple years now. It’s is being shot slowly, on a shoestring budget, so Valluzzo got creative with production costs. “Well, I was standing in the production room at work I noticed that everything that we had (there) for our field production, meaning the portable stuff, was being charged, by a couple of power strips. So here I'm looking at lights, sound and camera equipment that's chargeable. And I thought to myself, I wonder if we could produce this show using the sun?”
Valluzzo reached out to the SolarConnexion company in Blacksburg. “I said to them, ‘this is the list of equipment we'll be using to shoot. This is how much energy it uses, and I asked them, do you think you can help?” I later found out that they get a lot of odd requests off the street and they might've thought this was a little bit crazy, but surprisingly they said yes.” He says, all lights, sound, camera/ drone communication, even catering will be powered by the sun; and that’s without using carbon credits in the mix, which he says would be a first in the industry.
“But here’s the thing, we’re not stopping at renewable energy.” Sets will be built in a way that “when we’re through with them we can break them down and donate the materials to Habitat for Humanity. Costumes will be sourced from Good Will and donated back when they’re finished using them and catering will all be compostable and sent to a community garden. “This show in a very round about distanced way, will help feed people. What other television show can say that?”
When Blacksburg Mayor Leslie Hager-Smith heard about the project, “I was completely hooked, completely charmed.” She says, “Its sustainability is completely of one accord with that Appalachian value of self-reliance. So, the idea that they'd be doing this completely with renewable energy makes perfect sense. And I’m so proud of being from this area and I'm really rooting for Chris and his team.”
Valuzzo has known all along, the project is a long shot. “The idea of building a show around a place first, before you even come up with the concept.” might seem odd but, “I knew I wanted my show to be in Southwestern Virginia, drawing on, what makes it special and unique, bringing in local talent in front of, and behind the camera, to produce the show and do it in a renewable way that even Hollywood hasn't even attempted.” But I believe we're going to be successful because we have a completely fresh concept for a show, produced in one of the most beautiful places on earth, by some of the most talented people on earth, with the right plan that pushes what sustainability means on the set of Television production. But most importantly, we have the right community that will back this. We need to community in order for this to succeed. Penny P's Backyard's success will be the community's success.”
When the pilot script and first season outline are finished, they plan to shop it to studios like Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, PBS, Etc as well as independent production companies.
Here is the link to the crowd funding campaign for Penny P's Backyard
