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The Adventures of Brainy Baby and Small Fry
By Timothy Dickey


Brainy Baby Right Brain and Left Brain Videos

Small Fry On the Scene

Small Fry came onto the scene just at the right moment, when home-schooling and early education were becoming fashionable topics. Dennis Fedoruk had a production infrastructure that got him started early, and a marketing approach that helped him outlast potential competitors.

Still, “The first year of business was a bit slow as our brand name and product lines were entering a marketplace that was basically untouched,” says Jill Pruitt, Sales and Marketing Director for Small Fry Productions.

Sales began picking up after some good marketing efforts and a few toy shows in following years, just as parents were eagerly feeding their infants and toddlers liberal doses of classical music and the new higher learning, e.g. concepts traditionally left until preschool.

Recent word on the street has speculated that this market segment’s thrill is gone. But from 1998 to 2000 educational brain development videos for children actually increased in revenues 115%, and that trend is expected to continue. No wonder then, that Warner Brothers and Disney have recently established distribution channels within the pre-school video market.

Daring Duo Meets Trio of Concerns

Small Fry and Brainy Baby seems to focus ever more tightly on the three concerns of availability, product quality, and technology.

“No one had even heard of DVDs when we started in 1995, and now we have retailers and consumers calling in all the time asking if we have our tapes in DVD,” says Jill Pruitt. She adds that specialty retailers and catalogs seem to do best with the product, especially those who carry educational products, and infant/toddler clothing and toys.


Brainy Baby Animals Video
“But a very positive aspect about our product is that it can be a great item in various types of retail stores,” says Pruitt. “Who would have thought children’s videos would become a consumer item in drug and grocery stores?”

With the consumer-favorite DVD format available on most of their line, and prices ranging from $15.95 to $19.95, why not?

Just recently, the Brainy Baby line was picked up by ”big box” stores such as Toys R Us, Babies R Us and FAO Schwarz. This bodes well for Small Fry’s sister, Brainy Baby, since it was created to provide branding opportunities for future video and non-video products, including clothing, toys and more.

Brainy Baby Spans the Hemispheres

The Brainy Baby Left and Right Brain videos are best-sellers, along with "Talking Hands" and Spanish Bilingual Baby. According to Pruitt, Small Fry is the only company to research, produce and market a video on whole brain development for children.

So what’s next?

“There are so many great ideas for new children’s videos out there, but eventually you have to determine which is the best one for the company and clientele,” she explains. “Consumer demographics and where and who our clientele will be in the next 3-5 years is our major consideration when determining new products and subject matter…”


Small Fry Plush

It’s clear to somebody on the outside that what’s good for children is what’s really important to this company. All of their videos are produced in-house, Pruitt and relates how the staff enjoys seeing young “talent” come into the office for shoots. They also crack up at the baby bloopers, many of which are included at the end of their tapes.

(Closing Scene, Music Swells)

Are you ready for your close-up, Mr. Fedoruk? Small Fry Productions' owner says for now he’s happy wearing the executive producer’s hat, but dreams of flying airplanes again and someday making full-length children’s movies.

But what about the secrets of Small Fry’s success?

“Hire and surround yourself with smart, loyal people,” he advises. “Stay knowledgeable on changing technology, (and) constantly work at creating positive, professional relationships with buyers, distributors and outside vendors.”

Cut! It’s a wrap!

Back

If you want to read a related article, check out our section on Educational Toys:
Toys, Technology and the Brave New World.





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