Oak Park couple promotes educational series for kids

KID VIDS- Goofy characters Wink and Blink join the Rasmussen family in a series of children's videos that introduce youngsters to real-life jobs. From left are Trish; Robert III, 18 months; Tatum, 3; Robert; and Delaney, 18 months. As soon as Denverly Grant and her sons, ages 2, 3 and 4, pile into their car, the Newbury Park mom knows what she'll be listening to- "The Adventures of Wink and Blink." Although she's seen the children's program over and over she doesn't mind because it's educational.

"That's all my boys talk about," Grant said. "They tell me what things to do if there's a fire."

Wink and Blink are the costumed characters in a series of live-action documentaries created by Trish and Robert Rasmussen, an Oak Park couple.

Aimed at children ages 2 through 7, the show features Wink, a space porcupine, and Blink, a dragon-like creature, as they embark on reallife work adventures. So far, the characters have pursued a day in the life of a firefighter, a day in the life of a garbage truck driver and a day in the life of a zookeeper.

The program goes behindthescenes and helps children understand each job, describing, for example, where a garbage truck comes from or how firefighters prepare for a fire. Included are safety tips and information designed to promote child awareness.

According to Robert Rasmussen, Wink is a bit of a bossy know-it-all but does impart good information. Blink is the goofier of the two, he said.

"Together they create a great comic foil. The banter between them is a great way to get information across," Rasmussen said.

As the parents of a 3-year-old and twin 1-year-olds, the Rasmussens wanted to create an educational show for children. Robert Rasmussen works for a Los Angeles film production company and has produced documentaries. Making the segue into kids' documentaries was natural, he said.

"I always enjoyed 'Sesame Street' and Mr. Rogers' segments where the kids and characters would go out into the real world," Rasmussen said. "We wanted to create a series to help children understand how they fit into the complex world around them."

The couple invented the series in 2003. Robert was producing documentaries, and Trish was a teacher's aide in the Las Virgenes School District. Other educational television series for kids on the market didn't connect with their audience, the Rasmussens believed.

"We started out from the premise that kids learn best while having fun," Robert Rasmussen said.

The Rasmussens had assistance in creating Wink and Blink. Trish Rasmussen's students at the time voted on what the characters should be.

"The kids really determined who Wink and Blink are," Robert Rasumssen said.

The Rasmussens are selffinancing each episode at a cost of $50,000. The money covers filming, art design and the composing of original songs for each episode.

"We have a lot of family support. It's definitely a labor of love," Robert Rasmussen said.

About 7,500 copies of the shows have been sold to schools, libraries and individuals in the United States and Canada, Rasumssen said. The program has earned a number of awards, including an endorsement from the National Parenting Council. The couple is approaching several television channels to promote the show as a regular on-air series.

"PBS would be a natural home for this. Discovery Kids would be another place we would fit in nicely," Robert Rasmussen said.

Trish Rasmussen handles much of the behind-the-scenes work. On the set she keeps the child actors involved and oversees a studio teacher.

Her husband calls working on Wink and Blink "the greatest job in the world."

During filming, he's out in the field directly involved in the filming. For the firefighter episode, he was permitted to be in areas of the Los Angeles Fire Department the public does not have access to.

"I flew around with the helicopters, and my wife said, 'You're not working. You're having fun,'" Robert Rasumssen said.

The couple's toddler twins have not seen the show. They're not allowed to watch TV until they're older and can understand what they are viewing, the Rasmussens said.

Future episodes the couple would like to produce include a day in the life of an aquarium, a post office, a train station and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"I want to show kids where peanut butter, jam and bread come from so they can see the process," Rasmussen said. "I'd go back to the wheat field to show where the farmer harvests ingredients and how these products are made so that kids can understand where food comes from."

To view clips, play interactive games, place an order or vote on the next episode's subject, visit www.winkandblink.com.