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Music Producer

Arts: Little Airplane Productions, New York City, NY

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Has music been a part of your life since you were little? Are you full of imagination and looking for the right creative outlet? Are you a kid at heart, wishing to impact today’s youth? If so, spending a few days at Little Airplane Productions in New York City with Music and Voice-Over Producer, Jeffrey Lesser, is sure to be an eye-opening and rewarding journey into the magical world of animation, voice and music.

Whether Jeffrey is producing records for Barbra Streisand or overseeing the orchestrated score that will accompany an animated turtle on his adventures with his friends for Little Airplane Productions’ hit show, Wonder Pets!, he hardly feels like he is working as long as music is involved. As Music and Voice-Over Producer for Little Airplane Productions, he successfully combines his years of musical experience and achievements with his playful imagination and youthful soul.

Jerry’s talents in music were recognized early on. He attended The High School of Music and Art in New York City - the public school that was featured in the hit television series, “Fame”. After attending college at The University of Buffalo, Jeffrey lived it up as part of a rock and roll band before dabbling in the filmmaking industry as an assistant sound man/boom operator on a low-budget project. Before he knew it, fate quickly moved him into the role of head sound man and he found himself working on a major motion picture. Jeff learned the industry through “trial by fire”, he recalls, but ultimately he didn’t feel as if “they took sound seriously enough”.

Making a career shift, Jeffrey went to work for a very prestigious recording studio, Media Sound. He would soon satisfy his musical hunger and turn his passion into his career. A natural in both engineering and producing sessions, it’s no wonder he was soon producing records for many great talents including Lou Reed, Sting, Linda Ronstadt, Sinead O’Conner, Vince Gill, Mary Chapin-Carpenter and Lyle Lovett. His extensive history as a record producer and recording engineer won him many Gold and Platinum certifications, as well as, Grammy awards. He also produced the cast recordings for “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “The Lord of the Rings” (which won an Academy Award for Best Score).

Eventually Jeffrey became an independent producer and took his love for music into the magical world of animation. Little Airplane Productions was founded by Josh Selig with the simple goal of creating the most innovative preschool television programming in the world. The company is known for creating and producing Nick Jr’s, Wonder Pets!, a series that centers around the adventures of Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming Duckling, and Turtle Tuck as they travel the world saving young animals in distress. Little Airplane Productions’ credits also include work on Noggin’s Oobi!, winner of a 2001 Gold Parent’s Choice Award, Go Baby!, on Playhouse Disney as well as work on Piper O’Possum, and many short films for Sesame Street and Playhouse Disney.

With countless animated television shows out there for children to view, there are many reasons Wonder Pets! stand out and draw the little tikes in, and one of those key factors is, in fact, the music. Most children’s shows use a keyboard to incorporate little jingles at various points throughout the story. But Wonder Pets! has a full orchestral score that is specifically produced for each episode. Jeffrey’s work really leads the show, similar to how an orchestra does so in a Broadway musical. Sounds like a lot of work for a cartoon? Well, it is! However, Jeffrey and his team pride themselves in the process and are dedicated to the quality of programming.

Countless music and sound elements are involved in producing a final episode of Wonder Pets! The first stage is creating the story concept and scripting the lyrics and dialogue. Next comes vocal recordings, piano scratch tracks, hand-picking a composer for each show, multiple takes and edits, the addition of foley and sound effects, and ultimately the assembling of a full orchestra (yes, a real orchestra!) to produce the final track. Another unique element adding to the magic of Wonder Pets! is that real children do the voices for the main baby animal characters in the animated series. “Using real kids as the voices has brought such heart and soul to the show”, Jeffrey says.

Jeffrey notes that the most important traits for his line of work are patience, flexibility and multi-tasking. “Patience because sometimes the process can be slow. It’s common to listen to the same take over and over and over but you can’t give up or go with something just because you are wiped out. You must keep at it until it is right”, he explains. “One must also be flexible to all ideas because you never know from where or from whom the next great one will come! Multi-tasking is important because it may take 2-3 months to produce one 11 ½ minute piece from start to finish,” Jeffrey explains. This means the team is always working on several shows at once and overlapping stages of production.

This career is definitely Jeffrey’s dream job because he loves everything music related and describes working with animation as “fresh, fun, and different”. Time and time again he is told by parents that their children are drawn into Wonder Pets! like no other children’s series on television. He also loves to encounter pint-sized strangers that are quick to shout out praises of the show including its characters and music. Jeffrey is lucky enough to be doing something he loves, while making a difference. He realizes the huge impact he is making and feels blessed to be reaching out to this age range.

While on your Music & Voice-Over Producer VocationVocation with Little Airplane Productions, activities will include some or all of the following:

MUSIC/AUDIO DEPARTMENT

Attend music meetings with creative staff, composers, and orchestrators.
Observe and participate in review of composer's submissions.
Observe and participate in voiceover and orchestral recording sessions.
Observe and participate in audio edits, selection of takes, sound design, audio editing, and final mix.

CASTING/ V.O. RECORD

Attend casting meetings with creative staff and participate in discussions.
Attend voiceover auditions and participate in selection of candidates for voiceover talent.
Attend voiceover recording sessions and participate in line readings, vocal coaching, and voice direction.

The Music & Voice-Over Producer VocationVacations® dream job holiday includes:

Two days of one-on-one mentorship in your dream job as a Music & Voice-Over Producer
The ability to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®), an online personality assessment designed to identify interests and skill sets
The opportunity to participate in a total of one hour of pre- and post-VocationVacation career coaching from an accredited, affiliated VocationVacations career coach
A pocket-size VocationVacations journal so you can document your dream job becoming a reality
Light lunches with your mentor

Available: All year, Monday-Friday, with exception of holiday weekends

Price: $1649 Per Person

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Suggested Accommodations

Hilton Times Square

Doubletree Metropolitan Hotel - Midtown

(Not included in the price of your VocationVacations adventure)

Other activities and tourist destinations while on your VocationVacations® dream job holiday:

NYC & Company - New York City's Official Tourism Website for Tourists, Journalists, Travel Professionals, and Meeting Planners
I Love New York - The Official New York State Tourism Website
NY.com - The Paperless Guide to New York City

Reservation, Cancellation and Rescheduling Rules and Conditions:

Full payment of the VocationVacations dream job holiday is required to make a reservation. A $100 non-refundable fee is assessed if a VocationVacations experience is cancelled or rescheduled prior to 14-days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday, based on the approved availability of the mentor to reschedule. A VocationVacations adventure cannot be rescheduled and is non-refundable if cancelled within 14 days of the scheduled VocationVacations holiday. Written notification of cancellation or rescheduling is required in all cases. In the US, Grounded Nomads, LLC and VocationVacations holidays encourage all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling. In the UK, Grounded Nomads, Ltd and VocationVacations holidays must require all customers to acquire travel insurance to cover any unforeseen expenses due to cancellation or rescheduling and provide verification of such travel insurance to Grounded Nomads, Ltd.