Events and Visits

Ambassador  Visits Set of Popular Children´s Show.

Ambassador Carol van Voorst with Sportacus and Stephanie.	Ambassador Carol van Voorst with puppeteer Ronald Binnion Feldman and the puppet, Pixel.

US Ambassador Carol van Voorst was a special guest at the studio headquarters of the children's show, LazyTown, March 2. The Ambassador met with Americans and Icelanders who work on the show, including Magnús Scheving, the show´s creator, who plays the program´s super-hero, Sportacus, and US actress, Julianna Rose Mauriello, who plays Stephanie, another main character on the show. She has been nominated for LazyTown´s first Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Performer in a Children´s Series.

Kjartan Már Kjartansson, the Regional Manager for LazyTown in Germany, escorted the Ambassador for a behind-the-scenes look at how the program combines live action, puppetry and digital composition. Richard Welnowski, who has won an Emmy Award for his work in high-resolution digital composition, explained how the technical staff can compose and direct the scenes on computers before the live action is taped. Ambassador van Voorst also met with Mark Valenti, the head writer, Dean Koocher, Director for Latin America and Canada, the crew of puppeteers, the wardrobe designers, Máni Svavarsson, the show´s music composer, and set designers.

She praised the cast and crew for their work in helping to educate children around the globe to the benefits of good hygiene, proper diet and exercise.