Mitchell Kriegman (born June 4, 1952) is an American television writer, director, producer, consultant, story editor, and author. He is the creator of ''

Clarissa Explains It All ''Clarissa Explains It All'' is an American teen sitcom created by Mitchell Kriegman for Nickelodeon. In the series, Clarissa Darling ( Melissa Joan Hart) is a teenager who addresses the audience directly to explain the things that are happeni ...

'' (1991) for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

, ''

Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it a ...

'' (1997) and ''

The Book of Pooh ''The Book of Pooh'' is an American preschool educational children's television series that aired on the Playhouse Disney block on the Disney Channel. It is the third television series to feature the characters from the Disney franchise based ...

'' (2001) for

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

and ''

It's a Big Big World ''It's a Big Big World'' is an American children's television series that aired on PBS Kids from January 2, 2006, to January 8, 2010. The series was created by Mitchell Kriegman, the creator of the Muppet television series ''Bear in the Big Bl ...

'' (2006) for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Kriegman holds patents for a method of hybrid animation, known as Shadowmation, which combines high-definition virtual-environments with puppets and

animatronics An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

, composited and rendered in real time. The production technique was implemented in ''The Book of Pooh'' and ''It's a Big Big World''. Kriegman's first novel was ''Being Audrey Hepburn'' (2014). A second novel, ''Things I Can't Explain'', is a reimagining of the protagonist in the ''Clarissa Explains It All'' television series, in her twenties, published in November 2015.

Career and education

Kriegman attended

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

Bennington, Vermont Bennington is a New England town, town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. It is one of two shire towns (county seats) of the county, the other being Manchester (town), Vermont, Manchester. As of the 2020 United States Census, US Cens ...

, earning a BA in literature in 1974. He began his career as a writer, video-artist and performance-artist, under the pseudonym Marshall Klugman. ''An Evening of Stories and Tricks You Won’t See Anywhere'', was performed at

Dance Theater Workshop Dance Theater Workshop, colloquially known as DTW, was a New York City performance space and service organization for dance companies that operated from 1965 to 2011. DTW merged with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company to form New York Live ...

in New York City and surrounding venues. His video work of this period includes, ''The Marshall Klugman Show'' (1975) which aired on WNET television. As a short story writer, his work has been published in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Between C & D ''Between C & D'' (1983–1990) was a Lower East Side quarterly literary magazine, edited by Joel Rose and Catherine Texier. The name of the magazine references the apartment where Rose and Texier lived and produced the magazine, which was locat ...

'', the ''National Lampoon'', ''Glamour'', George Meyer's '' Army Man magazine'' and ''

Harper’s Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

''. ''The Telephone Stories'' (1979) is Kriegman's series of audio-plays for the telephone, one of the first installations of dial-in art. In addition to being available on a special phone-line, ''The Telephone Stories'' toured museums and galleries around the country, including the High Museum and The Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, after premiering at the

Whitney Museum The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...

, as the department's first audio-only offering. Kriegman wrote and acted in ''Operation X'' segments for the PBS Series ''

Alive from Off Center ''Alive from Off Center'', renamed ''Alive TV'' in 1992, is an American arts anthology television series that aired on PBS between 1985 and 1996. Each week, the series featured experimental short films by a mixture of up-and-coming and establish ...

'', which have been featured in the

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill, Minneapolis, Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in ...

and The Paley Center exhibits. During this period Kriegman collaborated with Bart Friedman and Nancy Cain of

Videofreex The Videofreex were a pioneering video collective who used the Sony Portapak for countercultural video projects from 1969 to 1978. They were founded in 1969 by David Cort, Mary Curtis Ratcliff and Parry Teasdale, after Cort and Teasdale met each o ...

on several pieces including "Turkey Dinner" (1982), a precursor to his full length ''My Neighborhood'', funded by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

, which aired on WNET/13, and featured a sad sack Kriegman gleefully greeting everyone in his neighborhood, who all ignore him. Kriegman joined ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' in 1980 (

season 6 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

), as a performer, writer and filmmaker. During his time there, he made three films:''The Dancing Man'', ''Heart to Heart'', and ''Someone is Hiding in My Apartment''. He appeared in the sketches "Blame The Kids" and "Virgin Search". He was also a contributor to

Michael O'Donoghue Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer, actor, editor and comedian. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, and was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' maga ...

's ''Mr. Mike's Mondo Video'' (1979), which included Kriegman's shorts, "Cleavage" and "This is a Man in a Dog Suit". A third piece, "The Dancing Belly Button", was not televised but was included in the

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...

collection. After leaving ''Saturday Night Live'' his work turned markedly toward children's and young adult television programming. Mouseterpiece Theater (1983), hosted by

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was known for " participat ...

, was directed by Kriegman and co-written with Robert Cunniff for

The Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company. Launched on April 18, 1983, under the na ...

; the show was a spoof on

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these ...

, but instead of presenting serious works in film, Plimpton would introduce Disney cartoons. Further immersion into writing for children's television programming came from

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

's ''

Encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...

