Cool Job Alert: DETV seeks an animator for its growing roster of children’s television

It’s been two years since Ivan Thomas and the DETV network he founded was given the license to run Comcast Channel 28, after a long process of hearings and City Council votes.

At the time, DETV was known to many for its partnership with the City of Wilmington, with Thomas’ role as co-host of “The Wilmington Show,” along with Short Order Productions’ Zach Phillips. While The Wilmington Show didn’t last, the network has grown quite a bit since, with a viewership that jumped exponentially due to Thomas’ live community coverage of last June’s unrest in Downtown Wilmington following the killing of George Floyd.

Today, DETV is the TV home of Blue Coats Basketball (and, soon, high school games via 302 Sports), “The Chef Dana Cooking Show” featuring local celebrity chef Dana Herbert, “Good Morning Wilmington,” and “DETV News,” as well as the 2021 Swim with the Sharks entrepreneur pitch competition. In-development projects include a partnership with Theatre N and a home improvement program that will repair homes of elder Delawareans for free.

DETV also has a growing block of educational children’s programming, including “Storybook Corner,” a partnership with the United Way set in a fictional bookstore inspired by Wilmington’s (now closed) Ninth Street Books that includes a Delaware history segment for kids; and “Home SchoolED,” a televised virtual learning experience broken into subjects, including language arts, music and physical education.

One of the kids featured on the show is Maddie, Thomas’ 7-year-old daughter, who is the inspiration for a new show currently in pre-production called “Madison’s Park.”

“It’s about a child that’s different who has all different types of friends that live in the city, and they all go to the park and learn,” said Thomas. “[Madison] is going to be narrating it. When she walks into the park, she turns into an animated character.”

The show’s logo, above, was designed by Nick Matarese of The Barn Creative, the Yorklyn-based creative agency that did the Conrad Red Wolves rebrand and Delaware Thunder hockey club branding (among other sports clients), graphics for The Mill, and national work for NBC Sports.

“To see the idea I had for DETV kids transformed into reality is just an amazing thing,” said Thomas.

Currently, DETV is looking for an animator to work on the show. Students as well as experienced animators will be considered. To apply, send a resume and a link to your portfolio to leslie@detvch.com.