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Does Watching Shrek 2 in the Middle of the Afternoon Constitute Work?
By Simon Applebaum
Journalism has its privileges.
So does being general manager of a cartoon-centric digital cable service.
When you bring these professions together, as I did on a gorgeous early June afternoon near Times Square, these privileges entertain at every level.
Especially when I got to spend the afternoon watching Shrek 2 with Keith Dawkins, VP and general manager of Nickelodeon's Nicktoons diginet, whose Broadway office is three blocks away from the Loews Cineplex on 42nd Street where we caught the animated sequel.
For Dawkins, guiding Nicktoons is a treat unto itself, allowing him to reconnect with his best childhood and teenage memories.
"I consumed a lot of animation growing up. As a kid, I just watched anything superhero?Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, Fantastic Four, even Mighty Mouse," Dawkins recalls. "I loved the action. Looking back now, I loved those characters because in one way or another, in their alter egos, they were outcasts. They became great metaphors of my life because they went through the growing-up issues I went through. Now animation is back in my world."
Joining me for Shrek 2 in casual blue shirt and brown pants?with Nicktoons PR rep Nancy Muldoon picking up the tab?fits one of the principles Dawkins instills in his 11-person staff. He wants as much work done out of the office as in the office. And he wants to interject fun with work.
"I gave someone a pass I picked up the other day to see the new Harry Potter movie," he says. "She came back jazzed up with fresh ideas for promos and interstitial segments. It's important to get out and get inspiration for your work. We need to do this more to be successful. If I'm not doing it, I make sure other people are."
Inside the theater, after buying one of the biggest bags of Twizzlers you've ever seen, then treating me to the mother of all Reese's Pieces, we settle into our seats. Wouldn't you know, four of the five trailers were for 'toon flicks, including the Nick-produced SpongeBob SquarePants feature premiering this fall.
"I won't show you my bias and tell you what I think of this," Dawkins whispers to me as the announcer heralds a "bigger, squarer, spongier" title hero.
Shrek 2 works with quick visuals and spoken wit. There are a few cable references here and there, with E! Entertainment, in particular, subjected to substantial satire about 15 minutes from the end.
"What makes the movie great is that, first and foremost, there's great storytelling," Dawkins says the day after our field trip. "The writing is so rich and filled with detail. It hits you on every sensory level. I'm a fan of computer-generated bells and whistles, but a great story is one you can watch again and again to find something you miss the first or second time. This film has an awesome story."
Most of Dawkins' pre-Nicktoons career dealt with documenting real-life tales. From 2000 to 2003, he was a supervising producer with VH1, generating vignettes and feature reports from events such as the Grammy Awards, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and the channel's own Divas Live. Before that, Dawkins produced segments for Fox News Channel.
The common thread to his work is "being part of a channel from the start, or being somewhere when the format was repositioned," Dawkins says. "Here, my position is about the challenge of establishing and building a brand, even though Nicktoons was around for a while before I came in."
Nicktoons is diversifying from being a pure repository for former Nick series to a platform for original work from independent U.S. and overseas talent. Prime time includes such new series as Yakkety Yak, Corneil & Bernie and Kaput & Zosky.
With a 3 year old at home and another child due next month, Dawkins tries to balance his parental life with some personal interests, led by trips to the gym, the golf course and, for sure, the closest multiplex in Rochelle Park, N.J., where he lives.
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