The Multi-Award Winning Island Adventure Children’s TV Series, Goombay Kids, produced by LFD Productions has pushed through creating a series from a small island nation with hardly any TV industry to now showing for itself an impressive 14 awards and ever-growing distribution
On Goombay Kids you follow kids as they make unbreakable bonds in the breathtaking beauty of the natural world while running into fantastical mythical folklore characters. One of the main characters, the protector of the ocean and island children, Mama DLo has been keeping a watchful eye on the Goombay Kids and believes they will be able to play a bigger role in the betterment of mankind. And you continue to meet the Goombay Kid experts who are kid experts in their fields are never more than a Goombay Gadget call away to help on their adventures. The show prides itself on empowering children to do it the ‘Goombay Way’ and is aimed at towards 5-9year olds. The series shows children what they are capable of while including impactful messaging about the importance of protecting their environment, inclusion, disability inclusion, women’s and youth empowerment through magical storytelling. Understanding one’s culture is a common theme throughout the episodes which highlights different countries throughout the Caribbean and the world.
Goombay Kids premiered its first season on local Bahamian cable network, Our TV, with a fully Bahamian cast and crew and was the first live action narrative kids show for the country. Fast forward four seasons later the series is now celebrated as the #1 rated Caribbean Children’s show and secured a historic streaming deal for the Caribbean and Season 1-3 is now airing on Amazon, AppleTV, Roku, Xumo, Redbox, BatteryPop, ToonGoggles, Happy Kids, SlingTV, YouTube Kids and more. Season 4 will be premiering on the same platforms in the coming weeks and Season 5 is being filmed this summer. The series is proud to have award-winning Bahamian directors such as Maria Govan (Queens of Sugar) and Kareem Mortimer (This is Paradise, Cargo) behind the camera as well as many well-known local stars. Goombay Kids has hired over 350 Bahamians now and generated over $5 million towards the local economy.
Creator, Bahamian and mother of three, Stephanie K. Nihon, states, “It was very challenging in a country with not much production resources to get this show going. We have had to act as a training ground for much of the crew and cast throughout the process but bottomline is if you have the drive and passion, you can get it done and that is what we did.”
Nihon goes on to say, “The Caribbean is vastly underrepresented in TV but comes with incredible stories, talent and locations. There are over 16 million people in the world that recognise themselves of Caribbean descent and we are proud to provide representation for them through this TV series. A big tone In the series is why embracing all cultures and traditions is important and I think that is something as communities around the world want their kids to embrace. We are excited to show the world our culture and it can be enjoyed by anyone from anywhere. I think everyone loves a good island adventure story.”
There is also a missing representation of predominantly black children’s TV series in live action. Goombay Kids fills that void and the massive representation problem that comes with that while also giving representation to an African diaspora country of talent who never had the chance to showcase their talents on screen. The series prides itself on being all inclusive and becoming a movement of a series much like Sesame Street was for it’s time.
Creator, Stephanie K. Nihon became passionate about providing her home country with talent opportunities after becoming very inspired working alongside a local talent agency. Goombay Kids was created out of her drive to showcase the talent, stories and locations of the islands in the Caribbean which have been overlooked in many ways. Nihon is an award-winning producer that regularly speaks on industry panels, and founded The Cays Conference, a red-carpet scouting event and talent search. This event managed to garner many actor and model callbacks from the top agencies of the world as well as resulted in four actors signing contracts. Goombay Kids in itself has acted as a springboard for acting careers and led to one of the lead stars Javien Rankine, getting booked for 5 episodes of a Netflix series called The Mighty Express by the makers of Paw Patrol as well as multiple other actors being offered contracts and signing with prestigious talent agencies in the US.
As the show elevated its production value over the years, the expansion of the international team has played a major role in improving the quality and distribution of the TV series which now prepares for further growth. Goombay Kids Corp.’s global team now includes Jonathan Barbato (Starz, Best Ever Channels) head of distribution, Janis Shen (Sony Music, Wax Management) head of original music and influencer management, Jaka Benedicic (Talking Tom, Outfit7, Epic Story Media) acting as YouTube Director, Marva Allen (Wordee) and Patrice Samara (Sesame Street, Muppet Babies) both in the position of book publishing, and Gustavo Aparicio (Spanglish) as head of Latin American distribution and the team from Playmakers Ent. This experienced team is focused on taking the media brand to new heights recognizing the TV series is unique and has great potential to not only become a popular show but can create an impact with it’s meaningful messaging for the next generation in children’s episodic content.
Kids today want to be empowered as much as entertained,” said Jonathon Barbato, Co-CEO of Best Ever Channels, “Goombay Kids wraps powerful and relevant messages in engaging stories kids want to watch again and again. It’s a notch above much of what’s out there. Excited to be a part.”
And John Nolie, Co-founder and Head of Partnerships at BatteryPop also added, “At batteryPOP, we’re thrilled to welcome the beloved Goombay Kids brand and content onto our platform and to our users. Our respective missions align perfectly in providing children with safe, fun, enriching content, and digital experiences. The Goombay Kids programming with its unique characters and stories, brings their Caribbean cultural richness, diversity, and an educational tone filled with excitement and adventure to a whole new generation of young learners”
There is much in the pipeline for Goombay Kids is also creating a spin off animated short series in the works with a well-known US producer who boasts a career with Disney, Marvel and FOX, a coloring book about to hit shelves as well as more original music and merchandise and more exciting distribution news coming.
