Shabnam Rezaei is a

children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...

creator, director, producer and co-founder of

Big Bad Boo Big Bad Boo is a Canadian animation studio that specializes in animated series for television as well as games, apps, websites and curriculum development. Popular TV series are 16 Hudson, based on the miniseries Lili & Lola and musical series ABC ...

Studios and VOD service Oznoz. She created the

TVOKids TVOKids (stylized as tvokids) is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by TVO (formerly TVOntario) in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three ter ...

Original series Galapagos X, starring

Odd Squad ''Odd Squad'' (stylized as ''ODD SQUAD'') is a children's live action educational comedy television series created by Tim McKeon and Adam Peltzman. The series premiered on TVOKids in Canada and PBS Kids in the United States on November 26, 2014 ...

actress

Millie Davis Millie Davis (born December 6, 2006) is a Canadian actress who played Ms. O / Big O in the TVOKids/PBS Kids series ''Odd Squad'', Riley in the Amazon Prime television show '' Dino Dana'', Summer in '' Wonder'', and Gemma Hendrix in ''Orphan Blac ...

as Orchid, Gavin MacIver-Wright as Quinn Croc, ''Battlestar Galactica'' star

Alessandro Juliani Alessandro Juliani (born 6 July 1975) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Syfy, Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica (re-imagining), Battlestar G ...

and Riverdale star Nathalie Boltt as the power-hungry mogul Doc Croc. Shabnam is the director and producer of

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

Original series '' The Bravest Knight'', the first children's series with an

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

. The all-star cast includes T. R. Knight,

Bobby Moynihan Robert Michael Moynihan Jr. (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 to 2017. Outside of ''SNL'', he has also voiced Louie Duc ...

Storm Reid Storm Reid (born July 1, 2003) is an American actress. After early roles in the television show '' A Cross to Bear'' (2012), the drama film ''12 Years a Slave'' (2013), and the superhero film '' Sleight'' (2016), she played the lead role of Meg ...

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960) is an American drag queen, television host, singer, producer, writer, and actor. He produces, hosts, and judges the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and has received List of awards ...

Wanda Sykes Wanda Yvette Sykes (born March 7, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and writer. She was first recognized for her work as a writer on ''The Chris Rock Show'', for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1999. In 2004, ''Entertainme ...

Wilson Cruz Wilson Cruz (born Wilson Echevarría; December 27, 1973) is an American actor known for playing Rickie Vasquez on ''My So-Called Life'', Dr. Hugh Culber on '' Star Trek: Discovery'', and the recurring character Junito on '' Noah's Arc''. As a g ...

, and

Christine Baranski Christine Jane Baranski (born May 2, 1952) is an American actress. She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Maryann Thorpe in the sitcom ''Cybill'' (1995–1998). Baranski is als ...

. The Bravest Knight won the 2020

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids and Family Programming is an annual award that honors children's and family programming for excellence in the treatment of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) characters and themes. It is on ...

. In 2019, Rezaei directed the short film Balloon Girl, which was a finalist in the PBS Online Film Fest. Set in

Stadtpark, Vienna The Stadtpark (, ''City Park'') in Vienna, Austria is a large municipal park that extends from the Ringstraße in the Innere Stadt first district up to the Heumarkt (Hay Market) in the Landstraße third district. The park is divided in two sectio ...

, the short film was part of the worldwide, London-based Hope Works Project, a series of short films to inspire kindness, understanding and hope in children around the world. Rezaei is the creator of the animated preschool series ''

16 Hudson ''16 Hudson'' is a Canadian animated series, produced by Big Bad Boo about four friends, Lili, Sam, Amala and Luc, living in a small apartment in a big city. The series was created by Shabnam Rezaei and based on the fifteen-episode miniseries ...

'', which features a family with two dads, and families from various backgrounds such as Ireland, India, China and Iran. The series is based on ''Lili & Lola'' a mini-series created by Rezaei in 2015. ''

'' currently airs on

Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (stylized as ICI Radio-Canada Télé, and sometimes abbreviated as Ici Télé) is a Television in Canada, Canadian Canadian French, French-language terrestrial television, free-to-air television network owned by the Can ...

Knowledge Network Knowledge Network, also branded as British Columbia's Knowledge Network and K:, is a Canadian publicly funded educational cable television network serving the province of British Columbia. It is owned by the Knowledge Network Corporation, a Crow ...

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

Discovery Kids Discovery Kids, stylized as discovery k!ds, is a brand name owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Starting as a television block within Discovery Channel, the brand expanded as a separate television channel in October 1996. Discovery Kids on NBC was ...

TFO TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (OTELFO), a Crown corporation owned by t ...

, Oznoz,

Vme Kids Vme Kids is a Spanish-language children's television channel operated by V-me Media, catering to the needs of preschool-aged Hispanic and Latino Americans. The channel launched exclusively through AT&T U-verse cable systems on September 1, 2010, ...

, and Rádio e Televisão de Portugal with Season 2 introducing a refugee family.

won the Mipcom Diversify TV Award in 2021 in Cannes, France, beating out Disney Junior's Mira, Royal Detective and the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

' JoJo & Gran Gran in Preschool category. In 2022, ''Lili & Lola'' was nominated for the Mipcom Diversify TV Award in the Preschool category. In 2022, Rezaei greenlit her climate change series Galapagos X with public broadcasters

and

Mediacorp Mediacorp Pte. Ltd. is the state media, state-owned media conglomerate of Singapore. Owned by Temasek Holdings—the investment arm of the Government of Singapore—it owns and operates television channels, radio, and digital media properties. ...

Singapore among other commissioning partners.

Career

Rezaei created and produced ''

1001 Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'', an animated children's series based on stories from ''

One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition ( ...

''. Every episode opens with the famous storyteller Shahrzad, King Shahryar, and kids Donyazad and Shahzaman. The series won three

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

for Best Animation Program or Series, Best Screenwriting in an Animation Program or Series, and Best Overall Sound in an Animation Program or Series. Her first television series, '' Mixed Nutz'', promotes diversity and multiculturalism through a group of friends from Iran, Korea, Cuba, Austria, and India. The series was a continuation of their work '' Babak and Friends'', and included the voice talents of

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo (, ; born Vaziri-Tabar, May 11, 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. She has received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Satellite Award, in addition to a nomination for an Academy Award. Followin ...

Parviz Sayyad Parviz Sayyad (; born 22 March 1939) is an Iranian Americans, Iranian-born celebrated actor, director and screenwriter of Iranian cinema. He was one of the earliest television stars in Iran. Early life Parviz Sayyad was born on March 22, 1939 ...

, Ali Pourtash, and Catherine Bell. Her directorial work includes ''16 Hudson'', ''Lili & Lola'',''1001 Nights'', and ''Mixed Nutz''. Rezaei is also the creator of Persian cultural online magazine ''Persian Mirror''.

Personal life

Shabnam was born in Tehran, Iran and grew up in Vienna, Austria, where she attended the

American International School of Vienna The American International School Vienna (AISV) is a non-profit international school in Vienna, Austria. AIS Vienna is accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges, USA, and the Council of International Schools, and is reco ...

. She studied Computer Science Engineering and German Literature at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in Philadelphia. She later obtained an MBA from the

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

. She speaks five languages.

Filmography

Television

References

External links

*
Big Bad Boo Studios

''Persian Mirror''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rezaei, Shabnam Living people 21st-century American writers American people of Iranian descent Canadian people of Iranian descent American women screenwriters American television directors American television producers American television writers Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) LGBTQ television producers Showrunners of animated series American women television writers 21st-century American women writers American women television producers American women television directors