Protectors of the Endangered

by Catherine Mackenzie, Executive Producer ABC News

Avery and Masa have already captured the minds of young children all over the world – but I wanted to know about the team that brought these characters to life – what makes them so hopeful? So confident in their mission? So creative yet productive as well?  Meet the creative team behind our two adventurous buddies… Mike Deeney, Steve Barrett, Erle Tompkins.

Tell me about your mission – what makes it work?

• Mike: Our mission for the Protectors of the Endangered Non-Profit is to Educate. Entertain. Protect. Improve literacy, conservation education, and ultimately, inspire the protection of our endangered planet.

• Steve:  It’s the kids who are going to be our heroes. We need to teach them to protect our precious resources before they are gone, and I believe they will do just that. We all share the belief in legacy or passing on something good to others… so our motivation is about teaching, not preaching.  

How did you guys meet? How did the team form?

• Steve: Mike and I go back to high school. Avery and Masa was a project that we felt could do a lot good in this world.  Our first goal was to write a trilogy of chapter books that would engage readers and have a lot fun.

• Mike: After moving to New York, I met Erle, a super talented illustrator. He was the final creative piece to bring the characters and the world to life. Our team is family.  

• Erle: I met with Mike and we instantly connected with similar interests of comic books, TV shows, and movies. The idea of being a part of creating something that can do good through educating is what really drew me into the project.

How did the idea come about?  

• Steve: We wanted to create a voice for endangered animals to speak to us. What would they think or say to humans if they could?  How would they show us that our behavior hurts them too?

• Mike: The concept began as a chapter book series with supporting curriculum, and now the focus is developing an interactive eLearning platform with our content to make it accessible and engaging. Activating endangered animals to become heroes and empowering our youth to become protectors is the idea to spark change.

How did you pick the names of the characters?

• Mike: We started with choosing two animal species that were critically endangered and super adorable, but, brave. Avery is passionate about helping everyone. The word “every” became “Avery” to help “everyone”.

• Steve: Masa is taken from a Japanese name meaning “straight forward”, which is exactly what Masa is as Avery’s trusted sidekick. I also knew a fellow psychology student named Masa from Cal State Long Beach. Funny enough, he was on the same plane with us to Hawaii when the idea sparked!

The illustrations are super colorful -- and bright - tell us a little bit about your thought process in bringing these characters to life?

• Erle: It’s geared towards young kids, so I kept in mind what made famous cartoon characters so iconic. Bright cheery faces and expressions, with vivid colors to make everything look as appealing to kids and their parents alike. Comics, children’s books, cartoons, etc. are all visual mediums that support whatever text is associated with them. Working on this has changed what my own artistic limitations are and made me see I can do more than what I though previously, it’s been really rewarding! My goal is to make these characters and their world be as eye-catching as possible in order to draw the audience in to the text Steve and Mike have written.

What do you hope to accomplish – what do you hope kids get out of the stories? What about parents and teachers?  

• Mike: Our goal is to support parents and teachers with our educational and entertaining content and make it accessible at no charge– we feel there is so much room for positive stories, filled with humor and adventure- while educating. Sesame Street is a wonderful model for this balance.

• Steve: We need to do our best to empower parents and teachers to inspire kids to make a difference.

• Erle: We hope that by educating kids at an early age it can lead to a greater awareness of how important these animals are to the world. They will also learn about building friendships with someone who might not look like them, which is very important in today’s society. In Java Lava, Avery and Masa know they aren’t the same, but, they put any differences aside and help each other— which is a great metaphor for how kids can learn to interact with one another. In the process, the parents and teachers of our audience can foster the knowledge their kids are gaining and show them how they can help their planet as they grow up.

Do you see this as the beginning of a movement?  

• Steve: We feel we can help support the current/ongoing literacy and planet conservation movements, working each day to improve proficiency and save wildlife. We are glad to join them in the fight.  

• Mike: Our adventures are built on hope and taking action to help others. We truly want every child to believe that their journey and adventure in life can be positive –and Avery and Masa make that choice for themselves at the beginning of our first story.

• Erle: I definitely think what Steve and Mike have created with these characters and their story is a way of connecting so many facets of the world together and bringing people of all types together. If it’s a movement of any kind, it’s a movement of being positive and working together to change things for the better!

The first trilogy is the beginning of a series – where do you see the series going?

• Mike: Our world and characters are interconnected. In the origin story, our Blue Whale Sudan inspires Avery and Masa’s call to action-however, his species may be threatened by ocean pollution and/or whalers in adventure three. The next trilogy of books 4-5-6 will explore new locations in Alaska, Brazil, and Africa..

• Steve: We see our adventures leading to every continent as there are no shortage of social issues and endangered animals to address.  We also want to teach kids about specific places around the world. It is our hope that kids will get involved and pick the places Avery and Masa will travel to.

What books/stories/artists inspired you?

• Steve:  I’m a huge Star Wars fan so that is my childhood place of excitement and wonder.  I also am hugely inspired by Harry Potter and the fact that it gets kids to read 300 plus pages. My other favorites from childhood off the top of my head are “Where the Wild Things Are” and “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” as well as the “Encyclopedia Brown” series.

• Erle: Comic book artists mostly, Joe Madureira, Art Adams, Frank Miller, and John Romita Jr. The artistic creator of the Batman Animated series, Bruce Timm as well for his ability to convey body and form very economically and smoothly in his characters.

• Mike: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera (Hanna-Barbera) are both heroes. They’ve created a world of characters that have entertained generations. We had the opportunity to meet William Hanna before he passed in 2001. The timing was special to hear his words of wisdom as we were young and just beginning as author/creators. We walked into his office to see Flintstones’ Bedrock furniture and classic animation cells of all our favorite cartoons. I’ll never forget hearing the creaking of his chair behind a thick dark mahogany desk, and he said “Come on in boys- so I hear you both love Scooby. Have a seat I’ll tell ya’ how me and Joseph started it all.” His wisdom was a game changer. He told us to keep creating characters and stories and never stop until you find your audience- then they will discover the rest.