'' (1988), and ''ALF Tales'' in 1988. Kriegman produced ''The Sweet Life'' (1989), and a sketch-comedy program called ''Higgins Boys and Gruber'' (1989) for

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) was an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Services ( ...

. Moving to

, Kriegman became involved in the writing and development of ''Nicktoons'' in 1991, including ''

Doug Doug is a male personal name (or, depending on which definition of "personal name" one uses, part of a personal name). It is sometimes a given name (or "first name"), but more often it is a hypocorism (affectionate variation of a personal name) whi ...

'', ''

Rugrats ''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series focuses on a group of toddlers, most prominently Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, and their day-to-d ...

'', and ''

The Ren & Stimpy Show ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...

''. Kriegman was nominated for a

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

for ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' in 1992.''

Rocko's Modern Life ''Rocko's Modern Life'' is an American Television comedy, comedy animated television series created by Joe Murray (animator), Joe Murray for Nickelodeon. The series centers on the surreal life of an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic Australian ...

'' was added to the animated programming in 1993. Kriegman was the creator and executive producer of ''

'' starring

Melissa Joan Hart Melissa Joan Hart (born April 18, 1976) is an American actress. She had starring roles as the title characters in the sitcoms ''Clarissa Explains It All'' (1991–1994), ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996 TV series), Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' (1 ...

. The series ran for four seasons and Kriegman was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in 1994, for Outstanding Children's Program. CBS commissioned a

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

for a ''Clarissa'' sequel, continuing her story as a young working age adult, but the pilot was not picked up. ''

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree ''Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree'' is a 1995 Christmas television special starring Robert Downey Jr., Stockard Channing and Leslie Nielsen, featuring Kermit the Frog as a narrator and various other Muppets created exclusively for the special. It ...

'' (1995), narrated by

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created in 1955 and originally performed by Jim Henson. An anthropomorphic green frog, Kermit is the pragmatic everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably as the showrunner and host o ...

, and ''Twisted Puppet Theater'' (1996), had Kriegman writing for puppet characters. Kriegman created the Emmy Award-winning television series, ''

'' (1997), and created and directed, ''

'' (2001), based on the Milne books, both in association with the

. Cast with

bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppet theatre, founded in Osaka in the beginning of the 17th century, which is still performed in the modern day. Three kinds of performers take part in a performance: the or (puppeteers), the (chanters) ...

puppets, both series employed Kriegman's shadowmation technique. Kriegman also wrote for

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

characters in the feature film, ''

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland ''The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland'' (or simply ''Elmo in Grouchland'') is a 1999 American musical adventure comedy film directed by Gary Halvorson (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Mitchell Kriegman and Joe ...

'' (1999), co-written with

Joey Mazzarino Joseph Mazzarino (; born June 4, 1968) is an American puppeteer, actor, director and writer. He is best known for his roles on ''Sesame Street'' as Murray Monster, Stinky the Stinkweed and other Muppets, and being Head Writer and Director on ''S ...

, and produced by

The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...

. Kriegman is the creator, executive producer and co-director of ''

'' which aired on

PBS Kids PBS Kids (stylized as PBS KIDS) is the branding used for nationally distributed children's programming carried by the U.S. public television network PBS. The brand encompasses a daytime block of children's programming carried daily by most PBS ...

from 2006- 2010. As of 2015, Kriegman is a novelist, instructor, and guest-lecturer, living in the Southern California area, and an adjunct professor at the

University College Dublin University College Dublin (), commonly referred to as UCD, is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland. With 38,417 students, it is Ireland's largest ...

. Kriegman has taught webseries development and production and sitcom writing at

Stony Brook Southampton Stony Brook Southampton is a campus location of Stony Brook University, located in Southampton, New York, between the Shinnecock Indian Reservation and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on the eastern end of Long Island. History Southampton Colleg ...

, lectures at

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

(UCSB). Kriegman's second novel, ''Things I Can't Explain'', based on the central character in ''Clarissa Explains it All'', was published in 2015. Kriegman, formerly a member of

Writers Guild of America, East The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is a trade union, labor union representing writers in film, television, radio, news, and online media. The WGAE and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW), though independent entities, jointly brand the ...

, left and maintained

financial core Financial core (also known as ficore or fi-core) refers to a legal carve-out that permits workers opposed to participating in a labor union to be employed under the benefits of a union's contracts without compelling them to be a member of that unio ...

status.

Filmography

Kriegman’s video-art works are in the Castelli-Sonnebend collection, as well as the

Paley Center The Paley Center for Media, formerly the Museum of Television & Radio (MT&R) and the Museum of Broadcasting, founded in 1975 by William S. Paley, is an American cultural institution in New York City with a branch office in Los Angeles. It is de ...

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

(MoMA), The Kitchen Center, and the London

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

among others.

Television credits

Feature film credits

Awards

Kriegman has won three

Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

and has been nominated for two

Primetime Emmy Awards The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

, he is the winner of the

Directors Guild of America Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Cate ...

