SmART Kids is a children's television program i worked on with local Fort McMurray comedian and artist Renee Manners. I had known Renee from her stand-up comedy routine I had seen in town a handful of times. A comedy routine that is definitley not suitable for children, but hilarious for adults. I had her open a Christmas episode of my short-lived show What's Up Fort Mac to an audience of only Matt Lorenz of Lancer Media who also worked on this project as director of photography.
Renee had applied for a grant through Telus Storyhive program and they loved the first season so much that the next year when she applied again, they gave her money for a second season we filmed in early 2026. The Second Season will go live on Telus Storyhive’s channel on Telus TV first then on youtube later this year.
When I had first started this project with Renee, I didn’t know what to expect, however when we finally got to filming the first episode in front of a live audience of children and their parents I was amazed at how well Renee worked with and truly understood these kids. We ended up filming 10 of these 20-25 mins episodes per season, at the Oil Sands Discovery Centre and now she has recently received funding for a third season of the show which will begin filming in November 2026. We will be looking for some kids to help on show and be in the audience so if you or your little one is interested, please reach out.
