Spotlight Miriam – Producing a Show During Covid

by Miriam Rosenberg, Independent Producer

My name is Miriam Rosenberg and I am an independent producer, and the writer and host of Sing-a-Long with Miss Miriam which I produce in cooperation with the staff at HTTV in Summit.  I have been producing and airing a children’s show with HTTV for about 5 years now.  I currently have 19 episodes on the JAG TelVue server, and 52 stations have picked up the shows.

The themes include: Caring for our Planet, Planets, Courage, Spring, Magic, Puppetry, Science, Positivity, Kindness, Sports, Living Your Dreams, Trying New Things, Teamwork, Learning Popular Songs with Acting a Part, Diversity, Therapy Horses, and a Mr. Rogers tribute.  Each show has a unique theme, a featured craft, an interesting guest, an original song and story time.  It’s aimed at children from three to eight years old.

My shows are along the same line as Mr. Rogers, Romper Room, and Captain Kangaroo.  They are very positive and uplifting.  I feel that children today need positive role models so they can learn be kind to themselves and others. 

I am also a pediatric Occupational Therapist, Yoga teacher, and a musician, and I try to incorporate my expertise into each and every show.  This show is definitely a labor of love with a noble goal!

Making my children’s shows a reality has taken a lot of fairy dust and hard work!!!  Growing up, I always loved children’s shows.  I felt the characters were talking to me and I was right there with them having fun and learning something new.  They were so much fun.  I always liked romping around the room with Miss Nancy on Romper Room on my toy stick horse, or listening to Mr. Green Jeans, or Mr. Rogers.  They were interactive and oh so simple.   My goal is to bring that feeling back so today’s children can experience it.  The World is so complicated and there are so may negative images for children.  I hope to bring back the purity and magic of childhood in every show.

I work with a great crew at HTTV, so we were able to navigate the pandemic storm together.  This includes Amanda Olsen the station manager, and camera operator/editor John T. (Jay) McCann.  In addition, there is often at least one intern on the crew as well.

During the last year and a half with Covid there were more challenges in the studio and off site than usual.

We had to follow the protocol of using masks, being 6 feet apart and sanitizing surfaces and equipment as they were used throughout the shoot.

During the taping of the Tribute to Mr. Rogers show, which was in the studio, we had to be very aware of social distancing, sanitizing the surfaces and our hands constantly especially when we touched any of the equipment.

When I had to perform by either speaking or singing, I had to take off my mask.  Yes, we were at least 6 feet apart, and after each segment I put my mask back on.  All three of the staff in the studio also had to wear their masks throughout the shoot.

The cameras and equipment used were: two 4K JVC cameras and wireless lavalier mics for the guest and host.

On location at the horse farm, we also used cameras on the horses to show their point of view.

Overall, the station manager and crew did a phenomenal job.  We always put safety first — even though it did take longer to shoot the episodes.

Another episode that I recently did with the crew was about Therapy horses.  This was shot on site outdoors at a horse farm called Hope’s Promise in Chester N.J.  This was much easier since there was much more space to socially distance and we were in the fresh air.  If we had to come closer for any reason, we would automatically put on our masks.

Funny, now it almost seems normal and automatic to do this rather than when we first had to follow the safety protocols at the start of the pandemic in the studio.  As we all know, if there is a will there is always a way and the show must go on, and indeed it did thanks to the efforts of the crew at HTTV. Please check out my show at www.singalongandfunwithmissmiriam.com