Josh Selig

Last updated
Josh Selig
Born (1964-05-12) May 12, 1964 (age 59)
Education Sarah Lawrence College [1]
Occupation(s) Television director, producer, writer
Website www.littleairplane.com

Joshua Selig (born May 12, 1964) is an American television producer and director. He won ten Daytime Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on Sesame Street . [2] After leaving Sesame Street, Selig partnered with Lori Shaer to create a studio called Little Airplane Productions. Through Little Airplane, Selig produced Oobi for Noggin, Wonder Pets! for Nickelodeon, and 3rd & Bird for the BBC. [3]

Contents

Josh Selig left Little Airplane in 2020. [4]

Early life

Josh Selig was born on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. [5] He began his career as a child actor on Sesame Street during its first two seasons. [6] [7] As a teenager, Selig attended Sarah Lawrence College, where he studied theater and poetry. [8] He returned to Sesame Street in 1988 as a writer. [9] He also worked on the Israeli-Palestinian [10] and Polish [11] adaptations of the show during the 1990s. [12]

Career

In 1998, he conceived the idea for Little Airplane Productions. [13] The company was initially a joint effort between Selig and Lori Shaer (née Sherman). [14] Until 2006, the studio's works were solely live-action. Oobi was the first original series produced by the company; it began as a series of interstitials in 2000 and later ran for two seasons of half-hour episodes. [15] The series was heavily inspired by Selig's time as a Sesame Street writer; he based its puppet characters on a training method used by Muppet performers learning to lip-sync, in which they use their bare hands and a pair of ping pong balls instead of a puppet. [15] In 2003, Selig wrote and directed a short film titled The Time-Out Chair . Written and directed by Selig, the film premiered at the 2003 Tribeca Film Festival [16] [17] and was later acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. [18] [19] [20] Profits from Oobi allowed Selig to create an animation division at Little Airplane, leading it to shift to an animation-based studio. [21]

Selig, formerly a member of the Writers Guild of America, East, left and maintained financial core status. [22]

Selig created Go, Baby! in 2004 as a series for Playhouse Disney. [23] In 2005, he directed two pilots for the Wonder Pets! series along with Jennifer Oxley. [24] The show premiered in the United States on March 3, 2006 on Nickelodeon and Noggin. [25] [26] Selig opened two new branches of Little Airplane in London and Abu Dhabi in 2007. [27] Josh Selig's first international co-production, 3rd & Bird , debuted on CBeebies in June 2008. [28] He continued to produce short-form series throughout the 2010s. Small Potatoes , commissioned by Disney Junior, spawned a television movie that Selig directed in 2013. [29] In the same year, he pitched a pilot titled The Jo B. & G. Raff Show! to Amazon Studios, which was not picked up. [30] [31] He is currently the creator and executive producer of Disney's P. King Duckling and of the South Korean series Super Wings . [32] [33]

Filmography

YearTitleCredit(s)Ref.
1969–1971
1988–2002
Sesame Street
  • Child actor (1969–1971)
  • Writer (1988–2002)
[34]
1999–2000 Little Bill Head writer [35]
2000–2005 Oobi
  • Creator
  • Executive producer
  • Director (full-length episodes)
[36]
2003 The Time-Out Chair
  • Writer
  • Director
[37]
2003 Fisher Price Baby Development videos
  • Producer
2004 Go, Baby! Creator [38]
2006 Tarzan: The Musical Animation director (Son of Man segment) [39]
2006–2016 Wonder Pets!
  • Creator
  • Writer
  • Developer
  • Executive Producer
[39]
2008–2010 3rd & Bird
  • Creator
  • Executive producer
[40]
2010 Tobi! Creator [41]
The Olive Branch
  • Creator
  • Writer
[42]
2011 Small Potatoes
  • Creator
  • Executive producer
[43]
2013 Meet the Small Potatoes
  • Creator
  • Writer
  • Director
[29]
2013–2014 Sing It, Laurie!
  • Creator
  • Executive producer
[44]
2014 Domo Rock!
  • Writer
  • Director
[45]
The Jo B. & G. Raff Show!
(Amazon Studios pilot)
  • Creator
  • Writer
[46]
2015 Super Wings Executive producer [47]
2016–2017 P. King Duckling
  • Creator
  • Executive producer
[48]

Awards and nominations

YearPresenterCategory/AwardWorkStatusRef.
1990 17th Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Children's Series (shared with other writers) Sesame Street Won [49]
1991 18th Daytime Emmy Awards [50]
1992 19th Daytime Emmy Awards [51]
1993 20th Daytime Emmy Awards Nominated [52]
1994 21st Daytime Emmy Awards Won [53]
1995 22nd Daytime Emmy Awards [54]
1996 23rd Daytime Emmy Awards Nominated [55]
1997 24th Daytime Emmy Awards [56]
1998 25th Daytime Emmy Awards Won [57]
1999 26th Daytime Emmy Awards [58]
2000 27th Daytime Emmy Awards Nominated [59]
2001 Parents' Choice Foundation Television Gold Award Oobi Won [60]
Coalition for Quality Children's MediaKids First Endorsement Award [61]
Best Children's Film or VideoNominated [62]
28th Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Writing for a Children's Series (shared with other writers) Sesame Street Won [63]
2002 29th Daytime Emmy Awards [64]
2003 30th Daytime Emmy Awards [65]
2004 Humanitas Humanitas Prize for Children's Animation Little Bill [66]
Parents' Choice Foundation Television Silver Honor Oobi [67]
2008 Crain Communications Crain's Small Business Award N/A [68]
2009 NHK Japan Prize Best TV Series Wonder Pets! [69]
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Innovation Award Oobi [70]
2010 2010 Gracie Awards Outstanding Children/Adolescent Animated Program Wonder Pets! [71]
BAMkids Film FestivalBest Short Film for Ages 2–5 Small Potatoes [72]
2012 39th Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition Wonder Pets! [73]
2014 41st Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Pre-School Children's Animated Program Nominated [74]
Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition
2015 3rd Canadian Screen Awards Best Pre-School Program or Series The Adventures of Napkin Man Won [75]

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