The County Weekly News
June 2010

PICTON BOY’S CARTOON GOES SECOND SEASON

The first season will not air until September, but Disney Playhouse Canada and The Family Channel have already ordered a second season of the upcoming preschool cartoon Stella and Sam.

The announcement was made at a preview party in Toronto attended by Picton resident Robbie F. and his family. Robbie is a first grade student at St. Gregory’s School, Picton. Robbie played a secondary character – Sam’s best friend Owen – in the first season and will reprise the role for season two.

The new animated preschool TV series is based on Canadian author Marie-Louise Gay’s bestselling Stella and Sam book series. The character Owen is Sam’s best friend. He’s an exuberant, over the top little boy in perpetual motion.

Robbie’s interest in acting began at age four when he attended the Canadian Model & Talent Convention in Toronto through Mode Elle Model & Talent Agency in Belleville. He has also auditioned for feature films, TV and radio commercials.

“Some kids like sports, Robbie loves acting,” said his mother Joanne. “I’m happy to encourage him as long as he is having fun. So far, he is. The people he works with at the Toronto studios are exceptional at working with children.”

Stage fright isn’t in Robbie’s vocabulary. Recently his family took him to a George Thorogood concert in Kingston, where he was asked by Thorogood’s stage manager to perform onstage.

“He stood up on centre stage shaking maracas, jamming with George Thorogood and having a ball,” said his mother. “I asked him afterwards if he was scared and he said, ‘No way!’”

“For Family and Playhouse Disney, we are dedicated to finding shows that resonate with our key audiences and engage with them in ways that are consistent with our brand,” said Michael Goldsmith, the director of originally programming. “For Family, that means using humour and interesting characters to offer kids the ‘never a dull moment’ experience; for Playhouse Disney that means leveraging characters and concepts that infuse our programs with learning while being fun and highly entertaining. Stella and Sam, with its stunning visual style and beloved source material, is sure to be a perfect fit for our Playhouse Disney viewers across Canada.”

Stella and Sam is produced by Radical Sheep Productions, who have produced such children’s shows as Big Comfy Couch.

Robbie did his voice recording for Owen at Kitchen Sync, a studio in downtown Toronto.

“We at Radical Sheep Productions are very excited about our new Family Channel series ‘Stella and Sam’” said Radical Sheep supervising producer Michelle Melanson. “We had such beautiful source material to work from in the book series by Marie-Louise Gay. It is a sweet, timeless series that we hope our little viewers will love. The child actors on our show are phenomenal… especially our littlest ones, Miles Johnson as Sam and Robbie FitzRoy as Owen. We can’t wait for everyone to see the show airing in the fall.”

Last year Robbie participated in the summer theatre program sponsored by the Milford Mummers at Mount Tabor Playhouse.

A picture of the characters can be seen at www.radsheep.com. Robbie’s Owen is wearing blue overalls standing beside the Sam.