John Paizis is the creative force behind Performing Arts Studio West whose focus is elevating the talents of performers with intellectual and physical disabilities. Together with friends of the studio, Mindy Sterling and Debra Wilson, John joins us to talk about their latest project, a storybook which puts a dark, new twist on age old fairytales, Mother Goose Reanimated.
John shares his extensive experience in the non-profit space and how the seeds for this project were planted decades ago when he began working with autistic adults and fostering their potential.
John, a performer and musician, founded PASW 26 years ago, providing hands-on individualized training, career management, and on-location support for performers with disabilities working in film, television and commercials. They’ve conquered most media but this is their first book!
John shares the themes and inspirations behind the reimagined stories, how the creative team came together, and the collaborative process of writing, casting, costuming, set designing, and shooting a picture book.
We also hear about Mindy's personal journey with her autistic son and the challenges that he has encountered. Debra shares how she got her big break and talks about her successful voice acting career (she's the current voice of Daisy Duck AND Ursula!), John tells us about working with Frank Oz and Jim Henson and everyone gushes about their recent experience launching the book at Los Angeles Comic Con!
Plus, Fritz is recommending the doc, Maestra on Netflix, Weezy read and loved The Women by Kristin Hannah. And, tasked with sampling and recommending content from our generation, our Gen Z tech, Mason is binging and loving Cheers!
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Have you ever become obsessed with a topic and taken a deep dive into consuming all you could uncover about it?
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