The Award Winning Island Adventure Children’s TV Series, Goombay Kids, produced by LFD Productions is growing its reach and its team. With an impressive 14 awards under it’s belt with the latest win being the recent win of the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and ever-growing distribution it is clear Goombay Kids is gaining momentum.

The live action series features kids exploring the natural world while meeting Caribbean folklore characters and Goombay Kid experts along their adventures. The show prides itself on empowering children to do it the ‘Goombay Way.’  The series shows children what they are capable of while including impactful messaging about the importance of protecting their environment, inclusion, disability inclusion, women’s and youth empowerment through magical storytelling. 

Goombay Kids premiered its first season on local Bahamian cable network, Our TV,  with a fully Bahamian cast and crew. Fast forward four seasons later the series secured a historic streaming deal for the Caribbean and is now airing on Amazon, AppleTV, Roku, YouTube Kids and Happy Kids. The series is also celebrated as the #1 rated Caribbean Children’s Show. There is much in the pipeline for Goombay Kids that includes more animation, original music, merchandising and a book series. 

As the show elevated its production value over the years, the expansion of the international team has played a major role in improving the quality and distribution of the TV series which now prepares for further growth.  Goombay Kids Corp.’s global team now includes Jonathan Barbato (Starz, Best Ever Channels) head of distribution, Janis Shen (Sony Music, Wax Management) head of original music and influencer management, Jaka Benedicic (Talking Tom, Outfit7, Epic Story Media) acting as YouTube Director, Marva Allen (Wordee) and Patrice Samara (Sesame Street, Muppet Babies) both in the position of book publishing, and Gustavo Aparicio (Spanglish) as head of Latin American distribution. This experienced team is focused on taking the media brand to new heights recognizing the TV series is unique and has great potential to not only become a popular show but can create an impact with it’s meaningful messaging for the next generation as well as providing representation that is missing from children’s episodic content.

Kids today want to be empowered as much as entertained,” said Jonathon Barbato, Co-CEO of Best Ever Channels, “Goombay Kids wraps powerful and relevant messages in engaging stories kids want to watch again and again. It’s a notch above much of what’s out there. Excited to be a part.”

Creator Stephanie K. Nihon states, ‘We have been fortunate to have a great team growing around Goombay Kids. I am looking forward to the plans unfolding and seeing this truly special show thrive even more.”

Stephanie K. Nihon became passionate about providing her home country with talent opportunities after becoming very inspired working alongside a local talent agency. Goombay Kids was created out of her drive to showcase the talent, stories and locations of the islands in the Caribbean which have been overlooked in many ways. Nihon is an award-winning producer that regularly speaks on industry panels, and founded The Cays Conference, a red-carpet scouting event and talent search. This event managed to garner many actor and model callbacks from the  agencies of the world as well as resulted in two actors signing contracts. Goombay Kids in itself has acted as a springboard for acting careers and led to one of the lead stars Javien Rankine, getting booked for 5 episodes of a Netflix series called The Mighty Express by the makers of Paw Patrol.

Goombay Kids will be opening up global auditions for its new season of films this summer in the late spring. The announcement will be made on their social media pages and website.

Published by: Nelly Chavez

By: CHRIS KAUFMAN

In today’s music world, diversity and innovation are the keys to an artist’s success. Against this backdrop of challenges and opportunities, the band “Schoolgirl byebye,” co-founded by Yue Yang and Mengsu Xu, demonstrates how to blend personal experiences with a variety of musical styles to create a unique form of art. 

Today, We’re super-excited to be speaking today with acclaimed band “Schoolgirl byebye.” Before we dive into the well-known whirlwind of questions, could each of you greet our curious audience and introduce yourselves?

Hello, everyone! The main members of “Schoolgirl byebye” are the lead vocalist/guitarist Yue Yang and drummer Mengsu Xu.

Photo Courtesy:  Yue Yang

Photo Courtesy:  Mengsu Xu

Could you share how your meeting and the founding of “Schoolgirl byebye” have shaped the band’s musical direction and philosophy?

Our music has always been evolving, following a clear trajectory. minimalism,melodiousness, and naturalness,and we have to expand the meaning of creation to the limit, not only playing, records, album covers, music videos, but also everyday life, I want to bring my own experience and other people’s hearts together into a whole world.we’ve continued to explore new sounds, structures, and rhythms within the framework of Indie POP. We like DIY and strive to create music that resonates with ordinary people.  

Your music has transitioned from domestic to international stages. What challenges have you encountered in this process, and how have you overcome them?

Moving from the domestic to the international stage was indeed a challenge. Firstly, I don’t adhere to a traditional concept of “home”; I believe music beyond language, race, country .

Like in Boston, someone described our song “Blue Night,” which is entirely in Chinese, with a sense of nostalgia, proving that language doesn’t impede understanding. However, our recent EP “Lunch poem” contains five English songs, because the poem was born during lunch. I believe these songs will provide a familiar yet fresh Vibe, better conveying our openness and potential. Therefore, for us, going international is both a challenge and an opportunity to open ourselves up. 

Our collaboration with the American band Inner Wave on the single “Automatic” was a huge success. Is there a story behind this collaboration? How did you decide to work together?

Pablo, a core member of Inner Wave, We met each other in 2023 ,Los Angeles. I remember that winter, My agent told me about them, it’s then I listened to them on Spotify.I love it. So we contacted him on Instagram, and he warmly invited us to his home. Of course we did, we drove to his home which is very close to the airport, I remember I was sitting on his couch, and chatting until his band members came to him. One night after we met, I sent Demo to him and he quickly selected one, which was actually my favorite also, and it became “Automatic ” naturally. Soon they came to China make a tour and we were excited to play with Inner Wave in Shanghai and Guangzhou. When I toured the U.S. at the end of 2023, we met up again. It seems it was fate. All in all,I really appreciate their music and certainly learned a lot. 

Schoolgirl byebye has quickly risen to become a significant force in the indie music scene. What do you think contributed to this success?

Every band wants to be lucky, and so do we. You know,I wrote a song called “love lust luck,” and it said, ” I hope I’m the lucky one ” .Truly, it was just a bit of luck let people know about us. But this doesn’t mean we did nothing; you know, we are a couple, and we spent a lot of time together, thinking,maybe doing, or creating somethings. I believe it’s this close relationship that allows us to achieve something. We often joke that no band dies from being unlistenable,but die from bad relationship.Like members leaving, the breakdown of companionship or love, or simply different musical thoughts. If we can be nice to each other, nothing’s gonna stop us, I mean , luck is important, but so are relationships.

In just a few years, you’ve released 16 studio albums and achieved recognition on various music charts. How does the band maintain innovation and quality with such prolific output?

I simply needed sparks, friends and new chances,so I collaborating with different musicians, like songwriting camps organized by Universal Music Publishing Group. They regularly invite musicians from different fields and genres to improvise together. We’ve made friends through these camps, including rappers, models, and other bands. Besides ,We are always paying attention to new bands abroad, and musicians from different regions, even if we haven’t met. I was trying to make something new and of course I wouldn’t stop listening.

Facing the upcoming new round of tours in Asia and Europe, what are your expectations? What bigger dreams and plans does the band have for the future?

We look forward to the European tour, hope to see more local fans, just like in the U.S. You know, diversity. See,we are not just a band from China, but also an Indie POP band worldwide. Music without borders, we can break down racial barriers. And,in my heart I believe the magic of music,I do have a belief in music.