EXCLUSIVE: The rights to Harry Moon’s Good Mischief Contest has been optioned by producer Dan Redler (In His Father’s Shoes) to create and produce a reality-based TV special and series.

 

The brainchild of Chicago-based Rabbit Publishers (publisher of Harry Moon books), the contest in which kids tape their “kindness that surprises” is being played across the globe in 10 countries and 33 states with contestants ages 8-12. About 100 finalists then upload their video to the cloud for viewing and voting across all social platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Redler has brought in director-producer Morris Abraham to help develop the Good Mischief TV show. Morris’ credits include the reboots of Kids Say the Darndest Things for CBS and The New Mickey Mouse Club for Disney Channel. Morris consecutively directed high-profile “live” TV award shows and event specials including The Miss America Pageant, The Teen Choice Awards, and Kids Choice Awards.“We are thrilled to have Dan Redler taking the leadership position for this television project. He is an accomplished producer who understands the magical powers of children,” said Steve Goerth of Rabbit Publishers.

“Our culture is in need of kindness and warmth,” said Redler. “Mix that warmth and kindness with the humor, grace, and irascibility that comes from the very young and something special emerges. These children exude appreciation and love. Using an innate sense of wonder, joy and discovery, they are speaking up for kindness with clever solutions to problems they see and are determined to solve. They inspire me and I know they will inspire our audience.”

Redler said what caught his eye were the Facebook of the finalists and the fact that David Paul Kirkpatrick (former president of production at Paramount) was appointed as a coach for the Good Mischief finalist. “First, I saw those mischievous smiles. I was immediately drawn in,” he said. “Then, by sheer coincidence and the quirky magic of
social media, David and I reconnected.”

Redler recalled when he was a talent agent and was assigned to negotiate a writing deal for then-unknown Keenen Ivory Wayans. “Making the deal without giving away that I was clueless was a daunting task,” he said “Looking back, I think David practiced ‘kindness that surprises’ even then. While there was a great deal of pressure to close the deal, David managed to finesse the complicated relationship between the movie’s star, Eddie Murphy, and Keenen. His behind-the- scenes efforts enabled us to close the deal. The movie [1987’s Eddie Murphy Raw] went on to become the No. 1 stand-up film of all time [at the] box office.”

Rabbit Publishers has just released its latest Harry Moon book, Halloween Nightmares by Mark Andrew Poe. The Harry Moon series is distributed in the General Market by Diamond Comic Distribution and in the faith market by Anchor Distributors.

For more information about the series, please contact Steve Goerth at: steve@harrymoon.org