DooFLetter Volume 2, Number 1

At the end of December, DooF was awarded a generous grant from the Alameda County Health Department to produce a series of mini-DooF episodes for broadcast and use in county health facilities throughout the East Bay! The three-year grant was created specifically to promote nutritional awareness, sustainable practices and healthy eating among school children. What a way to start the new year!

In January, DooF took significant steps towards production of our 13-part television series by holding the first annual DooF Camp, hosted by our friends at the DeFremery Park Recreation Center in West Oakland. After an extensive auditioning process, DooF invited 18 Bay Area kids to participate in an intensive two-day workshop where they were schooled in the arts of cooking, interviewing, improvising and acting for the camera. From this talented group, DooF chose six amazing young actors to perform in all of this year's episodes.

Thanks to the grant we received from Alameda County, the DooF team began production on our first series of mini-episodes in February. These episodes, which include To Bee or Not to Bee, One Bad Apple, A Beet You Can Eat, The Magic Ingredient, The Mysterious Spontaneous Corn Incident will be completed and available through our website later in the year.

Meet dynamic DooFer MIKIANNA THOMPSON. Mikianna was a featured player in the Food Talks PSA we shot last summer, and has gone on to become an important member of the DooF Troupe. An Oakland resident, Mikianna is a 3rd grader at Manzanita Elementary School who loves to swim in her spare time. Her favorite foods include pizza and salad. Her best friend is Nakiea.

This month, Common Sense Media, a groundbreaking public policy organization that provides ratings and recommendations on children's media, features a column by DooF-founder MIKE AXINN called "What We've Learned From Fast Food Ads."

DOOF ON THE AIR

DooF writer/director CHRIS BROWN has released a new album of power pop songs, Now That You're Fed, which radio host and rock critic Alan Haber has dubbed "The front runner for album of the year in 2006. Flat-out brilliant...a stunning debut."