(1999), and has been nominated for a

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

. ''

'' (1997) garnered him two Emmys for Best Direction (in 2000 and 2002), as well as the Directors Guild Award in 1999, and an additional nomination in 2000. His work on ''

'' (2001) was recognized with a Best Direction Emmy in 2002. Other awards include three Parents Choice awards for

(1991), "Clarissa and Peter and the Wolf", and the UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence for ''Bear in the Big Blue House'', and for ''The Book of Pooh''. ''

'' (2006) received a Webby award, two Emmy Nominations and two

Environmental Media Award The Environmental Media Awards have been awarded by the Environmental Media Association since 1991 to the best television episode or film with an environmental message. The Environmental Media Association (EMA) is a non-profit organization crea ...

nominations. , - , 1992 , ''

'' (1991) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program , - , 1992 , ''

'' , Primetime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Animated Program , - , 1993 , ''

'' (1991) , CableACE Award , , Animated Programming Special or Series , - , 1993 , ''The Ren & Stimpy Show'' (1991) , CableACE Award , , Animated Programming Special or Series , - , 1994 , ''

'' , Primetime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Children's Program , - , 1998 , ''

'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Pre-School Series , - , 1999 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Directors Guild of America , , Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs, for "Love is All You Need" , - , 2000 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series , - , 2000 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Pre-School Series , - , 2000 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Directors Guild of America , , Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children's Programs, for "A Berry Bear Christmas" , - , 2001 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Writers Guild of America , , Children's Script, for "A Berry Bear Christmas" , - , 2002 , ''

'' (2001) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series , - , 2003 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series , - , 2003 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Pre-School Series , - , 2004 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Pre-School Series , - , 2004 , ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' (1997) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series , - , 2005 , ''The Book of Pooh'' (2001) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series , - , 2006 , ''

'' (2006) , Environmental Media Association Award , , Children's Live Action Television , - , 2007 , ''It's a Big Big World'' (2006) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series , - , 2007 , ''It's a Big Big World'' (2006) , Daytime Emmy Awards , , Outstanding Pre-School Series , - , 2007 , ''It's a Big Big World'' (2006) , Environmental Media Association Award , , Children's Live Action , - , colspan="5",

Writing

Kriegman has contributed works to ''

'', the ''National Lampoon'', ''Glamour magazine'', and ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

''. At the community level, Kriegman serves as the executive editor for the Montecito ''Morning Mojo'', he has written for the ''

Santa Barbara Independent The ''Santa Barbara Independent'' is a news, arts, and alternative newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a ...

'' and the ''

Los Angeles Review of Books The ''Los Angeles Review of Books'' (''LARB'' is a literary review magazine covering the national and international book scenes. A preview version launched on Tumblr in April 2011, and the official website followed one year later in April 201 ...

'' (LARB). As a screenwriter, Kriegman has written for Universal, Disney and Columbia Pictures. Kriegman created, produced and wrote screenplays for the television series, ''

'', He wrote the story and co-wrote the screenplay ''

'' (1999) with

for

. Kriegman is a staff writer at the ''Montecito Journal'', and creator of the ''Montecito Journal Morning Mojo''. * In July 2020, Kriegman donated his archives and working notes to the

, Performing Arts Collection. Portions of his performance art and video archives will go to the school's Design & Architecture Museum.

Books

* ''Being Audrey Hepburn: A Novel'' (2014) ::In September 2015, New Form Digital (

Brian Grazer Brian Thomas Grazer (born July 12, 1951) is an American film and television producer. He founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. The films they produced have grossed over $15 billion. Grazer was personally nominated for four Acad ...

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American filmmaker and actor. Howard started his career as a child actor before transitioning to directing films. Over his six-decade career, Howard has received List of awards and nominations r ...

) announced plans to option Kriegman's novel, ''Being Audrey Hepburn'', for screenplay. * ''Things I Can’t Explain: A Clarissa Novel'' (2015)

Music

Kriegman is credited on ''Peter and the Wolf'' (1994), a Clarissa narrated version of the

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

classic, featuring Clarissa & The Straightjackets. His additional songwriting credits are included in the collections: ''Songs from the Book of Pooh'' (2002) with Disney, including the closing theme with Brian Woodbury. For the ''

'' series, Kriegman's music credits include: ''Songs from Jim Henson's Bear in the Big Blue House'' (2000), ''More Songs from Bear in the Big Blue House'' (2002), ''Bear's Holiday Celebration'' (2002) and ''Greatest Hits'' (2005).

Innovation

Kriegman is credited with the patented design of the hybrid special-effects technique called Shadowmation, that combines live action

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in anci ...

animatronic An animatronic is a puppet controlled electronically to move in a fluent way. Animatronics are the modern adaptation of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films, video games and in theme park attractions. Anim ...

s, and

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

utilizing video game engines and virtual environments. He holds a variety of patents for hybrid animation technologies.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kriegman, Mitchell 1952 births Living people American male screenwriters American male television writers American television producers American television writers American video artists Bennington College alumni Daytime Emmy Award winners Directors Guild of America Award winners Screenwriters from New York (state) Stony Brook University faculty American television show creators